JOURNALISM AND COMMENTARY
VA’s Private Health Plan Faces Huge Cost Overruns
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.
San Francisco Nurses Fight Cost-Cutting and Outsourcing
By Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early in Beyond Chron The national wave of worker unrest over hospital conditions that create job stress, burn-out, and short staffing reached the corner of Clement and 42ndStreets in the outer Richmond last Wednesday, Oct. 18. Nearly 100 RNs and other staffers from the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) spent their breaks or lunch hour on an informational picket-line, organized by Local 1 of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), which represents
Fight over veterans’ benefits rages amid debt limit standoff
By: Brad Dress, The Hill • The Hill spoke with Suzanne Gordon about the potentially devastating cuts to veterans' benefits.
Touched By Tragic Loss
By: Russell Lemle and Jasper Craven, Guns & Ammo • Firearm leaders are changing the course of veteran suicide prevention.
Congress and the VA MISSION Act
By: Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven, in The American Prospect • VHPI Policy Analysts dig into the supposed death of the Asset and Infrastructure Review commission, and report on a percolating effort to institute similarly misguided and dangerous closures.
A Veterans' Health Commission Dies an Early Death
By: Suzanne Gordon, in The Washington Monthly • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon writes a postmortem on the AIR commission, and sketches out the next steps for keeping the VA's infrastructure protected for generations to come.
The Future of Veterans' Healthcare Hangs in the Balance
By: Suzanne Gordon, in Beyond Chron • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon plumbs VA data to understand how a proposed infrastructure plan could hobble VA care in California.
How Private-Sector Care Can Harm Veterans
By: Suzanne Gordon, in The American Prospec • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon examines the shocking case of a veteran placed into private sector pyschiatric care.
The VA Is Stacking the Deck Against Vets
By: Suzanne Gordon, in The Washington Monthly • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon unearths a series of fatal flaws inside a soon-to-meet infrastructure commission tasked with building the department's footprint for the future.
Biden's VA Secretary Proposes Shutting Down Dozens of Facilities
By: Suzanne Gordon, in The American Prospect • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon reports on drastic new recommendations to shutter VA medical centers in rural and urban areas and eliminate much inpatient care elsewhere, including needed inpatient psychiatric beds.
The VA Needs More Funding, Not More Privatization
By: Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early, in Jacobin • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early interrogate President Joe Biden's broken promises to veterans through the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission. The two clearly show that the commission's work is in direct opposition to Biden's pledge to 'Build Back Better."
A VA Critic Becomes Virginia’s New Veterans Affairs Chief
By: Suzanne Gordon, in The Washington Monthly • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon examines the work and writing of Daniel Gade, a powerful veterans' official with a deep disdain for the veterans' safety net.
Veterans Lack Quality Information for Community Care
By: Russell Lemle, Senior Policy Analyst, in The Federal Practitioner • VHPI Policy Analyst Russell Lemle interrogates the many issues veterans face when seeking high-quality care in the private sector.
Trump’s VA Legacy: Human Capital Mismanagement
By: Suzanne Gordon, Senior Policy Analyst, in The American Prospect • VHPI Policy Analyst Suzanne Gordon investigates a dysfunctional Trump-era reform that's making it impossible to hire key VA staff amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.