Want Efficiency? Fund the VA and Cut the Proven Waste in Privatized Veterans Care

In a blistering new piece for Military.com, VHPI Senior Policy Analysts Russell Lemle and Suzanne Gordon assail VA Secretary Doug Collins’ plans to faithfully follow the orders of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and soon fire tens of thousands of employees at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Like many conservatives, Collins claims that the VA system is too wasteful, inefficient and costly, and that the private-sector Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP), established under the VA MISSION Act of 2018, is both more cost effective and comparable in quality.

But as Gordon and Lemle spell out, that’s just not true. VHA health care is, on average, less costly, less wasteful and of higher quality and thus value than private-sector alternatives. Strengthening — not decimating — in-house VHA staffing and infrastructure represents the more fiscally responsible use of taxpayer dollars. It's also what the majority of the 9 million veterans it serves want. Read the entire piece here.