{"id":498,"date":"2026-07-14T17:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:14:21","slug":"ai-wont-replace-human-claims-processors-va-officials-say-as-democrats-worry-over-staffing-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=498","title":{"rendered":"AI won\u2019t replace human claims processors, VA officials say, as Democrats worry over staffing levels"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Artificial intelligence tools the Department of Veterans Affairs is using to speed up disability claims processing will not replace human reviewers, agency officials told lawmakers Monday, but Democrats contend claims processing also need sufficient staffing levels, not just new technology.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery disability claim is decided by a trained VA employee, not by AI or automation. These tools support human decision making; they do not replace it,\u201d Robert Orifici, acting deputy chief information officer at VA\u2019s Office of Information and Technology, said during a House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we really strive to do is look at those really high volume, highly administrative tasks, focus our resources and [apply] really basic automation on those capabilities, so that we are really supporting and augmenting the productivity of our employees,\u201d added Derek Herbert, acting chief production officer at VA\u2019s Veterans Benefits Administration.<\/p>\n

Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., who chairs the subcommittee,\u00a0expressed support for VA\u2019s focus on maintaining human disability claim reviewers, saying Congress \u201cwill make sure that there are strong guardrails where no veteran claim is fully decided by AI or automation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments come as VA is actively using AI to speed up disability claims processing by prepopulating toxic exposure memos veterans must file, streamlining information gathering and facilitating other procedures. VA is also planning to acquire or develop additional AI and automated tools for disability claims, Nextgov\/FCW<\/em> reported in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., the panel’s ranking member, argued that the new technologies may actually hinder VA reviewers\u2019 ability to quickly process claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear from employees that the so-called fixes that VA has pushed, like automation and pilots of artificial intelligence tools, often produce incorrect information, compounding issues and slowing production,\u201d Budzinski said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The congresswoman said new technology cannot solve declines in VA staffing, adding that she is alarmed that VA has lost 1,100 claims examiners this fiscal year, along with 2,700 examiners and 120 IT specialists since January 2025.<\/p>\n

Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., said she shared Budzinski\u2019s concerns that a lack of adequate VA staffing is leading to less accurate reviews of claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Goodlander pressed Hebert to reveal how many claims examiners the VA has on staff and confirm the total has declined since January 2025. Hebert did not have specific numbers but said he would get those to the lawmakers while noting that VA is currently hiring. VA had several open claims examiners positions on usajobs.gov as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Sterling Thomas, the Government Accountability Office\u2019s chief scientist, similarly told lawmakers that federal agencies need a workforce with the right skills to harness new technologies. He argued that solutions such as a federal digital services academy could help VA and other agencies field the talent they need.<\/p>\n

Thomas also recommended that VA turn to of key practices as it continues to roll out new AI and automated technologies for claims processing. The framework says federal agencies should document the data used to build AI models, articulate system-level technical specifications, continuously monitor AI performance, assess that performance and take other measures to ensure technology is responsibly deployed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., said some VA employees report claims processing technologies are producing incorrect information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"yoast_head":"\nAI won\u2019t replace human claims processors, VA officials say, as Democrats worry over staffing levels - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AI won\u2019t replace human claims processors, VA officials say, as Democrats worry over staffing levels - Market Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rep. 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