In 2017, as Washington deliberated over the future of veterans’ healthcare, the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute (VHPI), along with the Associations of VA Psychologist Leaders and VA Social Workers, as…
By: Suzanne Gordon and Russell Lemle for Military.com VHPI Senior Policy Analysts Suzanne Gordon and Russell Lemle trace a behind-the-scenes negotiation over federal legislation that could drastically damage the…
By: Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early for The American Prospect VHPI Senior Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early investigate a new plan from the conservative Heritage Foundation, authored by…
By Bruce Carruthers, Vietnam Veteran and VHPI Steering Committee Member In the recent book These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs – and Wrecks – America, authors Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner detail how corporate control of an increasingly large swath of the U.S.
By Russell Lemle and Suzanne Gordon, originally in Washington Monthly In 2014, Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, which set up a temporary program that outsourced veterans’ care from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to private sector providers.
By Russell Lemle, originally in Task & Purpose Last week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a meticulous study that showed veterans have a higher likelihood of dying if they choose care in the community rather than Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.
The relentless outsourcing of care from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to private sector providers – and the resulting drain on the VHA budget – has reached a tipping point,…
By Russell B. Lemle, PhD, VHPI Policy Director VHPI recently criticized the VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) for providing far too little oversight of the Community Care Network (CCN), a growing cadre of private providers who now deliver a third of VA’s health care. One step in the right direction is a new OIG report regarding CCN providers who prescribe controlled substances for veterans. It contained damning proof how: · Large percentages of CCN providers don’t meet the required sta
By Russell Lemle and Jasper Craven in Task & Purpose The realm of veterans health care policymaking has, for a decade, been dominated by a dangerous libertarian fallacy, namely that greater personal choice and less government involvement are unequivocally advantageous. Allowing more options, lawmakers and advocates contend, benefits every veteran. It’s even framed as a patriotic “defense of freedom.” A pair of bills being actively considered in Congress represent the culmination of this fervent,
By Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early Funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was one of many federal budget items that suddenly became uncertain during the debt ceiling showdown this spring.