[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 141 (Friday, July 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35379-35380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14052]
[[Page 35379]]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Annual Pay Ranges for Physicians, Dentists, and Podiatrists of
the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: VA is hereby giving notice of annual pay ranges, which is the
sum of the base pay rate and market pay for VHA physicians, dentists,
and podiatrists as prescribed by the Secretary for Department-wide
applicability. These annual pay ranges are intended to enhance the
flexibility of the Department to recruit, develop, and retain the most
highly qualified providers to serve the Nation's veterans and maintain
a standard of excellence in the VA health care system.
DATES: Annual pay ranges are applicable beginning on October 5, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Tolley, Veterans Health
Administration, (843) 864-3630.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(A), not less
often than once every 2 years, the Secretary must prescribe for
Department-wide applicability the minimum and maximum amounts of annual
pay that may be paid to VHA physicians, dentists, and podiatrists. 38
U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(B) allows the Secretary to prescribe separate minimum
and maximum amounts of annual pay for a specialty or assignment.
Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(C), amounts prescribed under paragraph
7431(e) shall be published in the Federal Register and shall not take
effect until at least 60 days after date of publication.
In addition, under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(4), the total amount of
compensation paid to a physician, dentist, or podiatrist cannot exceed,
in any year, the amount of annual compensation (excluding expenses) of
the President. For the purposes of subparagraph 7431(e)(4), ``the total
amount of compensation'' includes base pay, market pay, performance
pay, and fee basis earnings, but excludes recruitment, relocation, and
retention incentives \1\ and incentive awards for performance and
special contributions from total compensation calculations.
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\1\ In accordance with Title IX, Section 906 of the ``Sergeant
First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address
Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022'' (Pub. L. 117-168 dated
August 10, 2022), recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives,
along with performance awards, shall not be considered in
calculating the limitation under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(4).
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Background
On December 3, 2004, the President signed the ``Department of
Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel Enhancement Act of 2004'' (Pub.
L. 108-445). The major provisions of the law established a new pay
system for VHA physicians and dentists consisting of base pay, market
pay, and performance pay. While the base pay component is set by
statute, market pay is intended to reflect the recruitment and
retention needs for the specialty or assignment of a particular
physician or dentist at a facility. Further, performance pay is
intended to recognize the achievement of specific goals and performance
objectives prescribed annually. These three components create a system
of pay that is driven by both market indicators and employee
performance, while recognizing employee tenure in VHA.
On April 8, 2019, the President signed Public Law 116-12, which
amended 38 U.S.C. 7431 to include podiatrists within the physician and
dentist pay system, authorizing podiatrists to receive base pay, market
pay, and performance pay. With the amendment, podiatrists are also
subject to the same limitations and requirements as physicians and
dentists under section 7431.
Regarding the pay tables for physicians, dentists, and podiatrists,
VA will be making changes to the maximum amounts for pay table 1,
adding a tier to pay table 2, increasing the minimum and maximum ranges
for pay table 3, and removing a tier in pay table 3.
Discussion
VA identified and utilized salary survey data sources which most
closely represent VA comparability in the areas of practice setting,
employment environment, and hospital/health care system. The Gallagher
2023 Physician Compensation and Production Survey, Mercer 2023 U.S.
Integrated Health Networks Physician Practices/Outpatient Facilities,
and Sullivan Cotter 2023 Physician Compensation and Productivity Survey
report were collectively utilized as benchmarks from which to prescribe
annual pay ranges across the scope of assignments/specialties within
the Department.
In constructing annual pay ranges to accommodate the more than 40
specialties that currently exist in the VA system, VA continued the
practice of grouping specialties into consolidated pay ranges. This
allows VA to use multiple sources that yield a high number of salary
data which helps to minimize disparities and aberrations that may
surface from data involving smaller numbers for comparison and from
sample change from year to year. Thus, by aggregating multiple survey
sources into like groupings, greater confidence exists that the average
compensation reported is truly representative. In addition, aggregation
of data provides for a large enough sample size and provides pay ranges
with maximum flexibility for pay setting for VHA physicians, dentists,
and podiatrists.
