JOURNALISM AND COMMENTARY
VA Research Verges on Breakdown
Over the past 75 years, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has developed one of the most sophisticated and powerful research enterprises in the United States. Conducting research that benefits veterans is, in fact, one of the four missions of the VA.
Survey: Severe Short Staffing in Veteran HealthCare Facilities
Fifty percent of survey respondents report that beds, units, and programs at veteran hospitals have been closed due to staffing and budget shortages
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.
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."
Broken Promises: Veterans Healthcare is Being Replaced by the Private Sector
By: Suzanne Gordon and Russell Lemle, Senior Policy Analysts, in The Hill • VHPI Policy Analysts Suzanne Gordon and Russell Lemle dig into and analyze concerning new data around the proliferation of private care appointments for VA patients.
The VA Is Ripe for Right-Wing Attacks. Here’s How Biden Can Stop Them.
By: Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven, Policy Analysts, in The Washington Monthly • VHPI Policy Analysts Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven offer a vigorous proposal on the best move to re-invigorate the VA: nominate a permanent Undersecretary of Health
Private Sector Watch
A number of serious flaws plague the American healthcare system. I grew up with an insurance policy exemplifying these issues: “Don’t get sick because we can’t afford the doctor bill.
Trump Set in Motion a Plan to Privatize the VA. Will Biden Enable It?
By: Suzanne Gordon, VHPI Senior Policy Analyst, in the American Prospect • Suzanne Gordon reported about the threats of the VA's impending Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission
A VA Primary Care Physician Explains How the “VA Advantage” Works on the Ground
A recent study by Stanford University economists categorically demonstrates that veterans who get their care at the VHA live longer during and after a medical emergency,
Coalition of organizations converge on Capitol Hill to fight VA privatization
Lewis “Skip” Delano deployed to Vietnam in 1968 after growing up farming in Virginia and Maryland.
The assault on the Postal Service puts veterans in the line of fire
Veterans are served by and serve at the United States Postal Service. Like the military, the Postal Service serves society at-large and it is based on a communal culture intended to fulfill the aims of American society.
Trump’s War on Veterans
By: Suzanne Gordon & Jasper Craven • Trump’s VA Secretary insisted before Congress that hiring to fill 50,000 vacancies at the Department of Veterans Affairs shouldn’t be a priority. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The VA shouldn't have its facilities closed during the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed America’s worst-kept secret. Our nation has failed to provide its citizens with an adequate healthcare system that is flexible enough to regularly care for us and respond swiftly and equitably in times of crisis.
The Continuing Bid to Privatize Veterans’ Care
By: Suzanne Gordon & Jasper Craven • How a suicide prevention bill became another way to privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Assumptions behind outsourcing veterans to community providers
As the current VA leadership uses the MISSION Act of 2018 to increase the outsourcing of more and more veteran care from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to the private sector, more and more psychologists and other mental health providers insist that they are willing, eager, and prepared to do their bit for veterans.