WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs will hire 200 temporary workers and shell out $70 million to implement a major expansion of veterans’ education benefits — a process beset by communication and information technology challenges, veterans advocates and VA officials said Tuesday.
Higher-than-anticipated costs is one of a number of problems that the agency has faced for months of a yearlong charge to implement the “Forever” GI Bill, which contains 34 changes to veterans’ education benefits and boosts spending by $3 billion for 10 years.
