Health Benefits Assistant

About the role

The incumbent is responsible for a wide range of assignments and provides administrative support to the Member Services Unit. The clinical staff recovery aspects of this position directly impact the facility. The incumbent is organizationally aligned in the Health Administration Service (HAS).

Responsibilities

• Receive and determine the needs and entitlements to coordinate a client's visit from arrival to departure, ensuring all administrative and clinical details have been completed before an applicant leaves the facility
• Greet and receive applicants and determines their status in the VA system
• Actively listen to customers with respect and concern
• Pay attention to the details of the customer's needs and help the customer arrive at a satisfactory solution to the problem
• Respond to requests in a timely and appropriate manner
• Assist patients in applying for medical benefits
• Advises the veteran of their eligibility status and enrollment Priority Group for VA health care
• Explain the billing co-payment status, including how their private insurance may affect their billing co-payments
• Respond to phone inquiries
• Prepare all correspondence
• Enter demographic, insurance, and income information into an agency database system (such as: Vist-A)
• Make telephonic contacts with the client to follow-up and complete details from a previous visit
• Schedule, reschedule, and determine the correct wait time for appointments, appropriate use of recall and the electronic wait list
• Scan documents into the electronic medical record
• Determine the entitlement to medical care, bill preparation and collections on all billable episodes of inpatient and outpatient care
• Serve as a resource for the veteran community by participating in events and programs by providing training and information to VA staff, other federal agencies and community agencies regarding the VA services
• Provide training and information to VA staff, other federal agencies and community agencies regarding VA services

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement - 07/27/2026.

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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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. 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.

Specialized Experience

You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Knowledge of medical and administrative record system
• Ability to interpret and apply rules, regulations, policies, and procedures and to make sound decisions, using good judgment
• Knowledge of using a personal computer Word, Excel, and various VISTA packages such as Integrated Billing, Registration, Appointment Management, Enrollment, and Patient Demographics software applications
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing
• Skill in exercising initiative, originality, and leadership

Education

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed 4 years above high school. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic 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, secretarial, or technical school. Transcripts Required.

Combination of Education and Experience

Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. Transcripts Required.

Schedule

Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm