VA Seeks To Quadruple Funding For Paperless Claims System

The Veterans Affairs Department will request a discretionary budget of $63.5 billion in 2014, a four percent increase over the 2013 funding levels President Obama approved last month and $500 million below what the department originally sought  for 2013, the White House said in a preliminary release of the VA budget.

The 2014 VA budget request includes $155 million for a paperless Veterans Benefits Management System designed to eliminate the disability claims backlog by 2015, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told a media briefing on Friday.

That proposal is four times higher than VBM’s final 2013 funding level of $38.5 million, which was a 40 percent cut from the $92.5 million VA had originally requested for 2013.