VA is First US Government Agency to Meet “Level of Assurance 3” IT Standard
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that, with help from Veteran-run small business ID.me, Veterans will now be able to manage their own health care and benefits online more simply and safely. Vets.gov now meets the “Level of Assurance 3” (LOA3) information assurance standard, which will allow VA to offer Veterans more features on a single convenient site. This is the highest level of security used to protect user data and privacy, and VA is a leader in both the government and private sectors with an LOA3 logon account.
After a year of beta testing, VA launched Vets.gov, where Veterans can now use a single account to access services that were previously spread across numerous websites requiring multiple usernames and passwords. Because of security improvements enabled by ID.me’s tools, Veterans can now use Vets.gov to:
- Check the status of a benefits claim
- Message with health care providers
- Order prescription refills online
Information assurance is about proving who you really are online. A multi-factor authentication process, developed with ID.me, confirms a Veteran’s identity at the highly certain “Level of Assurance 3,” so VA can safely share personal information. VA is the first federal agency to meet the LOA3 standard of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
“This move is just the latest step in VA’s effort to improve Veterans’ access to VA services and information,” said Marina Martin, VA’s Chief Technology Officer. “Protecting Veterans’ privacy and personal information is central to our mission, and these improvements keep that commitment while making communication with VA more convenient and accessible.”
“Before, Veterans might need to visit a VA Medical Center in person to verify their identities before they could access their information on certain websites,” said Blake Hall, ID.me CEO. “Now, they can create Vets.gov accounts easily from their own homes. These technological upgrades mean real improvements a Veterans’ experience of communicating with VA.”
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Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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