SAVE Award 2011 Department of Veterans Affairs

Close all offices except essential personnel the day after Thanksgiving. Many people use this day and its a waste to operate with lights, energy, guards, etc... for a few people.

All of those receiving Welfare should be required to report to the nearest Federal Facility and be placed in working positions in Housekeeping or Ground Maintenance if they are to continue receiving their monthly checks. This will help to balance the budget and will make these individuals feel as though they are making a contribution. No work ,,, No Pay!

Allow employees to take a day off without pay. This will save the Gov't Millions. Those who can afford it, can save their Annual Leave and take a single day off per pay period without pay. Pretty simple request in VistA, and can easily be approved by immediate supervisor.

Allow employees input in managers' performance reviews. The subordinate employees have the most knowledge of the managers' day to day performance.

We spend billions of dollars on background investigation for Federal employees (including soldiers leaving the service going to Federal employment) with current clearances by the Federal Government, due in part to disconnect. A Federal employee going from one Federal Agency to another should take no more than a month. However due to redoing (Cleared Employee) the extensive background investigation it takes more money,... more »

As a VA Pharmacist, I've witnessed patients bringing bags full of medications back to the medical center claiming that they'd never asked for them or that they have too much at home. Those medications can not be reused and must be destroyed at great expense to the VA. This not only leades to wasted money (in drug cost, personnel, postage and disposal costs), it encourages stockpiling, and can also contribute to national... more »

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted each month to pay veterans for coming to their medical appointments. This leads to many veterans falsifying their addresses to increase the amount of money they will receive and making daily, unnecessary healthcare appointments for the sole purpose of receiving pay. The latter seriously and needlessly overburdens our healthcare system leading to the need for more staff, which... more »

The GAO estimates $17 BILLION dollars of improper Medicare payments each year. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program pays out $4.6 BILLION in improper and fraudulent benefits annually. The Department of Veterans Affairs loses $800 MILLION annually on improper and fraudulent payments. And the FRAUD list goes on and on and on, totaling OVER $100 BILLION PER YEAR!!! 1ST...I suggest that we include the statement... more »

A large number of veterans are diabetic, when they are in the hospital they each get a vial of insulin which is barley used, so on discharge we are not allowed to give them the vial and it is destroyed. I have worked at private sector hospitals that are magnet. There policy is to have a vial of insulin in the pixis machine that is used for all the diabetics that need coverage. There is no contamination of the vial since... more »

A freind of mine was going to Virginia for training the V.A. paid $1300.00 for their ticket. I bought tickets on the same flight for 250.00. There were about 15 other employees from our V.A. that made the same trip. If you consider all of the traning or seminars that the different agencys may attend. I'm sure the amount of money that is wasted on travel is huge. It only takes a little time to find cheap flights online.... more »

Put the whole Government on a four day 10 hour work week.

Solar Panels on Every Federal Building. This will save lots of money and can make money by sending extra power to power companies and they would have to pay the government. May allow for charging of electric cars at a fee basis. Vote for this idea show that people care about our environment. Thank you!!

A lot of boys and girls grow up and want to serve their country. These children see their parents working hard, paying their bills, being honest, and respecting each other. When some of these children grow up, they decide that they want to run for political office. Some of these big children get elected to the Congress in Washington DC. WHAT HAPPENS??? A lot of these big children forget the importance of paying their... more »

Why not adopt MANY of these suggestions? Many of these are legitimate money-saving suggestions for the Federal Government.

I suggest adopting as many of these as possible to give the American Taxpayers the Federal Government that they expect and deserve.

I propose that the government "buy back" or allow federal employees to cash in on their sick leave when it reaches a certain amount. Currently, the system is "use or lose" and many employees will take "sick days" when they are not sick in order to not lose that time. (or if they have taken a job with another company, the employee will use as much sick time as possible before they leave their position). When an employee... more »