The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is decommissioning its Office of Community Care.
Some veteran advocates have objected to the move. From their point of view, this will curtail veterans’ medical options, which is unfair, they say, but VA leaders say otherwise.
“Implementation of these changes allows the Veterans Health Administration to continue its modernization journey and transformation to operate as a high-reliability, veteran-centric organization,” the letter from VA Secretary Denis McDonough said, according to Military Times.
In line with this, VA officials also indicated that they would start a multi-month process of “designing a new integrated access and care coordination model to better deliver seamless care." President Joe Biden has also warned that too much use of health care services from the private sector for core VA medical responsibilities could exhaust finances from the VA health care system, Military Times reported.
Veteran community care supporters like Concerned Veterans of America noted that the shift limits veterans’ access to health care, such as the VA recently taking down a website that focused on detailing veterans’ choices under the Community Care program, public information about enrollment and how to schedule outside appointments.
Approximately 3,600 employees will be transferred to the new integrated care office, and 4,300 will be reassigned to the Veterans Health Administration’s finance office. Donald Koenig, special advisor to VA’s acting Undersecretary for Health for Integrated Veteran Care, said the Office of Community Care won’t be fully ended until March 2022.