In developing the annual pay ranges, a few distinctive principles
were factored into the compensation analysis of the data. The first
principle is to ensure that both the minimum and maximum salary is at a
level that accommodates special employment situations, from fellowships
and medical research career development awards to Nobel Laureates,
high-cost areas, and internationally renowned clinicians. The second
principle is to provide ranges large enough to accommodate career
progression, geographic differences, sub-specialization, and other
special factors.
Clinical specialties were reviewed against available, relevant
private sector data. The specialties are grouped into two clinical pay
ranges that reflect comparable complexity in salary, recruitment, and
retention considerations. The Steering Committee recommends adding new
and realigning existing specialties to different clinical pay ranges,
as well as changes to the maximum pay ranges.
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Tier level Minimum Maximum
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Pay Table 1--Clinical Specialty
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Tier 1........................................ $121,000 $315,000
Tier 2........................................ 145,000 335,000
Tier 3........................................ 165,000 350,000
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Pay Table 1--Covered Clinical Specialties
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Allergy and Immunology; Endocrinology; Endodontics; Family Medicine;
General Practice--Dentistry; Geneticist; Geriatrics; Health
Informatics; Hospital Epidemiology; Hospitalist; Infectious Diseases;
Internal Medicine; Neurology; Palliative Care; Periodontics; Physician
Medicine and Rehabilitation/Spinal Cord Injury; Podiatry (General);
Preventive Medicine; Primary Care; Prosthodontics; Psychiatry;
Rheumatology; Urgent Care; All other specialties or assignments........
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Pay Table 2--Clinical Specialty
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Tier 1........................................ $115,587 $400,000
Tier 2........................................ 200,000 400,000
Tier 3........................................ 225,000 400,000
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[[Page 35380]]
Pay Table 2--Covered Clinical Specialties
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Anesthesiology; Cardiology; Critical Care; Dermatology and MOHS
Dermatology; Emergency Medicine; Gastroenterology; Gynecology; Health
Informatics; Hematology--Oncology; Nephrology; Neurosurgery; Nuclear
Medicine; Ophthalmology; Oral Surgery; Otolaryngology; Pain Management;
Pathology--Clinical and Anatomic; Podiatry (Surgery-Forefoot, Rearfoot/
Ankle, Advanced Rearfoot/Ankle); Pulmonary; Radiology; Radiation
Oncology; Sleep Medicine; Surgery--Cardio-thoracic, General, Hand,
Neuro, Orthopedic, Plastic, Thoracic, Transplant, and Vascular;
Urology................................................................
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Pay Table 3
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Tier 1........................................ $220,000 $400,000
Tier 2........................................ 200,000 400,000
Tier 3........................................ 180,000 375,000
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Pay Table 3--Covered Assignments
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Recommendation is to remove Tier 4--Associate Chief of Staff............
Tier 1--Network Chief Medical Officer...................................
Tier 2--Chief of Staff..................................................
Tier 3--Deputy Network Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff..
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Pay Table 4--Executive Assignments
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No discussions took place regarding Pay Table 4.........................
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Tier 1........................................ $145,000 $310,000
Tier 2........................................ 145,000 295,000
Tier 3........................................ 145,000 285,000
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Pay Table 4--Covered Assignments
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Deputy Under Secretary for Health; Assistant Under Secretaries for
Health; Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Health; Assistant Deputy
Under Secretary for Health; Chief Officers (VHA Central Office (CO));
Network Directors; Medical Center Directors; Executive Directors (VHA
CO); Deputy to the Assistant Under Secretaries for Health; Chief
Consultants (VHA CO); Deputy Chief Officers (VHA CO); Deputy Network
Directors; Deputy Medical Center Directors; Deputy Chief Consultants
(VHA CO); Deputy to the Executive Directors (VHA CO); VHA CO
physicians, dentists, or podiatrists (non-Senior Executive Service
equivalents) with an administrative/executive role for more than 50% of
their full time equivalent.............................................
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Signing Authority
Douglas A. Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved and
signed this document on July 22, 2025, and authorized the undersigned
to sign and submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register
for publication electronically as an official document of the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Taylor N. Mattson,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2025-14052 Filed 7-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P