Cost Veteran’s health benefits are not a government entitlement, as they are limited by the amount provided in advance by the appropriations process in Congress. The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, was allotted $10 billion to create the “Veterans Choice Fund” to cover the costs of the expected increase in access to non-VA care. However, the Choice program authority will end when funds are exhausted or three years after enactment, whichever occurs first. Furthermore, to expand the VA’s internal capacity to provide timely care to veterans, the bill also provided $5 billion to the VA to increase access to care through the hiring of physicians and other medical staff. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the
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The Act resulted in seven million new health care appointments for veterans over the past year and an increase of new enrollees in VA care. However, instead of utilizing the newly established Choice Card Plan, the VA Secretary Bob McDonald authorized use of already existing and often costly contract authorities and partnerships for non-VA health care with local communities, causing a budget shortfall for the fiscal year ending in 2015. Some lawmakers are praising McDonald for expanding access to care without regard to cost, while others are citing “blatant mismanagement” at the VA for the surprise budget …show more content…
The MITRE Corporation’s evaluation suggested that the VHA adopt a systems approach to address its most challenging problems: access, quality, cost, and patient experience. A systems approach to health care is an approach that applies scientific insights to understand the elements that influence health outcomes; models the relationships between those elements; and alters design, processes, or policies based on the resultant knowledge in order to produce better health at lower cost (Kaplan, et al, 2014). Additionally, in order to improve Veterans’ access to care, the Department of Veterans Affairs need to improve retention and recruitment of health and mental health personnel in the VHA. To address the issue of limited access to primary care providers, the VA should consider including veteran care facilities in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which helps bring health care to those who need it most. The NHSC is a Federal government program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Workforce which provides loan repayment and scholarships to its
The Act resulted in seven million new health care appointments for veterans over the past year and an increase of new enrollees in VA care. However, instead of utilizing the newly established Choice Card Plan, the VA Secretary Bob McDonald authorized use of already existing and often costly contract authorities and partnerships for non-VA health care with local communities, causing a budget shortfall for the fiscal year ending in 2015. Some lawmakers are praising McDonald for expanding access to care without regard to cost, while others are citing “blatant mismanagement” at the VA for the surprise budget …show more content…
The MITRE Corporation’s evaluation suggested that the VHA adopt a systems approach to address its most challenging problems: access, quality, cost, and patient experience. A systems approach to health care is an approach that applies scientific insights to understand the elements that influence health outcomes; models the relationships between those elements; and alters design, processes, or policies based on the resultant knowledge in order to produce better health at lower cost (Kaplan, et al, 2014). Additionally, in order to improve Veterans’ access to care, the Department of Veterans Affairs need to improve retention and recruitment of health and mental health personnel in the VHA. To address the issue of limited access to primary care providers, the VA should consider including veteran care facilities in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which helps bring health care to those who need it most. The NHSC is a Federal government program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Workforce which provides loan repayment and scholarships to its