Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers in requesting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) submit an updated schedule and cost estimate to Congress for the agency’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program.
In a March 28 letter that was made public this week, the group of lawmakers asked VA Secretary Doug Collins to provide necessary details to help Congress fully assess the EHRM program.
Sen. Moran was joined by Senate VA Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., House VA Committee Chairman and Ranking Member – Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., – House and Senate Appropriations Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee leadership – Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
The letter follows a similar request from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which issued a report last month with recommendations to produce an updated life cycle cost estimate and schedule for EHRM.
“The need for a cost estimate is further underscored by practical necessity,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “Without a reliable cost estimate, VA risks budget overruns, schedule delays, and diminished congressional trust. Compliance with these laws, directives, and GAO recommendations is a critical step to ensuring EHRM’s success and accountability.”
The letter cites multiple Federal laws and directives from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that require the VA to provide a cost estimate for EHRM, including the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, OMB Circular A-11, and Circular A-130 and Memorandum M-15-14 under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA).
“These requirements ensure that the VA can manage taxpayer funds responsibly and that EHRM is aligned with its mission to improve veteran health care,” the lawmakers said.
The bicameral group of lawmakers wants a detailed schedule and a cost estimate for EHRM before Sept. 30.
The lawmakers said their request aligns with persistent calls for transparency and accountability at the VA “ensuring that Congress can fully assess EHRM’s financial and operational readiness to safeguard veterans’ and taxpayers’ interests before further rollouts begin.”
The VA’s EHRM program aims to provide a seamless experience for veterans as they transition from receiving care under the Department of Defense to receiving care under the VA, with a single, fully integrated EHR system.
The VA began modernizing the system in 2020 but paused deployments in 2023 as part of a “program reset” due to user concerns. The VA has yet to provide an updated cost estimate that reflects the impact of the pause, system changes, and updated processes.
The Federal EHR system will resume deployments in 2026. In December, the VA announced that by mid-2026 it would deploy the new system to four Michigan facilities: Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw.
Last month, the agency announced it would roll out the new EHR system to nine additional VA medical facilities in 2026, with sites located in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Alaska.
Thus far, the VA has only deployed the new EHR system to six out of the 164 VA medical centers. Aside from the 13 planned deployments in 2026, the VA has not yet released a schedule for the remaining 145 sites.