Blumenthal & Takano Demand Answers from Collins on Skyrocketing Costs of Oracle's VA Electronic Health Record Contract

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, and U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, wrote Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Doug Collins demanding answers about the ballooning cost of the VA's Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. Oracle's contract for the VA EHRM program was recently modified, increasing the no-bid contract cost ceiling from $10 billion to more than $27 billion.

"The Committees on Veterans' Affairs in the House and Senate have worked closely with VA since the original contract was signed," Blumenthal and Takano wrote. "VA's decline in transparency, particularly regarding recent contract modifications, is extremely troubling."

On September 2, House Committee Democrats forced a vote to subpoena Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia for testimony at a congressional oversight hearing. Chairman Mike Bost (R-IL) pushed Ranking Member Takano and Democrats to withdraw the motion, but the committee ultimately approved it 19-0.

Soon after, Blumenthal and Senate Committee Democratic members wrote Ellison and Sicilia demanding documents and an explanation for the cost increase. They backed the House subpoenas and asked Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) to hold a full-committee oversight hearing on the cost overruns, repeated delays, and patient safety concerns.

The full text of the letter is copied below.

Dear Secretary Collins:

We write to express serious concerns regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) lack of transparency and cooperation in managing the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. 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.

On August 11, 2026, VA quietly issued a modification to Oracle Health's contract to deliver VA's EHRM to all VA facilities. In this modification, VA extended the period of performance to the year 2031 and increased the contract ceiling by an amount that the Department chose to redact, though news reports indicate that this figure is over $17.5 billion dollars.² Further, VA's citation of "unanticipated complexities" as the rationale for nearly tripling the original contract remains unexplained.

In light of the contract modification, and in preparation for the September 2, 2026, House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on EHRM, Committee staff requested a number of documents on August 27, 2026. To date, those documents have not been received. We insist that VA immediately comply with that request, and in addition provide the following information:

1. The complete and un-redacted contract modification document 36C10B18D5000 Modification P00008 and all associated documents;
2. Documentation sufficient to explain the need for the increase, including detailed descriptions of the "unanticipated complexities", and any related cost analysis or determination, including, but not limited to, the price negotiation memorandum;
3. All communications, including emails, text messages, and memoranda, between VA and Oracle related to the contract increase;
4. VA's most recent Life Cycle Cost Estimate broken down by contract costs, infrastructure costs, and VA program costs; and,
5. All documents related to the market research conducted by VA supporting its claim that no other software vendor could meet the Government's requirements.

Additionally, VA must provide written responses to the following:

1. Who approved the ceiling increase and under whose direction?
2. Who ordered the redaction of related documents and why?
3. How did VA arrive at the new estimated contract ceiling? What assumptions informed this number? How will those assumptions effect the VA Medical Centers that have yet to go-live?
4. What assurances does VA have that Oracle is not using veterans' data to benefit its commercial products? If Oracle IS doing so, how is VA ensuring veterans' privacy is protected and that VA receives appropriate compensation?
5. Will VA commit to obtaining an independent total life-cycle cost estimate for EHRM? If so, by what date will that estimate be completed and provided to Congress? If not, why?
6. Given that Oracle committed to absorbing the additional costs for the EHRM program contract, please provide an explanation for why VA is now footing these same costs?
7. What analysis did VA conduct regarding elevated patient safety event reporting at go-live sites before accelerating the 2031 deployment timeline, and what were the findings?
8. Given the VA's plans to accelerate deployment, has VA conducted an assessment of the impacts of deployment pace on cost?
9. We've heard concerns about Pay It Forward resources not being placed in areas with similar workflows, leaving these people unable to help frontline staff. How does VA match Pay It Forward employees to their assignments?
10. How many employees rely on Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, or other reasonable accommodations to perform their roles and responsibilities at the Department?
11. Was VA aware when it signed the original contract that Millenium was not Section 508 compliant? If so, why did VA sign it knowing the product was not compliant with federal law, and would limit disabled employees, including veterans, ability to do their jobs?
12. Has VA's Section 508 Office performed an assessment of how long it would take to make EHRM 508 compliant? If so, how much would these technical upgrades cost to ensure that this system is compliant with the law?
13. What is VA's plan to address Oracle's lack of 508 compliance?

The Committees on Veterans' Affairs in the House and Senate have worked closely with VA since the original contract was signed. VA's decline in transparency, particularly regarding recent contract modifications, is extremely troubling. As such, we demand that VA produce requested documents and written responses to the above questions no later than October 30, 2026.

Should you have any questions, please contact Mr. John Harry, Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, at [email protected], and Ms. Katie Adams, Counsel, at [email protected].

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