Leidos Subsidiary Wins $1.7B in VBA Contracts for Disability Assessments; Liz Porter Quoted

The Veterans Benefits Administration has awarded a Leidos business two prime contracts worth a potential combined value of $1.7 billion over six and a half years for medical disability assessment services.

Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contracts, QTC Medical Services will conduct disability examinations of transitioning and retiring service members while upholding the standards of the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the Alexandria, Virginia-based subsidiary said Tuesday.

Liz Porter, president of Leidos Health Group, said the organization is happy to participate in the process of helping warfighters move to a new stage of life.

“Using our capabilities in telehealth, our mobile medical units and our nationwide provider network, we’re bringing our services closer to veterans and service members, especially in rural areas,” Porter continued.

The QTC Medical team’s contract work will entail processing service branch members in the Benefits Delivery at Discharge and Integrated Disability Evaluation System pre-discharge programs, which comprise 124 military groups.

Additionally, QTC will use telehealth tools to serve claimants who reside outside of the U.S., administering compensation and pension tests and joint VA and DOD pre-discharge procedures.

According to Larry Schaefer, CEO of QTC, the company’s work with pre-discharge initiatives is vital for the accurate determination of “readiness and force strength” and for service branch members to receive benefits in a timely fashion.

The VBA contracts come as a function of the Medical Disability Examination Office. QTC has collaborated with the VA and DOD for two decades now, with specific experience supporting pre-discharge efforts. The contracts each cover six-month starting periods with a potential for six one-year option extensions.

QTC is currently performing similar work for the Federal Bureau of Investigations under a five-year, $110 million contract. The team is carrying out medical exams for current FBI staff and those under application to confirm fitness for duty.