Transportation Assistant

Summary The Veterans Transportation Program (VTP) /Beneficiary Travel (BT) department administers beneficiary travel program benefits to Veterans who meet eligibility criteria. Staff review, adjudicate and authorize claims for costs incurred while traveling from their home to a VA medical appointment at the VAPORHCS, the Veteran's assigned community based outpatient clinic, and a VA authorized non-VA medical facility as well as other facilities within VISN 20 who refer patients to VAPORHCS for care. Responsibilities Beneficiary Travel is a very robust program at VAPORHCS. The primary focus of this position is maintaining positive interaction with internal and external customers, approving transportation consults, verifying details, documenting, and setting up transportation, and coordinating air ambulance, ground wheelchair and stretcher ambulance, taxi, and airplane travel for Veterans locally and across the country. VAPORHCS accepts inbound Beneficiary Travel calls to take calls from Veterans and staff concerning transportation arrangements and questions or problems related to transportation and reimbursement benefits. The call queue currently has a volume of over 100 calls per day, with an average length of 4 minutes or longer, depending on the level of complexity. Major duties include but are not limited to: Determining eligibility for the program and processing requests. Contacting approving officials to authorize obligations and requests for additions, deductions, and/or movement of funds. Making necessary changes to fund control points. Reviewing methods of payment for authorized and unauthorized ambulance claims submitted for consideration. Receiving invoices for payment of transportation services. Explaining regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized ambulance claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. Balancing, reconciling, and adjusting invoices for payment. Documenting and preparing statistical ambulance reports to supervisor for fiscal year budget. Arranging various modes of transportation (e.g., air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus and/or contracted transport services). Corresponding with physicians, travelers, social workers or CBOC representatives and vendors to determine the most dependable and economical mode of transportation. Preparing appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates. The incumbent receives in-person, telephone and written contacts from Veterans, their representatives and staff regarding questions or problems related to transportation or reimbursement benefits. Incumbent will collect, organize, track and count all beneficiary travel reimbursement forms from various locations throughout the facility. Incumbent may also be assigned the task as time keeper. Must have office automation abilities, to include knowledge of email system, MS Office, spreadsheets and other equipment. Work Schedule: Various tours. Telework: This is not a telework position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD21145A 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 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 01/21/2025. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Working with customers in person and on the phone to process requests. Experience in approving medical consultations, verifying information, and arranging transportation. Managing high volumes of verifications, recordation, and making transportation requests via phone. Arranging various modes of transportation, including air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transport services. Determining eligibility for programs and processing requests for travel pay. Preparing appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for travelers according to government or substantial rates. Determining which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations, and adjusting account balances. Determining method of payment for authorized and unauthorized claims submitted for consideration. Prepares reports and spreadsheets and is proficient in using Microsoft and other software programs. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Clerical Computer Skills Customer Service 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: Work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, and lifting of lightweight records or supplies. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information 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.

Created: 2025-01-17