An automated Veterans Affairs system meant to help accelerate claims decisions actually helped contribute to inaccurate ratings on 27% of high blood pressure claims.
A VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report published last week found that more than a quarter of the 60 reviewed high blood pressure claims that were handled by the Automated Benefits Delivery System resulted in wrongful claims decisions for veterans, according to a report from Military.com.
The system was introduced in December 2021, ahead of what the VA believed was going to be a “flood” of disability applications as a result of the PACT Act, with Vietnam-era veterans filing high blood pressure claims under the act after their exposure to Agent Orange, an exposure linked to hypertension.