The Secretary must set methods and timing for deciding whether misuse followed the Secretary's negligence
What the document says“The Secretary shall establish methods and timing with respect to determining whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary, of all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary, is the result of negligence by the Secretary.”
Paragraph (1) of the new subsection (d), headed Oversight of Negligence. The Secretary is to establish both the methods and the timing for determining whether a given instance of misuse by a fiduciary resulted from negligence by the Secretary. The subsection leaves the methods and the timing to the Secretary and names no deadline for setting them. Paragraph (3) of the same subsection adds that the Secretary is not required to make a determination under paragraph (1) for each instance of misuse.
What the document actually says“The Secretary shall establish methods and timing with respect to determining whether an instance of misuse by a fiduciary, of all or part of an individual's benefit paid to such fiduciary, is the result of negligence by the Secretary.”
Sometimes the VA is careless and a theft follows. The VA must set up a way to spot that. It must also set how long it has to decide.
The law does not spell out those steps. The VA writes them. The law also says the VA need not make this call every single time.
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