The new reports are the latest complications for the $16-billion plan to overhaul VA's records system. The plan still must be reviewed by an independent commission and approved by Congress before changes start to go into effect. The VA Under Secretary for Health post has been vacant for more than five years. The recommendations will be reviewed by an independent commission over the next year before any actions are taken. Lawmakers hope to finalize the spending plan within the next week. A system issue forced the health records offline for a day last week, disrupting medical operations at a Washington state site. The move follows comments from the president in his State of the Union address asking Congress to do more to help those veterans. Advocates say new eligibility requirements will exclude veterans in need of full-time care. Department officials expect to be monitoring virus cases indefinitely, but are hopeful it will eventually become more of a nuisance than public health threat. The president will also discuss financial help and mental health resources for veterans during his address to Congress. Load More