2900-0740 Supporting Statement VA Form 21P-0847 20151112

Request for Substitution of Claimant Upon Death of Claimant

VA Form 21P-0847
OMB 2900-0740

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection of information.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through its Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), administers an integrated program of benefits and services established by law for veterans, service personnel, and their dependents and/or beneficiaries. Information requested by this form is authorized under the authority of 38 U.S.C. §5121A, Payment of Certain Accrued Benefits Upon Death of a Beneficiary.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purposes the information is to be used; indicate actual use the agency has made of the information received from current collection.

VA Form 21P-0847, Application for Request to Substitute Claimant, will be used to allow claimants to request substitution for a claimant, who passed away, prior to VA processing a claim to completion. This is only allowed when a claimant dies while a claim or appeal for any benefit under a law administered by the VA is pending. The substitute claimant would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due a deceased claimant under Section 5121(a). The substitute claim must be filed no later than one year after the date of the death of the claimant. By law, VA must have a claimant’s or beneficiary’s written permission (an "authorization") to be a substitute claimant. The claimant or beneficiary may revoke the authorization at any time, except if VA has already acted based on the permission.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

VA Form 21P-0847 will be available on the One-VA web site in a fillable electronic format. VBA is currently hosting this form on a secure server and does not have the technology in place to allow for the complete submission of the form. Validation edits are performed to assure data integrity. Efforts within VA are underway to provide a mechanism to allow the information to be submitted electronically with a recognized signature technology. There currently is no utility process in place that will allow the data submitted on the forms to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

Program reviews were conducted to identify potential areas of duplication; however, none were found to exist. There is no known Department or Agency which maintains the necessary information, nor is it available from other sources within our department.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

The collection of information does not involve small businesses or entities.

This form is designed in a “user friendly” format, incorporating plain English, to comply with the President’s Memorandum of June 1, 1998, Plain Language in Government Writing.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

VA’s compensation and pension programs require that statements submitted by or on behalf of a claimant contain certification by the respondent that the information provided is true and correct. This form is designed to facilitate claims processing by providing a uniform format for the certification statement.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted more often than quarterly or require respondents to prepare written responses to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it; submit more than an original and two copies of any document; retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years; in connection with a statistical survey that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study and require the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB.

There is no special circumstance requiring collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6 guidelines.

8. a. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the sponsor’s notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the sponsor in responses to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.

The Department notice was published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2015, Volume 80, No. 40135, page 40135. No comments were received in response to this notice.

b. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure or reporting format, and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed or reported. Explain any circumstances which preclude consultation every three years with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained.

VA did not solicit input from external sources regarding this information collection.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payments or gifts to respondents have been made under this collection of information.

10. Describe any assurance of privacy to the extent permitted by law provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The records are maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as 58VA21/22/28, “Compensation, Pension, Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employee Records—VA” as set forth in Privacy Act Issuances, 1993 compilation found in 74 Fed. Reg. 117 (June 19, 2009), and last amended by 75 FR 22187 (April 27, 2010), with other amendments, as cited therein.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature (Information that, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, is likely to have a serious adverse effect on an individual's mental or physical health if revealed to him or her), such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private; include specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12.a. Estimate of the hour burden of the collection of information:

The number of respondents is estimated at 20,000 per year. The frequency of response is one time. The time estimate to complete the form is 5 minutes. The annual hour burden is estimated at 1,666.67 hours.

b. If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burdens in Item 13 of OMB 83-I.

This request covers one form, VA Form 21P-0847 Request for Substitution of Claimant Upon Death of Claimant

c. Provide estimates of annual cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14 of the OMB 83-I.

The cost to the respondents for completing these forms is estimated at $41,667.00 (1,667 hours x $25.00 per hour. The per-hour rate is based on the Bureau of Labor Standards). We do not require any additional recordkeeping.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14).

a. There is no capital, start-up, operation or maintenance costs.

b. Cost estimates are not expected to vary widely. The only cost is that for the time of the respondent.

c. There are no anticipated capital start-up cost components or requests to provide information.

14. Provide estimates of annual cost to the Federal Government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operation expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

a. Processing/Analyzing costs $444,800

(GS-12/5 @ $41.48 x 20,000 x 15/60 minutes = $207,400)

(GS-9/5 @ $28.60 x 20,000 x 15/60 minutes = $143,000)

(GS-5/5 @ $18.88 x 20,000 x 15/60 minutes = $94,400)

b. Printing and production cost $22,560

c. Total cost to government $467,360

15. Explain the reason for any burden hour changes since the last submission.

The previously approved information collection did not quantify the dollar amount of the burden (only addressed the time burden). This submission calculated the cost to the respondent in dollars as detailed in the response to item 12.c. in this supporting statement ($41,667).

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The information collection is not for publication or tabulation use.

17. If seeking approval to omit the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

VA will display the expiration date.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions,” of OMB 83-I.

There are no exceptions.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

No statistical methods are used in this data collection.

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