In its first meeting of the 117th Congress, the House VA Committee advanced a proposal that would allocate $17 billion for VA as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
VA Seeks to Improve Healthcare Services for LGBT Veterans
With the understanding that the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans is affected by how equitably they are treated, the VA is seeking to improve its services for those groups.
Military Sexual Assaults Lead to Voluntary Separations; Affect Force Readiness
In addition to the extreme trauma it causes victims, military sexual assault also makes it much more difficult for the U.S. military to retain good personnel, according to a new report.
GAO Finds Problems With Oversight of Community Healthcare Providers
MISSION Act critics have raised alarms about the legislation consolidating and expanding VA’s community care program– that healthcare provided by non-VA providers would fail to meet VA’s standards.
Team Trains VA Health Professionals to Provide Better LGBT Care
As VA conducts a department-wide assessment of how it serves its LGBT veterans, agency leaders will likely discover what Jillian Shipherd, PhD, and Michael Kauth, PhD, have understood for years
How Will Biden Presidency Change VA, DoD Healthcare?
Next month, President-elect Joe Biden will take office and begin implementing his plans to redirect the energies of federal agencies, including VA and DoD.
Program Falls Short of Easing Servicemembers Return to Civilian Life
The Transition Assistance Program (TAP)—the joint effort by DoD, VA and DHS to help servicemembers transition to civilian life—is falling short of its goal, according to legislators and veterans’ advocates.
Bills Push VA to Presumptively Cover Cancer Treatment in New Groups of Veterans
Veterans who have developed illnesses after serving in recent conflicts have enlisted powerful supporters in their fight to gain presumptive coverage for their conditions.
VA Whistleblower Protection Office Takes Action in Only 2% of Its Cases
The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection has followed through with only a small fraction of the cases it has investigated.
Most AFGE Survey Respondents Opined That VA Has Racism Problem
More than three-quarters of VA employees report that racism is a moderate to severe problem at VA facilities, according to a survey released by the American Federation of Government Employees.
‘Bad Paper’ Discharges Keep Many Veterans From Receiving VA Care
WASHINGTON—While most servicemembers receive honorable discharges, as many as 7% discharged since 1980 have what are commonly known as “bad paper” discharges. Since 1980, 575,000 servicemembers have received bad paper discharges, many of which relate to minor...
VA: Some of Its Sexual Harassment Issues Will Take Four Years to Resolve
WASHINGTON—According to a number of surveys and reports, VA has yet to adequately address the problem of sexual harassment of both employees and patients. In 2016, a Merit Systems Protection Board survey found that 22% of VA employees experienced workplace sexual...
Pandemic Puts Spotlight on Problems With VA’s Healthcare Supply Chain
WASHINGTON—The difficulties VA faced during the early weeks of the pandemic ensuring its facilities had an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) confirmed what agency officials have recognized for some time: The healthcare system’s supply chain system...
Slow Reopening After COVID-19 Closures Means VHA Backlogs
WASHINGTON—As VA facilities across the country begin the process of a staggered reopening, most are facing a backlog of appointments, surgeries and disability examinations. While some healthcare needs were able to be met through telehealth during the last few months,...
TRICARE Changes in 2020 Seek to Lower Pharmacy Spending at DoD
The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2000 included a directive for the secretary of defense to establish an integrated pharmacy benefits. Since that time, the pharmacy benefit from TRICARE, the military’s healthcare program, has changed significantly, creating new benefits, strengthening the safety of the drugs it prescribes and having a direct impact on how patients manage their healthcare. Now, changes in copayments, enrollment fees, deductibles and catastrophic caps have been put into place this year in hopes of lowering pharmacy spending, which made up more than half the cost of military healthcare in 2018.
VA Delays Rollout of DoD-Compatible Electronic Health Record
WASHINGTON—The rollout of VA’s new electronic health record system has been delayed to at least July due to a lack of technology infrastructure and issues surrounding employee training. According to legislators, issues with a timely implementation were apparent as...
