VA is analyzing old disability benefits questionnaires to detect fraud in future claims
- mdaviscvono
- Mar 27
- 3 min read
By LINDA F. HERSEY STARS AND STRIPES • March 16, 2026
This story has been corrected.
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will analyze 1 million old disability benefits questionnaires dating to 2010 to identify possible signs of fraud in future claims.
The VA has plans to deploy a “data collection tool,” which is under development, to look for patterns of fraud in prior DBQs. The information will be used only to inform decision-making in detecting problems going forward, the agency said.
“This tool is forward-looking only. VA will not use the tool to revisit previously finalized and processed DBQs,” VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said Monday.
The tool, which is expected to be introduced in fiscal 2026, will only be used by VA staff to flag suspected fraud in newly submitted DBQs.
DBQs are medical forms that private doctors fill out to document service-connected medical conditions.
Kasperowicz said the larger goal is to target unaccredited commercial businesses that prey on veterans — and not individual veterans themselves seeking benefits for service-connected injuries and illnesses.
“This initiative will not change how VA evaluates or decides claims. No veteran’s claim or benefit will be reduced or denied because of this effort,” Kasperowicz said.
He said the new safeguard is being developed in collaboration with VA’s Office of Inspector General, which released a fraud alert in 2023 related to DBQs.
Kasperowicz said the initiative will help to protect veterans from predatory companies that submit fraudulent DBQs.
The tool, for example, will flag DBQs that have similar boilerplate language or were prepared by a doctor located more than 100 miles from a veteran’s home.
A cottage industry of for-profit businesses has grown alongside the demand for veterans disability benefits. Many are not accredited by the VA and charge exorbitant fees, according to lawmakers.
About 30% of all veterans have a service-connected disability that qualifies them for benefits, a rate that has doubled since 2008.
Disabled American Veterans and other nonprofit advocacy groups offer assistance from claims officers who will process a veteran’s claim for free.
Many for-profit companies base charges on the amount of compensation they can win for veterans.
Kasperowicz also said Monday the tool will not use artificial intelligence but assist VA staff who process claims.
“[The tool] relies on manual data entry and analysis to help identify patterns that may help VA identify when organized fraud rings are posing as legitimate medical providers and preying on veterans — for example, by excessively charging them,” Kasperowicz said.
James W. Smith, a deputy executive director at the Veterans Benefits Administration, had testified at a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing that the “VA had developed a power BI tool that should be ready this year that is going to be able to analyze a little over a million DBQs that have been scanned going back to 2010.”
He was responding to a question from Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, on whether the VA was using a language model to conduct the fraud checks or “whether a human is still doing this.”
Power BI tools offer integrated artificial intelligence features within Microsoft Power Platform. The cloud-based platform enables systems to publish reports, create dashboards and collaborate with teams.
“Power BI converts raw data from multiple sources into interactive, actionable insights and reports. It enables users to connect, model, and visualize data, featuring AI integration,” according to Microsoft.
But Kasperowicz said Monday that although “Power BI has some AI-powered features ... VA is not using any of them in its fraud-prevention tool.”
Correction An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that the Department of Veterans Affairs was dropping a plan to analyze 1 million old Disability Benefits Questionnaires to look for patterns of fraud in prior DBQs. The VA will review the old questionnaires, but they will be used only to inform decision-making in detecting fraud going forward, the agency said.
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