Vets' private health program puts patients on hold
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
A federal program serving 2.8 million veterans isn't delivering on key promises.
The big picture: The Veterans Community Care Program was set up to help veterans secure appointments with providers near their homes when they can't receive care from a Department of Veterans Affairs facility.
- It has been touted as an important safety net as demand for mental health care grows.
But the cost of the referrals has been rising, reaching nearly $30 billion in fiscal 2023. And since it was established in 2019, the program aimed at bypassing long wait times has instead exacerbated them, at a higher cost to taxpayers, per reports.
Veterans are waiting more than two weeks on average from the time a referral is made to even schedule an appointment through the community care program, according to audits by the Government Accountability Office. They're supposed to have mental health appointments within 30 days.
- An examination of fiscal 2022 data showed that VA appointments were scheduled on time more often than community care.
Driving the news: Federal audits over the past two years found veterans aren't getting timely mental health care, services like diagnostic testing or consultations with cardiologists and other specialists.
- Lawmakers in Congress highlighted instances in which veterans were cut off from cancer treatments in their hometowns or lost access to non-narcotic painkillers, leaving them with few alternatives besides opioids.
- Also, the VA slowed health care hiring this year, Government Executive reported.
Friction point: A report by independent experts last spring detailed a budget squeeze, in which rising costs connected with community care will decrease available funds for the VA's own in-house direct care system.
- Without more funding, the report raised the prospect of VA service cutbacks.
What's next: VA officials say they still want to expand staffing in areas like mental health, cardiology and gastroenterology, raising questions about whether there will be cuts elsewhere.
