AFGE Rep: VA Paperless Claims System Shuts Down On A Weekly Basis

The Veterans Affairs Department’s $492 million paperless Veterans Benefits Management System routinely shuts down on roughly a weekly basis, according to reports from members of the American Federation of Government Employees who use the system.

AFGE members reported “during the last month that VBMS shut down on roughly a weekly basis,” Eric Jenkins, a ratings service representative at the VA’s Winston-Salem, N.C., regional office and a member of the AFGE National VA Council, told a hearing of the House VA subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. “The shut downs varied from just over an hour to spanning multiple days.”