Sen. Schumer Seeks Creation Of Electronic Files For Vets

As Veterans Day is a time to remember, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is fighting for veterans' benefits through the Department of Defense and the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs.

He is calling upon the DOD and the VA to create interoperable electronic records.

By creating these new electronic records, almost 15,000 Upstate New York veterans' disability and other benefits which are currently backlogged in delays would be addressed, including over 600 in Chautauqua and Cattarau-gus counties.

Currently, a veteran has one set of health records for healthcare under DOD and a different, incompatible set of records must be created for benefits and healthcare service by the VA.

During the transition from active duty to separation and retirement, it takes the VA's Veteran's Benefits Administration a significant amount of time to access and analyze DOD medical treatment records.