Veterans Failed by Disability Benefits Errors, Lawmakers Say

By Sam StevensonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

Veterans across America are being failed by the system that conducts the medical exams which determine their disability benefits, a Congressional subcommittee has heard.

Lawmakers at the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee cited numerous constituent complaints involving wrong or inappropriate exams, inadequate exam conditions—such as some conducted in hotel rooms—and poor accessibility for disabled veterans.

Newsweek contacted the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) for comment via email.

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Why It Matters

More than 6 million U.S. veterans rely on disability benefits for service-connected injuries and illnesses as part of the nation's commitment to those who served. Recent congressional testimony highlights systemic failures in how these benefits are determined, with lawmakers warning that errors and inefficiencies are leaving veterans underserved.

The oversight hearing shed light on wide-ranging concerns—from inadequate contractor oversight to questionable medical exam procedures—that directly affect veterans’ access to support.

What To Know

On Thursday, the House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee convened an oversight hearing entitled "Improving Outcomes for Disabled Veterans: Oversight of VA’s Medical Disability Examination Office."

It addressed problems in the VA disability benefits process, which contracts out over 90 percent of its medical exams to private companies under a multibillion dollar program.

Lawmakers and witnesses testified that these exams often suffer from poor quality, incomplete records, misdirected appointments, and insufficient oversight.

Republican subcommittee Chair Morgan Luttrell of Texas opened the hearing by saying: “If an exam is wrong, incomplete, inaccurate, or delayed, the veteran might not receive the benefits they earned from their service.”

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He added: “When a veteran files a claim for disability compensation, Veterans Affairs is responsible for helping the veteran prove their eligibility for benefits. And for years, VA has relied heavily on its own clinicians at VA medical centers to perform these exams.”

But the process of covering more than 9 million exams has now been outsourced to four major external firms with a multi-year budget ceiling of $13 billion, Luttrell explained.

He pointed out that “as demand increased, VA turned to vendors to help handle the workload to ensure quicker process rates and shorter wait times.”

Luttrell then highlighted how a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report had found millions of dollars had been wrongly awarded to external vendors “who did not meet performance standards.”

Elizabeth Curda, testifying on behalf of the GAO, said that in recent audits, the VA's medical disability exam office awarded overpayments to private contractors in fiscal year 2024 due to breakdowns in incentive calculations and a lack of proper quality checks.

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The director of education, workforce and income security said: “We found that the Veterans Benefits Administration did not have written procedures for checking the accuracy of its calculations for these incentives, resulting in some mistakes. For instance, VBA overpaid almost $2.3 million in financial incentives in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.”

Democratic Representative John Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky said that some exams were being conducted in inappropriate settings.

He said: “I've heard from veterans whose disability medical exams were conducted in hotel rooms and not at a medical office.”

Mary Glenn, deputy executive director of the VA’s Medical Disability Examination Office, said: “We have tightened up quite a lot on what our requirements are for the examination space.”

“If it's in the veteran's claim folder, everything is sent over to the examiner,” she said.

Glenn added that she welcomed these issues being brought to her attention and said the department has “a plan and way of investigating.”

She added: “We want our veterans to feel safe and accommodated when they go to these exams.”

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What People Are Saying

Republican Subcommittee Chair Morgan Luttrell of Texas said: “The same errors keep happening, leaving some veterans with delays or incorrect decisions. This is a systematic failure.”

Democratic Representative John Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky said: “We are hearing way too many stories about how it is not working for our veterans. In too many instances, the system fails too many veterans.”

Republican Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan said: “We can't quit on the veterans. And we have to continue to refine the oversight and the detail of that oversight in an ever-changing world where we use the processes available to us now to be better at what we do on the veterans’ behalf because they're counting on us.”

Mary Glenn, deputy executive director of the VA’s Medical Disability Examination Office, explained that the office has recouped the contractor overpayments, “enhanced our methodology to prevent future errors,” and implemented a new examiner feedback portal.

What Happens Next

Members of Congress pledged continued scrutiny of the VA’s disability examination process.

Luttrell told VA officials: “I know that you're working on it, and I appreciate that. We will never let that be enough, and it will never be perfect. But we will not stop fighting for perfection because of those that we are responsible for taking care of, because they never asked anything of anyone when a round was going by their head. They never did that.

“That's why we do what we do. And that oversight goes a long way. You will be back here in front of us. We will ask these questions again. And I expect it will not be the same answers. I hate to tell you this, but you are absolutely pinging hard on my radar because of every veteran that you touch.”

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