Summary This position is located in the Health Administration Service (HAS) of the Boise VA Health Care System and works under the Beneficiary Travel Section. The Veterans Transportation Program/Beneficiary Travel (VTS/BT) administers beneficiary travel program benefits to Veterans who meet eligibility criteria. Responsibilities Duties include, but not limited to: Correctly determining eligibility for the program, and processing requests. Correctly determining which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Contacts approving official to authorize obligations and requests for additions, deductions, and/or movement of funds. Responsible for determining method of payment for authorized and unauthorized ambulance claims submitted for consideration. Receives invoices for payment of transportation services. Investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) to review medical records, forwards for supervisory approval and submits all documents for payment utilizing appropriate control point for reference Responsible for forwarding all invoices certified for payment to Financial Management Service (FMS) for processing. Acts as liaison between vendors and FMS for invoices pending payment. Writes or selects appropriate letters explaining disposition of unauthorized travel claims. Responsible for explaining regulations and guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized ambulance claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. Corresponds with contracting officer regarding technical problems or negotiation of contractual agreement. Responsible for balancing, reconciling, and adjusting invoices for payment. Documents and prepares account synopsis for contracting officials quarterly to justify yearly ambulance contractual compliance. When required, prepares reports for cab service to determine annual, local mobility usage. Documents and prepares statistical ambulance reports to supervisor upon request for fiscal year budget. Maintains and controls filing system in accordance with VA regulations. Arranges all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transport services. May correspond with physician, traveler, social worker or Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) representative and vendor to determine the most dependable and economical mode of transportation. Prepares appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates. Makes special arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition and/or preference with a high priority emphasis on organ transplant patients, SCI (spinal cord injury), TBI (traumatic brain injury), OEF/OIF/OND patients. Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization. Reconciles vouchers against authorizations for accuracy prior to preparing certifications for payment. Prepares detailed reports of funds deposited and withdrawn monthly and on demand as needed. Collects, organize, track and count all beneficiary travel reimbursement forms from various locations throughout the facility. Budget tracking, researching specialty items and contacting vendors for item availability. Communicates and interacts with patients in a manner which is appropriate to cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient. Perform other duties as assigned by HAS leadership. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am. - 4:30pm. (MST) Telework: Not Authorized. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD60661A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Aapproved. 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/trial 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 To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 09/19/2025. 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: Applying transportation regulations and practices to perform a wide variety of administrative support; Arranges and coordinates travel for all modes of transportation; Correctly determines eligibility for beneficiary travel and processing requests and unauthorized ambulance claims; Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs; maintains records, Investigates authorizations, utilizes databases, reconciling records and generating reports; investigating/resolving issues and taking corrective actions; and communicating effectively with a wide variety of individuals. NOTE: 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. Preferred Experience: Experience processing requests for travel pay. Experience working with computer systems to process requests. Customer service experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Learning 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 sedentary in nature. The work requires no special physical demands, but will require some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending or sitting. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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.
