News
VA secretary to testify on department budget needs, workforce cuts
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will make his first appearance since his confirmation before Congress this week, testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday about the fiscal 2026 budget. Collins’ trip to Capitol Hill comes amid increasing frustration among Democratic lawmakers about department reform plans. The secretary has set a goal of reducing the VA workforce to ...[Read More]
VA sees record rise in benefits delivery, but promises even more
Veterans Affairs officials on Tuesday announced record-high levels of medical care delivery and disability benefits payouts in fiscal 2024, but also promised to push those marks even further in coming months with efforts to broaden support for veterans. “By nearly every metric, VA is smashing records that we had set last year,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said during his annual pre-Veterans Day r...[Read More]
VA sees rise in military sexual trauma claims, thanks to outreach work
Veterans Affairs leaders said outreach and reform efforts related to military sexual trauma cases have led to an increase in claims over the last year, a trend they hope continues into the future. Department staffers received more than 57,000 MST claims in fiscal 2024, a rise of about 18% from the previous fiscal year, VA leaders told reporters at a press conference Thursday. So far this fiscal ye...[Read More]
VA sees rise in military sexual trauma claims, thanks to outreach work
Veterans Affairs leaders said outreach and reform efforts related to military sexual trauma cases have led to an increase in claims over the last year, a trend they hope continues into the future. Department staffers received more than 57,000 MST claims in fiscal 2024, a rise of about 18% from the previous fiscal year, VA leaders told reporters at a press conference Thursday. So far this fiscal ye...[Read More]
VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts
Veterans Affairs leaders on Wednesday announced plans to terminate nearly all of its collective bargaining contracts with federal unions, upending employment agreements for hundreds of thousands of department workers. The move affects members of the American Federation of Government Employees, the AFL-CIO (AFGE), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), the National Federation of F...[Read More]
VA shifts survivors assistance office in effort to speed up benefits
Veterans Affairs officials unveiled a major reorganization of survivors assistance programs Monday, including the establishment of an outreach team to help families of deceased veterans navigate the department’s bureaucracy. They also promised ongoing improvements to”increase automation that will expedite survivors’ claims” in coming months as part of the effort. In an open message to the veterans...[Read More]
VA staff finished 2M disability claims faster than ever this year
Veterans Affairs officials on Tuesday announced staffers had already processed more than 2 million disability benefits claims this fiscal year, the fastest the department has ever reached that mark. The processing milestone occurred nearly one month earlier than in fiscal 2024 and puts department claims workers on pace for another record-breaking year in terms of total cases completed. The work fi...[Read More]
VA staff told to reply to Musk’s ‘What did you do last week’ email
Veterans Affairs leaders are instructing department employees to respond to billionaire Elon Musk’s controversial “What did you do last week?” email over the weekend despite moves from other government agencies to pause any engagement with the directive. On Saturday, the Office of Personnel Management sent an email to more than 2 million federal workers with the subject line “What did you do last ...[Read More]
VA to ease authorization rules for some outside care, raising concerns
Veterans Affairs officials will extend community care authorizations for up to one year for procedures related to 30 separate medical specialties, a move that critics charge could potentially put taxpayers on the hook for expensive and ineffective medical treatments. Department leaders on Monday said the change is needed to ensure that veterans’ medical care outside the federal health systems is n...[Read More]
VA to resume new electronic health record rollout in mid-2026
Veterans Affairs officials will pick up their electronic health record overhaul effort with four new sites in Michigan in mid-2026, restarting the controversial program roughly three years after it was halted because of concerns over patient safety. Department leaders said they are confident that improvements made to the system and to VA processes will produce a better result this time, and said t...[Read More]
VA to speed up health records system rollout, with new sites this year
Veterans Affairs officials plan to rapidly accelerate the rollout of the department’s new electronic health record system this year, adding up to 12 new sites to the deployment schedule by the start of 2026. In December, department leaders had announced plans to resume deployment of the controversial Oracle Cerner system in mid-2026, with a few sites implementing training and software over the nex...[Read More]
VA to waive co-pays for Whole Health medical services
Veterans Affairs officials plan to waive co-pays for certain “well-being” health care appointments in an effort to encourage more veterans to look into services like yoga, meditation and wellness counseling. The move could potentially save patients several hundred dollars a year in medical fees, but is less focused on financial relief than emphasizing “the overall well-being of the veteran,” accor...[Read More]