Audit of VHA and VBA Controls Over the Toxic Exposures Fund

VA Office of Inspector General · Report 25-03218-133 · August 20, 2026 · Office of Audits and Evaluations

What the OIG found

The OIG audited controls over the PACT Act’s Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, from which VHA and VBA spent about $51.7 billion from fiscal years 2022 through 2025 to deliver health care and benefits to veterans exposed to environmental hazards, with another $52.7 billion appropriated for fiscal year 2026. Reviewing transactions from October 2024 through September 2025, the team found VHA had built methods to estimate, track, and reconcile spending with the Office of Management and Budget but needed stronger monitoring of expenditure transfers, with about $371,000 in miscoded transactions found and corrected during the audit. VBA, by contrast, had only an estimation and tracking method that could not reconcile costs to actual PACT Act workload, hampered by system limits and leadership turnover. The OIG made four recommendations; VA has since updated fund policy with standard operating procedures and committed to building a workable VBA reconciliation process.

Who it concerns

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) — Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund under the PACT Act

Why it matters to a family

This fund pays for toxic-exposure care and benefits under the PACT Act — the care many exposed veterans and their families fought for — so weak controls put the money behind those promises at risk.

The official report

The OIG’s report page · Full report (PDF)

Summary ours; the report is the OIG’s. Read it at vaoig.gov →