inewsource’s investigation chronicled the struggles veterans have had trying to access much-needed medical treatments outside the VA, the federally funded health care system for veterans. Through documents and interviews, inewsource showed how VA policy and practice is forcing veterans to seek treatment within the healthcare system in an apparent violation of a 2018 landmark health care law.
This extensive multimedia package included a landing page, an animated explainer video, graphic illustrations, a how-to guide for veterans, two feature-length radio stories, an interview with affected veterans that aired on television and a 7,000-word written investigation. The project’s major findings include:
– VA administrators are overruling doctors’ judgments and preventing them from sending their patients outside the VA health care system. As a result, sick and disabled veterans are not getting urgent medical care they desperately need.
– These bureaucratic decisions are part of an explicit effort by the VA health care system to retain patients and save money, which is described in internal manuals as the “referral coordination initiative.” These manuals took extensive reporting to obtain.
– The VA’s practices are an apparent violation of the 2018 Mission Act, a bipartisan law that mandated veterans be granted access to the most appropriate health care options, whether inside or outside the VA. The law followed numerous scandals within the VA health care system.
– Dozens of veterans and caregivers described their struggles to access health care outside the VA since the Mission Act was passed. In one example, suicidal patients were cut off from life-saving mental health treatments against the advice of the VA’s own psychiatrists, because clerical staff were overwhelmed with paperwork. One patient died by suicide days later.
– Veterans service organizations and Congresspeople from both political parties were deeply concerned with the findings and said veterans’ health care decisions should not be impacted by financial concerns. They vowed to investigate the issues raised by the reporting and have already made several inquiries to the VA Secretary. Discussions about potential legislative solutions are ongoing