Department of Veterans Affairs

An Overview of 2024 Coverage for Veterans Beyond Veterans Affairs

November 8, 2023 - Although US veterans have many coverage options, including Veterans Affairs (VA), Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, many are projected to remain uninsured in 2024, according to a brief from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The researchers pulled data from the Urban Institute’s Health Insurance Policy...


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VA Benefit Unawareness Leaves Vets Vulnerable to Healthcare Fraud

by Kelsey Waddill

Veterans’ lack of awareness about their potential benefits under the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act) could lead to significant financial losses due to healthcare...

Humana Announces Changes To Veteran Population Health Management

by Kelsey Waddill

Humana has announced new efforts to improve veteran population health management. The payer will introduce the veteran community into its Bold Goal communities, giving them the same kind of population...

VA Demonstrates How Health Plan Network Size Impacts Utilization

by Kelsey Waddill

When the Veterans Affairs department (VA) expanded its health plan network size, enrollee utilization and access to care improved, according to a study published in the JAMA...

Biden Administration Plans to Expand COBRA, ACA Premium Subsidies

by Kelsey Waddill

The Biden Administration’s coronavirus relief plan seeks to expand healthcare coverage during the pandemic by increasing and extending COBRA and Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and...

VA Medicaid Program Reduces ED Admissions for Opioid Use Disorder

by Samantha McGrail

After the implementation of Virginia’s Medicaid program, Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services (ARTS), emergency department (ED) visit declined by 21.1 percent among beneficiaries with opioid...

Cigna, VA Combat Opioid Abuse in Veterans with Chronic Pain

by Jessica Kent

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has partnered with Cigna to improve patient safety and care quality for chronic pain patients at risk for opioid abuse. The partnership aims to educate...

President Trump Signs Bill to Expand Privatization of VA Healthcare

by Thomas Beaton

President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs’ Mission Act into law midweek which will provide over $50 billion in federal investments to privatize a portion of the VA’s healthcare system and...

VA, HHS Announce Healthcare Fraud Prevention Partnership

by Thomas Beaton

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), HHS, and CMS agreed to participate in a healthcare fraud prevention partnership that leverages data sharing to identify fraud and abuse within healthcare...

VA Awards Accenture $62M Benefits IT Infrastructure Contract

by Thomas Beaton

Accenture received a one-year, $62 million contract by the VA’s Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) division to improve the VBA’s technology infrastructure for delivering member...

VA Updates Emergency Care Reimbursement, Payment Activities

by Thomas Beaton

The VA has announced that it will expand provider payment eligibility for emergency treatment services and make  administrative and regulatory changes aimed at creating payment process...

VA Union: Investigate $90M in Third-Party Contractor Payments

by Thomas Beaton

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has sent a letter to VA leadership proposing an investigation into $90 million of improper payments made to the third-party contractors of the...

IT Investment to Help VA Speed Claims Administration, Payment

by Thomas Beaton

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced new goals for claims administration and a significant investment in health IT tools that will help coordinate payment for community providers. The...

6 Ways VA Can Improve Administrative Management of Care Delivery

by Thomas Beaton

Even though VA has taken steps to improve administration and management of its healthcare delivery systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found six action items that allows the VA to...

Veterans Gained Coverage under ACA, but May Lose Big from Repeal

by Thomas Beaton

While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) produced significant coverage gains for veterans, currently proposed repeal actions could hit this population particularly hard, according to a study from RAND...

GAO: Veterans Affairs Insurance Enrollment Standards Lacking

by Thomas Beaton

The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the largest healthcare organizations that provides health benefits, but their enrollment standards and processes lead to delays and errors, according to a...

GAO Report: VA Benefits Appeals Process in Need of Reform

by Thomas Beaton

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified notable inefficiencies in the VA benefits appeals process which have resulted in an average processing wait time of three years.   In its...

Patient Satisfaction Key for Payer Measurement of ACO Quality

by Thomas Beaton

An article from the American Journal of Managed Care reveals that patient satisfaction within an accountable care organization (ACO) is a strong indicator of the care quality level the organization...

Wait Times Still High for Veterans in VA Choice Program

by Thomas Beaton

Research from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that veterans waited an average 24 days to receive care at any care facility that is administered by the Veterans Choice Program. The...

New Leadership at Veterans Affairs Results from Transfers

by Vera Gruessner

One public health payer that has had a wide amount of controversy regarding its operations is Veterans Affairs. The latest controversy comes regarding the Veterans Affairs claim that it has new...