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***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to:

• Interviewing patients applying for medical benefits via in person, by telephone, by mail, on-line or referrals from another facility.
• Entering demographic, insurance, and income information into the health records system.
• Verifying eligibility/entitlement for benefits of all applicants using various methods including income assessments, military discharge documents, computer hospital inquiry (HINQ) and other means.
• Greeting and receiving applicants and determining the status in the system including identifying critical facts and any special eligibility status.
• Providing the veteran with "New Patient Orientation" including the scheduling of initial appointment with primary care provider at the medical center.
• Providing counseling regarding patients' financial obligations relative to care they will receive.
• Apprising Veterans regarding non-VA health care, purchased care, Choice, Choice First benefits and how to access.
• Supporting the clerical and medical staff by serving as a contact for veterans and beneficiaries seeking medical treatment, experiencing problems, and requesting information.
• Generating patient data cards for veterans applying for care using the Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) system.
• Traveling to areas in the catchment area to assist in outreach programs assisting with counseling veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries.
• Providing training and information to VA staff, other federal agencies, and community agencies regarding the VA Health Care System services.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 08:00 a.m. to 04:30 p.m.
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

The following are minimum requirements for appointment as a Health Benefits Assistant in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met.

Specialized Experience (GS-05): You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-04). Qualifying specialized experience is performing administrative duties in a healthcare setting, which would typically include but are not limited to: providing administrative support to a work unit; verifying eligibility/entitlement for benefits; entering, reviewing, verifying, and analyzing computerized data for accuracy and consistency; assisting patients with eligibility forms and processes. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.)
OR
Education (GS-05): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have four (4) years of successfully completed education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE: One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business or technical school. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.)
OR
Combination (GS-05): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond two (2) years of successfully completed education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.)

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Client Orientation
• Computer Skills
• Customer Service
• Technical Credibility

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.

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; religious; 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.

Physical Requirements: The work normally involves mental rather than physical exertion. The work is generally sedentary, but requires some bending, walking, standing, lifting and carrying patient records and various reports to various areas throughout the medical center campus. Reading from CRT for long periods of time and accessing information from various computer systems as necessary.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

Your responses to the assessment questionnaire will be reviewed along with the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation to determine if you are qualified for the position. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered and/or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

Candidates who apply under All U.S. Citizens announcements will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. Qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The categories are defined as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.

Application of Veterans' Preference: Category rating and selection procedures place those with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Preference eligible applicants that meet the eligibility and qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category (except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher).

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.