Lawmakers fault plan for veterans' health records - 14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro

Lawmakers fault plan for veterans' health records

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WASHINGTON (AP) -

Congressional leaders overseeing veterans' issues are criticizing a decision by the Obama administration to move away from building a new computer system for storing the health records of troops and veterans.

The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department are working to merge their health records so that doctors can track a patient's health history from the time he or she enters the military to when he or she leaves and gets care at the VA.

The plan was to build a new computer system that would allow the two departments to merge all their health records by 2017. The departments announced Tuesday they could get the job done more quickly and cheaply by enhancing their existing but different computer systems.

Lawmakers are calling the shift a huge setback for veterans.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)