Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 111 and 38 C.F.R. Part 70, Subpart A, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Beneficiary Travel (BT) Program provides payments for authorized travel expenses to help Veterans and other beneficiaries obtain care or services from VHA and VA authorized non-VA providers in the community. VHA must administer payments according to statutory mandates, including the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) (Public Law 116-117). In compliance with the PIIA and other program requirements, VHA must gather certain information to determine whether BT eligibility and other criteria for approval have been met, and the amount of payment or reimbursement that is authorized under the BT program. Claimants may include Veterans and other BT beneficiaries, and entities or individuals who provided or paid for travel. Claimants may apply for BT reimbursement orally or in writing through VA Form 10-3542 or the Beneficiary Travel Self Service System (BTSSS). This standard collection of information is necessary to enable VHA to provide this benefit and appropriately ensure that funds are being paid to the correct claimant.
VA Form 10-3542 has been revised to add intake fields for VHA use only. In the upper right area on page 1, two fields have been added for âFacility IDâ and âClaim Received Date.â There are no changes to the estimated numbers of respondents or burden hours
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.