VA Drops 10-Year AI Claims Review Plan After Veteran Backlash
In March 2026, the VA gave in to the pressure from these groups and announced it was canceling a plan to use automation to scan 1.2 million finalized disability claims for so-called claims fraud.
Critics argued the move would target disabled veterans and create a climate of suspicion around VA claims. The agency has now shifted the focus of this technology to new applications only.
The VA has not dropped plans to implement automated tools for new VA claims. Some veterans will still file their claims under a cloud of suspicion from the VA based on “boilerplate” identifiers, which may or may not be accurate or applicable in the real world, as we examine below.
VA Drops 10-Year AI Claims Review Plan After Veteran Backlash
In a February 2026 interview with Federal News Network, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was quoted as saying, “…from day one, we said, no, we’re going to put the veteran first in anything that we do. Now, anything we do is not filtered through, is this good for the department? It’s going to be filtered, is it good for that veteran?”
But apparently, veterans don’t come first at the VA when it comes to filing disability claims. In fact, the VA had announced plans to subject the last 10 years of VA claims to an automated review tool to search for “fraud” in those disability claims.
The plan sparked immediate outrage from veterans who didn’t like being treated like potential criminals, and from veteran advocacy groups who didn’t like third-party claims that VA assistance services were labeled as a potential scam or threat to veterans.
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VA Automated Claims Review Plan
James W. Smith II, a deputy executive director at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), testified before the House Committee for Veterans Affairs that the agency developed an analytical tool designed to cross-reference 1.2 million files to identify patterns in VA claims linked to “VA claim sharks.”
That term refers to unaccredited private companies that charge veterans fees to assist with benefit applications. The Doug Collins VA stated that the goal was to protect the Veterans Benefits Fund, but the criteria used by the tool to flag files raised immediate concerns.
Why?
The tool was programmed to identify “red flags” in Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs). These include:
- Medical examiners located more than 100 miles from the veteran’s home.
- Medical evidence using repetitive or “templated” phrasing across different claims.
- Incomplete signature blocks or a lack of verifiable credentials from the medical provider.
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Advocacy groups argued that these metrics do not prove fraud. Indeed, many rural veterans are forced to travel more than 100 miles to get VA care or see a specialist. Furthermore, medical professionals often use standardized terminology to meet VA requirements. Labeling these as signs of fraud was viewed by many as a flawed approach.
The Backlash and the VA Reversal
Organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Minority Veterans of America, argued that the plan treated veterans like criminals.
They noted that once a claim is finalized, a “presumption of regularity” should exist. Re-opening files from a decade ago based on an algorithm was seen as an overreach.
Following this backlash, the VA backed down and admitted it would no longer use the tool to revisit adjudicated claims. One VA spokesperson confirmed that the department will not use the technology to revisit previously finalized benefits and that no veteran’s benefits would be reduced because of this specific effort.
The tool is now (at press time) restricted to identifying organized fraud rings during the initial application phase for new claims.
The VA’s Office of Inspector General reports that the fraud conviction rate is less than 0.01% among the millions of claims processed. The Doug Collins VA’s inexplicable focus on “fraud” in veteran claims isn’t supported by its own Inspector General’s evidence.
The VA will continue to use the automated claims review tool for new incoming claims. If a new submission triggers a flag, it will be sent for a manual review by a human rater. The rater will determine if the medical evidence was procured through a fraudulent entity.
The VA maintains that this so-called “forward-looking” approach prevents the need to recover funds after they have been paid out.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
