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VA disability-claim evidence errors rise as automation expands, Beam finds
The Beam, via AP, reports VA evidence-collection errors and higher-level send-backs rose as Automated Decision Support spread; the department says the tool is not causing errors.
- KSL is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “As Veterans Affairs expands automation, it commits more errors on veterans’ claims”
- Our desk filed its story
Based on reporting by KSL
Wire reporting: (AP, via KSL)
The Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded an Automated Decision Support tool that scans records and writes summaries before human raters decide disability claims, according to an investigation by The Beam, an Arizona State University newsroom, distributed by The Associated Press1.
VA data cited in that reporting show evidence-collection errors rose from more than 66,000 in fiscal 2021, before the December 2021 launch, to more than 329,000 in fiscal 20261. Higher-level reviewers sent back about 23 percent of decisions in fiscal 2021 and 35 percent in fiscal 20261.
The tool does not set compensation amounts and is used only for some conditions; the department said it made nearly 300,000 such decisions in 2023 and about 50,000 a month by April 2026, with a goal of 90 percent of claims by the end of 20271. Press secretary Quinn Slaven said there is no evidence the tool causes errors and attributed more findings to a fourfold rise in higher-level-review appeals from 2020 to 20261.
Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Margarita Devlin told the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on April 15, 2026, that accuracy had improved, citing an issue-based rate near 94 percent versus a 96 percent target1. A Democratic committee aide and appeals attorney John Niles linked the rise in duty-to-assist errors to the tool; American Legion reviews in 2025 at offices in Chicago, Puerto Rico and Louisville, Kentucky, said staff reported missed details1.
VA statistics do not separate automated from human mistakes, and errors are counted only when a veteran appeals1. Not medical advice.