Schoomaker: Military Personnel Left Confused by Different Evaluation Systems at VA, DoD
WASHINGTON—Despite significant efforts by DoD and VA to revamp the disability evaluation process, the new system remains “complex and adversarial,” the top Army doctor told a congressional subcommittee. DoD and VA agreed on a new disability and evaluation system to...
Retired VA Healthcare Personnel: The VA Wants You Back to Fight COVID-19
WASHINGTON – If you are a retired VA healthcare provider, the agency wants you back – unless until the novel coronavirus pandemic is contained. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approved a request from the VA in mid-March to waive a section of federal law that...
A Third of Women Treated in VA System Perceive Gender-Based Discrimination
PITTSBURGH—Almost 492,000 women veterans used the VA health care system in fiscal year 2017, a nearly 150% increase since fiscal year 2003, according to VA statistics. Those numbers are only expected to increase. While the Veteran Population Projection Model 2016, the...
Using ‘Blue Button’ Decreases Duplicate Lab Tests
IOWA CITY, IA —With patients increasingly seek care across multiple health care settings, partly fueled by implementation of the MISSION Act, a key coordination issue is the unnecessary duplication of laboratory across different healthcare settings. Iowa City VA...
Processes to Evaluate, Care for Military Sexual Trauma Patients Improve
WASHINGTON—With an increase in the number of servicemembers coming forward to report their experience with sexual assault during active duty, VA is slowly making progress in implementing best practices for how to evaluate and care for survivors of military sexual...
Many Questions Remain Unanswered Nine Months Into VA’s MISSION Act
Agency Not Sure How Many Veterans Are Using the Program WASHINGTON—Nine months after the MISSION Act went live, VA is still unsure how many veterans are taking advantage of the revamped community care system and how much it will cost the department in its first year,...
Communication, Organizational Gaps Contribute to Suicides at VAMCs
WASHINGTON—While the VA has declared preventing veteran suicide to be their top priority, veterans continue to attempt or commit suicide at VA healthcare facilities. Recent reports from the VA Inspector General’s Office suggest that the deficiencies that allow these...
A VA-Like Pharmacy Benefits Program Could Be a National Model
Potential to Fix Two Huge Problems with the U.S. Healthcare System CAMBRIDGE, MA—Rising drug prices have frustrated patients nationwide, often leading individuals to forgo needed therapies because they simply could not afford them. In some instances, cost-control...
SNAP Nutrition Program Changes Affect Hungry Veterans, Military Families
A Quarter of Recent Veterans Have Faced Food Insecurity WASHINGTON — Tim, a Navy veteran living in Maine, was injured on the job and found himself unable to return to work. With no income, he applied for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program....
TRICARE Covers 3D Mammograms Under Provisional Program
WASHINGTON — As of the beginning of the year, TRICARE is offering 3D mammograms to screen for breast cancer for eligible patients. Previously, Tricare only covered digital breast tomosynthesis in special case (i.e., after a physician order for at-risk patients or...
Grant Program to Prevent Veteran Suicide Leads to Fractious Debate
WASHINGTON—The fight to push forward legislation that would create a three-year pilot programming allowing VA to provide grants to community groups targeting veteran suicide has caused rare, public friction among the usually bipartisan House VA Committee and between...
Latest Attempt to Uptake VA’s Financial Management System Raising Concerns
WASHINGTON—Though it might be lost among VA’s larger, higher-profile IT projects, the department is moving forward with its latest attempt to replace its financial management system—something it has tried and failed to do twice in the past. The Financial Management...
VA, Indian Health Service Try to Work Out Ways to Improve AI/AN Care
WASHINGTON—The health of Native American veterans recently took center stage at congressional hearings—a rarity—as VA and the Indian Health Service prepare to update their memorandum of understanding on how the agencies share responsibility in caring for Native...
Some Military Healthcare Cuts Temporarily Put on Hold for Manpower Review
Original Proposal Would Have Been Detrimental to USUHS WASHINGTON—The DoD’s proposed plan to cut as many as 18,000 military medical billets has been put on hold in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House and Senate last...
