SUPPORTING STATEMENT
VA FORM 29-888
INSURANCE DEDUCTION AUTHORIZATION (For Deduction from Benefit Payments)
2900-0024
Summary of Changes:
This ICR is being submitted as an “Extension” since there are no changes to the burden or the information collection instruments.
Title: Insurance Deduction Authorization, VA Form 29-888.
No comments were received during the 60-Day comment period.
Need for the Information Collection
This form is used by insureds to authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make deductions from benefit payments to pay premiums, loans and/or liens on his/her insurance contract. The information requested is authorized by law,
38 CFR 8.8.
Use of the Information
This form is used by the insured or their representative to authorize VA to deduct money from the insured’s VA compensation check. The deduction from the compensation check can pay the premium, loan and/or lien on the insurance. The authorization will remain in effect as long as the monthly benefit payment is enough to pay the monthly premium, and/or loan, and/or lien payment.
Use of the Information Technology
VA Form 29-888 is 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 currently 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 form to be incorporated with an existing centralized legacy database.
Non-duplication
The information is not contained in any other VA records. Similar information is not available elsewhere.
Burden on Small Businesses
The information does not involve any small businesses.
Less Frequent Collection
This form is designed for use by the insured to authorize deduction from benefits payments.
Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines
There are no special circumstances requiring that the collection of information be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR Section 1320.6.
Consultation and Public Comments
Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE:
A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The 60-Day FRN citation is Vol. 89 FRN 24895.
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The 30-Day FRN citation is 89 FRN 53182.
Part B: CONSULTATION:
No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.
Gifts or Payment
No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.
Confidentiality
The information collection conforms to the Privacy Act of 1974 and is subject to the conditions of disclosure contained therein. The records are maintained in the system identified as 36VA29 Veterans and Uniformed Services Personnel Program of U.S. Government Life Insurance – VA” as contained in the Privacy Act Issuances, 2011 Compilation.
Sensitive Questions
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.
Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs
Number of Respondents: 3,732
Frequency of Response: On occasion
Annual Burden Hours: 622 hours
Estimated Completion Time: 10 minutes
VA cannot make further assumptions about the population of respondents because of the variability of factors such as the educational background and wage potential of respondents. Therefore, VBA used general wage data to estimate the respondents’ costs associated with completing the information collection.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (B:S) gathers information on full-time wage and salary workers. According to the latest available BLS data, the mean hourly wage is $331.48 based on the BLS wage code – “00-0000 All Occupations.” This information was taken from the following website: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.
Legally, respondents may not pay a person or business for assistance in completing the information collection. Therefore, there are no expected overhead costs for completing the information collection. VBA estimates the total cost to all respondents to be $19,581 (622 burden hours x $31.48 per hour).
Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs
This submission does not involve any record keeping costs.
Costs to the Federal Government
Grade |
Step |
Burden Time |
Fraction of Hour |
Hourly Rate |
Cost Per Response |
Total Responses |
Total |
9 |
3 |
10 |
0.17 |
$26.24 |
$4.46 |
3,732 |
$16,645.00 |
Overhead at 100% Salary |
$16,645.00 |
||||||
5 |
3 |
2 |
0.03 |
$17.31 |
$0.52 |
3,732 |
$1,941.00 |
Overhead at 100% Salary |
$1,941.00 |
||||||
4 |
3 |
2 |
0.03 |
$15.48 |
$0.46 |
3,732 |
$1,717.00 |
Overhead at 100% Salary |
$1,717.00 |
||||||
|
|
||||||
Processing / Analyzing Costs |
$40,606.00 |
||||||
Printing and Production Cost |
$54.00 |
||||||
Total Cost to Government |
$40,660.00 |
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Overhead costs are 100% of salary and are the same as the wage listed above and the amounts are included in the total.
Printing and production costs approximates the cost of printing this information collection per year. (Processing/Analyzing Cost total divided by $54).
Note: The hourly wage information above is based on the hourly 2024 General Schedule (Base) Pay (https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/24Tables/html/GS_h.aspx). This rate does not include any locality adjustment as applicable.
The processing time estimates above are based on the actual amount of time employees of each grade level spend to process to completion a claim received on this form. The within-grade step (3) of each employee represents the average experience of employees within each grade.
Reason for Change in Burden
There is no change in respondent burden.
Publication of Results
The information is collected for insurance purposes only and there are no plans for publication.
Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date
We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.
Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”
We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | BO SURVEY |
| Author | issrfore |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-07-21 |