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VISION:
Implement
Nationwide Integrated Electronic Benefits Transfer
Full
statement
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VA
Applications Go Online
Two
new systems will allow veterans quick, easy and secure access to
apply for compensation, pension, rehabilitation benefits and health
care. Later this year, VA plans to offer education applications
on the Internet.
Van
Takes the High (Tech)
Road to Help Homeless Veterans
A 43-foot
mobile medical/dental clinic and veterans benefits office is traveling
the roads of Florida, providing immediate assistance to homeless
veterans. Four cellular phone connections, two satellite links,
and two laptop computers connect counselors with the veterans' records
and medical histories. Video-conferencing equipment allows VA physicians
to interview patients directly from the mobile unit.
Smart
Cards Carry All
All of us who use ATM and credit cards know how
smart a little plastic card with a magnetic stripe can be. But plastic
cards are getting smarter. A smart card contains an integrated circuit
chip with a microprocessor and memory. They are portable databases
that government workers can use to work better and faster. The General
Services Administration, in partnership with Navy, opened a Smart
Card Technology Center in Washington, DC, in September 1998. The
Center demonstrates one card storing everything from "cash" to fingerprints
to medical and dental records.
We're Looking for
Stories
Federal workers
are doing amazing things to deliver government services electronically.
Access America E-Gov E-Zine wants to tell these stories.
We are looking for stories about federal agencies, or multi-agency
partnerships, that are developing a standard, nationwide system to
deliver government benefits electronically. Electronic Benefits
Transfer (EBT) enables government to deliver benefits through a single
plastic card. In the 21st Century, people who get these benefits can
use the card to get cash or a variety of services. For example, they
can get cash at an automated teller machine (ATM) and also use the
card to pay their rent, check their eligibility for a service (such as
Medicaid), or update personal information on a kiosk for the State
Department of Motor Vehicles. In just a few years, one card may do a
lot of things because federal agencies are working on it now.
Stories about EBT or EBT demonstrations or plans can be short, as in a
"byte" of about 150 words, or they can be longer feature stories. Write
feature stories in plain language with quotes from customers who experience
(or may experience) the service electronically and quotes from federal
employees and their partners who deliver the service.
Include a contact person with phone number and email address. Send
your stories to pat.wood@npr.gov
or pat.smith@gsa.gov. If you
need more information, call Pat Wood, National Partnership for
Reinventing Government, (202) 694-0063. Please pass this request along
to others who may be interested.
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