WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today called on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address the problems that led to the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) placement on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) 2015 “High Risk List.”

Every Congress, the independent, nonpartisan GAO produces a list of what it deems “high risk” federal agencies and programs. This list highlights federal agencies that are not only vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement but that are also plagued by larger, systemic problems.

At a committee hearing held today, Isakson remarked on the gravity of the VHA being listed as “high risk.” Isakson likened the VHA’s placement on the high risk list to the scandal that unfolded in Phoenix, Ariz., last year, citing an overall systemic failure of responsibilities throughout the VHA.

“It is unclear from the VA’s testimony submitted prior to this hearing whether they understand the critical importance of being placed on this high risk list and precisely what needs to be done to eliminate the ‘high risk’ behavior that landed the Veterans Health Administration on GAO’s list,” said Isakson. “The VA should not simply focus on the number of recommendations they can close. These recommendations are a symptom of a systemic problem. Much like the scandal that erupted in Phoenix this time of year, the problem was not isolated to Phoenix but it was systemic in nature.”

Despite the GAO meeting regularly with the VA to discuss the steps that must be taken to be removed from this list, as of April 1, 2015, approximately 68 percent of the GAO’s recommendations were still open, with approximately 40 percent more than three years old.

Citing testimony from Dr. John D. Daigh with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Isakson pointed out that if the VA had followed just one of the OIG’s recommendations dating back to 2009 regarding VHA’s inpatient and outpatient programs outside of the VA’s health care system, it would have saved almost as much in overpayments as it wasted on the new Denver VA hospital.

“It’s just ironic to me that if the 2009 recommendations to the VHA by Dr. aigh’s office had been followed, as result we would have saved $1.1 billion over five years. That’s the amount of cost overrun in the hospital in Denver,” said Isakson.

Given the VA’s inability to satisfactorily comply with recommendations made by the GAO as well as recommendations from the OIG, Isakson pressed Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Interim Undersecretary for Health at the VA, about the VA’s plans to address these specific concerns.

In addition, Isakson raised concerns about the VA’s IT department, which has also been cited by the GAO as a high risk program. In one instance noted by the GAO, the VA spent $127 million over nine years to update its scheduling software but ultimately abandoned the program.

“Historically, the government as a whole performs very poorly in the area of Information Technology,” said Isakson. “Unfortunately, the VA is no exception and Federal IT has been an area of concern for years. Protecting our veteran’s personal healthcare information is a fundamental trust at the VA, yet there continue to be security issues most recently highlighted by the Inspector General.”

Testimony submitted by the OIG in advance of today’s hearing outlines over 6000 outstanding system security risks that have not been remediated by the VA.

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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.

Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000 veterans.