GAO: $3 billion Veterans Administration shortfall for care of Iraq vets

Soldier rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Hospital

WASHINGTON The government used prewar data to estimate the cost of caring for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, which contributed to a $3 billion (€2.4 billion) budget shortfall at the Veterans Affairs Department since 2005, congressional investigators say.

The department used "unrealistic assumptions, errors in estimation and insufficient data" to project its budget, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Wednesday.

Investigators also said the VA failed to estimate correctly the costs for these war veterans partly because the agency could not get accurate information from the Defense Department.

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