Dems demand answers on EHRM contract rise as VA says lawmakers knew the total price
Democrats on the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees recently sent letters to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Oracle demanding answers about the increase in the electronic health record modernization contract ceiling.
In a letter dated last week, ranking members Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked VA Secretary Doug Collins for several documents related to the increase and answers to 13 questions by Oct. 30.
In August, the VA-Oracle EHRM contract ceiling jumped from almost $10 billion to nearly $27 billion without widespread knowledge in Congress — but the VA says Congress was told of the estimated total rollout cost last year.
“Under the Trump administration, VA chose to rapidly accelerate the deployment of the Oracle Health product, despite no proven record of success and no assessment as to whether VA’s workforce and infrastructure could withstand such efforts,” the letter said. “VA’s decline in transparency, particularly regarding recent contract modifications, is extremely troubling.”
Citing FedScoop reporting, the lawmakers asked for documentation supporting the VA-Oracle EHRM contract modification, including market research and documents explaining the increase and “unanticipated complexities” the VA cited in the redacted modification.
They also asked for written responses to questions about how the contract increase happened — including why it did, given that Oracle co-CEO Mike Sicilia told the Senate committee in a 2022 statement that the company would absorb any “performance or workflow” issue costs.
The letter, first reported by Bloomberg Government, also includes several questions about the new EHR’s compliance with federal disability regulations, additional costs and patient safety.
Quinn Slaven, spokesperson for the VA, told FedScoop that the agency notified members of Congress of the total cost last year.
“VA notified Sen. Blumenthal, Rep. Takano and other members of Congress in September 2025 that the estimated costs of the EHRM rollout are expected to total $37.2 billion through 2031,” he said.
At the Sept. 2 House committee hearing, Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence told this to the panel, saying full deployment through 2031 is about $37 billion, plus about $11 billion for sustainment, or roughly $48 billion total.
In spring 2025, both chambers’ committee leaders, as well as the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs’ leaders, asked Collins for a cost estimate by September last year.
Slaven also said the two-year EHRM freeze added “at least $1 billion in unexpected costs.”
“VA is accelerating the deployment of its integrated electronic health record system, after the program was nearly dormant for almost two years under the Biden Administration,” he said.
The increase is also due to the VA’s “new requirements” for Oracle to fix its problems, “including new modifications to the system, increased training, and more staff and equipment resources,” Slaven said. Additionally, Oracle has continued to handle training and help desk support, which “has proven more effective” than the VA taking it on as originally anticipated, he said.
Blumenthal and six other Senate committee minority members also sent a letter to Oracle in late September, saying they support the House committee’s subpoena of Sicilia and Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison.
“You have a responsibility to America’s veterans and taxpayers to explain what is happening with this project and its increasing costs,” they said in the letter. “Your failure to appear in Congress is a failure to uphold your commitment to veterans and we need immediate answers on this project.”
The September letter from the Senate covered similar ground as the bicameral one last week, with additional questions on Oracle’s role in meeting oversight obligations and an “explanation of why Congress was not notified directly by Oracle or VA before the increase became public through press reporting.”
“Oracle has a responsibility to deliver a functioning EHRM to veterans, yet there have been years of delays and ballooning costs under your leadership,” the letter addressed to Ellison and Sicilia said.
Sicilia and Ellison have been subpoenaed to testify in November and December, respectively. Last month, Senate committee Chair Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he plans to have a hearing on EHRM in November when Congress returns from the election-year October recess.
