Location: Columbia,MO, USA
Summary Truman VA Medical Center is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. Together, we strive to create and maintain a working and learning environment that promotes professional growth and teamwork. We offer an inclusive, equitable, and welcoming environment where we celebrate our individual differences and unite as a team toward a common goal of providing outstanding service to our Nation's Veterans. Responsibilities This position is within the Health Administration Service at the Truman VA Medical Center in Columbia, Mo, which is a Complexity Level 1c facility. The Health Benefits Assistant receives and processes applicants for admission and outpatient treatment. Schedule appointments, determine eligibility and route patients applying for care. Assign admitting patients to wards and notifies wards of pending admissions and verifies information is correct. Primary duty is to interview Veterans, or their designated representative, in order to collect demographic information relative to their finances, insurance, address, work history, etc. This information serves as a basis for determining entitlement to medical care as well as bill preparation and collections on billable episodes of inpatient and outpatient care. Accurate and complete data collection is essential to proper processing of third party collection requirements as mandated by law. Contacts may be in person, by telephone, or by mail, and require timely and accurate input into the VA data base system. Incumbent will maintain workload reports relative to these duties. Advise Veterans of their entitlement to various medical benefits and discuss copayment requirements of Veterans in discretionary categories. Extensive knowledge of the Medical Center and Unit policies is required in order to respond to inquiries from Veterans, and to provide orientation and training to new staff members. The Health Benefits Assistant is responsible for researching and handling complex questions relative to their area of expertise referred by the supervisor. The Health Benefits Assistant is expected to have extensive knowledge of the hospital admitting procedures and policies, entering in patients information into VISTA for hospital admissions, and gathering information for said admission into the facility. Health Benefits Assistant is expected to provide exceptional customer service by exceeding the customer's expectations with respect and concern; focusing on the details of the customer's needs and helps the customer arrive at a satisfactory solution to the problem. The Health Benefits Assistant participates in the facility's Outreach events, promoting the VA. These events may be outside the normal tour of duty. Health Benefits Assistant also gives on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices. Instructs employees on changes in work procedures. Provides written instructions/documentation of changes. Maintain current informational knowledge base and answers questions of other employees on procedures, policies, directives, etc. and obtains needed information or decisions from supervisor on problems. The Health Benefits Assistant may serve on various hospital committees and/or VISN or national work groups relative to his/her position, or at the request of the supervisor. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Benefits Assistant/PD03943A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See Additional Information below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/29/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-5 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-4. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing clerical support in a hospital ward, knowledge of patient admissions(determining eligibility) and outpatient processing procedures. Typical positions that would lead to this experience include, but are not limited to medical clerk, eligibility clerk, and travel clerk. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a bachelor's degree or four years of successfully completed college study leading to a bachelor's degree. (Copy of Transcript Required). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-5 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-5. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position . You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Decision Making Problem Solving Technical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily clerical; however, some walking, standing, bending and lifting is required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.