VA Budget Bust Explained

How did the Veterans Affairs Department end up with a $3 billion budget shortfall? By using data from before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started to project future costs of caring for veterans, the Government Accountability Office says. On top of that, VA officials didn't tell Congress in a timely fashion that its appropriations weren't covering its costs. Part of the problem, in the VA's defense, is that it had trouble getting accurate information from the Pentagon to develop cost estimates.