Thousands of staff have left the health care side of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and those who remain are approaching burnout.
Jasper Craven
Jasper Craven is an investigative journalist covering the military and veterans’ issues. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, Politico, The Intercept, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. He is also a fellow at the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Plot to Privatize Veteran Brain Care
The VA has developed elaborate capacity to treat traumatic brain injuries. Billionaires want to divert that funding to their own programs.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
A Billionaire Tries Again to Hijack Veterans’ Care
Hedge fund giant Steven Cohen’s first effort to accelerate mental health care privatization failed. His second attempt has begun.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
VA’s Nonexpert Health Expert
Unlike all of his predecessors, Trump’s soon-to-be veterans health care chief is not a doctor.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Privatizing Veterans’ Health Care Will Be a Disaster
Thousands of VA health care workers have been fired. Private-sector replacements will be worse.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Has the VA Stymied a Profession It Helped Create?
Physician assistants could help with the Veterans Administration’s staffing challenges. But though the VA pays for training scholarships, PAs have found it hard to get work there.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Contracting Gold Mine That Hurts Veterans
Exams to determine whether veterans qualify for certain benefits have been almost entirely privatized, and the companies conducting the exams have long been cited for poor quality.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Congress and the VA MISSION Act
Buyer’s remorse or full speed ahead?
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Trump’s War on Veterans
How inaction, incompetence, and political aggression inflicted upon the VA an unprecedented vacancy crisis ahead of a global health pandemic
Posted inCoronavirus
The Best Health System to React to COVID-19
Despite years of underfunding and attempted privatization, the publicly run Veterans Health Administration has a mission to respond to national emergencies, and the expertise to do so.