Program Support Asst (OA)

Veterans Health Administration; Buffalo (NY); Remote; USD 43,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration in Buffalo, NY is seeking a Program Support Assistant (OA) to support the Western NY VA Healthcare system’s Business Office. The role covers health benefits enrollment, eligibility determination, travel services, and admissions coordination.

The position includes responsibilities across Decedent Affairs, Beneficiary Travel, HOPTEL management, and inpatient admissions processing, with a Monday–Friday schedule and non-virtual duties.

Qualifications

• Transcript must be submitted as part of your qualifications.
• Foreign education requires a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with transcript for credit.

Responsibilities

• Advise applicants on health care benefits and determine eligibility.
• Handle Decedent Affairs administrative tasks and liaison with families and funeral directors.
• Administer Beneficiary Travel program and process travel reimbursement claims.
• Manage HOPTEL operations and admissions/transfer of inpatients.

Skills

Administrative skills

Communication skills

Customer service

Education

Transcript required

Tools

Data entry systems

Job description

• Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

The Western NY VA Healthcare system is currently recruiting for three Program Support Assistants for the Buffalo location in the Service Center with in the Business Office. This position performs a broad range of complex administrative activities in support of access to healthcare related benefits; enrollment, eligibility determination and travel services.

Key Responsibilities

Major Program Support Assistant (OA) duties include: Health Benefits Enrollment and Eligibility Advisor: Advises applicants of the health care benefits they are legally entitled to in person and over the phone, initiates administrative processes for establishing care, adjudicates eligibility when discrepancies exist, and notifies appropriate healthcare personnel accordingly.

Decedent Affairs Duties: Responsible for all administrative functions related to the Decedent Affairs program including details of patient death cases occurring within the Medical Center. Serves as a liaison between Medical Center staff, next of kin, organ/body donation recovery units and funeral directors.

Beneficiary Travel Advisor: Demonstrates working knowledge and technical proficiency in Beneficiary Travel program administration using eligibility criteria and regulatory authorities to appropriately administer program benefits to eligible patients and caretakers. Prepares and processes claims for travel reimbursement, authors vouchers to reimburse travel cost to eligible beneficiaries and communicates eligibility criteria to the patient.

HOPTEL: Perform administrative responsibilities in management of Hoptel services. Ensure guest meet eligibility requirements and are able to independently function in the Hoptel environment according to orders/Hoptel notes. Admissions: Will be responsible for monitoring and processing admissions and transfer of inpatients from clinics and the Emergency Room accurately and in a timely manner.

Is required to determine eligibility for inpatient status, including medical, surgical, behavioral health, domiciliary, and long term care and alerting management/admitting provider regarding ineligible patients submitted for admission. Note: The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform additional tasks as necessitated by the supervisor or designee.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position Physical Requirements: The work involves mostly administrative processing which requires standing, walking, sitting, stooping, bending, lifting light objects, answering the telephone and retrieving and entering data into various computer programs and databases.

Position Description Title/PD#: Program Support Asst (OA)/PD21T53A Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Requirements & Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $42597 – $61729/yr.

Is this position remote or telework eligible?

This position is eligible for telework.

What security clearance is required?

This position requires a Other security clearance.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-13.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Public' hiring path.