[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},"mediaId",6170224,"mediaKeyId","5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2","parentId",5398396,"title","Community providers warn reduced authorizations, lower fees and Medicaid cuts threaten rural veteran care","audioSeconds",321,"startMs",5472000,"endMs",5793000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2&start=5472&end=5793","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2/thumbnail_5472000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6170224/Community-providers-warn-reduced-authorizations-lower-fees-and-Medicaid-cuts-threaten-rural-veteran-care","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6170224-a5ebab963c62161d2417d593343fe397/orig.mp4?Expires=1774938187&Signature=a2ZAJ5JaqoAf4v8I-OXysFQJfB4qetTfHFAJ2JteYBiGeinjxcdLaWtnUv-tBIjzxx4B2~wwscxn3DAarDDRl4vDpIAAZ696FSJDLxSWsG5y9BWZT6IMhH80vb~ZAE6VBI4X5Li2zKTei7W0A0hjFWZ0X8sUweLVCaI4vIjdskzO8soqmLKJg~58Qe~ci2-io0nn8ddYuKefnpnNJUH8NTzzs2BMuS~FJVpIX5VM5b3Iav-NnE-8n6UQhdeuE9IMzbISiWcKZXdesNsuB7xqCvHL-zp3c~cxmRoeoye~PK3GvXBwfDmqgqYILdRMv~O6RIAALEQj6rHAW6Py-YIv6Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs","date","2025-07-16T08:29:22Z","article","Community providers and a small‑business home health operator told a House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee that recent VA process changes and pending Medicaid reductions are already constraining access for veterans in rural areas.

Amanda Newman, CEO of Western Illinois Home Health Care, said her agency — which serves a 10‑county rural area and contracts with VA community care networks — has seen authorizations reduced from 12 months to six months or less and reductions in non‑bundled fee schedules that she said make travel‑heavy rural work financially unsustainable. \"Community care is not an alternative to the VA. It is an extension of it,\" Newman told the committee while urging fair reimbursement and longer authorization periods.

Nut graf: Providers said three operational changes are constraining care: (1) reduced authorization periods that disrupt continuity for homebound veterans; (2) a 2025 fee schedule that providers say under‑reimburses travel costs for rural work; and (3) delayed or difficult VA payments for community services, which can create collections risk for veterans and payment risk for clinics.

Newman described individual cases: a 79‑year‑old veteran in a rural town denied homemaker services and denied physical therapy, instead being directed to drive 53 miles each way for twice‑weekly appointments; and an 80‑ to 85‑year‑old denied home health aide services because a phone screening indicated the veteran could shave. These examples, Newman said, illustrate how telephone screening and shortened authorization windows can miss activities of daily living that justify in‑home services.

Christina Keenan of the Veterans of Foreign Wars recounted billing problems for community providers — including one mammogram that took six months to be paid and led to collections notices. Keenan said poor record sharing and unclear referral responsibility sometimes place the administrative burden on veterans.

Witnesses also warned that deep federal Medicaid cuts projected in pending legislation could force rural hospitals and long‑term care facilities to close, further shrinking the pool of community providers. Committee members cited a University of North Carolina analysis identifying 338 rural hospitals at risk under the proposed cuts; witnesses said closures would compound access problems in the places community care was intended to help.

Ending: Lawmakers heard requests to restore longer authorization periods, ensure fair travel‑related reimbursement in fee schedules, speed VA payments to community providers, and monitor the impact of Medicaid changes on rural provider networks. No formal changes were adopted during the hearing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Subcommittee on Health Oversight Hearing","oneSentenceSummary","Community home‑care providers and advocates told legislators that reduced authorization lengths, a lower 2025 fee schedule, and looming Medicaid cuts risk eroding rural provider participation and veterans' access to in‑home and specialty services.","taxTitle","Veterans Affairs: House Committee, Standing Committees - House & Senate, Congressional Hearings Compilation, Legislative, Federal","taxId",1825,"location","","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6170229,"Women veterans testify to delays, retraumatization under VA; panel hears account of a fatal treatment failure",279,4860000,5139000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2&start=4860&end=5139","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2/thumbnail_4860000.jpg","/articles/6170229/Women-veterans-testify-to-delays-retraumatization-under-VA-panel-hears-account-of-a-fatal-treatment-failure","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6170229-1d85f73a8409149b58380e2fa708d3f9/orig.mp4?Expires=1774938187&Signature=KSRIx1AnS~TNL0-PET8YFiZqJImKY6IktGG2661FeYXlKSBpblJZ-8qrrBZTVE9bHavFMXC75S6qyLUOZsdXpXoYFtCCiBF5Cktsfur~FLU7nwczk9IcTIT4waWiclUV8G5Sc3gog5dkl96c3JTGBiDE9SdVBJcylT1QChzOzjDKQu3yW~-MTeiBdXb9O396OsZVwPURrKiQ9NF0WO0fhDjvhZLs~w2Fk5jp1xrIAOzg6FDYNds7QfoMmSTKhsDg5y3mA158ABLbxiWpgHhrO2K3Xo0Q0mRbCQhCnV~idejdMVNNmQdHnBL-Vi~KhvOhR5maM3v1h9o9KpdWOeR39w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Female veterans and advocates told a House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee that delays in referrals and gaps in trauma‑informed care inside VA facilities have left many women underserved and, in some cases, re‑traumatized.

Dallas Knight, founder of Operation Juliet and a combat Army veteran, told the subcommittee that she and hundreds of women veterans have faced months‑long waits for specialty referrals and inconsistent access to female clinicians and trauma‑informed treatment. \"Female veterans are not invisible. We are not dramatic or broken. We are warriors, leaders, and we are asking boldly, urgently for a system that sees us, hears us, and serves us with dignity,\" Knight said.

Nut graf: Witnesses described repeated administrative and clinical failures that they say particularly affect women veterans — from lacking female clinicians for women‑specific care to being asked to retell traumatic experiences without sufficient clinical support — and presented a case of a veteran who died after repeated care failures.

Knight recounted the case of Lanessa Van Ferk, born Feb. 21, 1989, an Army MP sergeant who, Knight said, repeatedly sought help and suffered alleged mistreatment inside a VA inpatient treatment facility; Knight said Van Ferk died April 30, 2022, after what Knight described as a sequence of denied, delayed, and inadequate care. Knight asked lawmakers to read written submissions from nearly 600 women veterans whose accounts she provided to the committee.

Other witnesses described obstacles women veterans face when community care is used: Christina Keenan, legislative director at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, told members she experienced delayed payments for a community mammogram and lengthy billing disputes with VA contractors that created financial and emotional strain. Keenan said she had to call VA and the community provider multiple times when a $700 mammogram bill was not paid for months, and she said poor record sharing between providers sometimes led to painful, incorrect administrative inquiries.

Witnesses called for clearer pathways for Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivors and for the VA to ensure that community clinicians who treat veterans receive standardized training in military cultural competency and trauma‑informed care. Dr. Megan Mobbs said the Mission Act was intended to expand access for specialty care and that flexibility in choice of provider is important for women veterans, noting that a majority of women prefer female clinicians for women‑specific care.

Ending: Lawmakers did not adopt new policy during the hearing but were urged to press the VA to implement standardized training and care pathways for women veterans, strengthen referral timelines, and prioritize better record sharing and coordination so patients are not forced to relive trauma repeatedly.","Multiple witnesses gave firsthand accounts of women veterans' delayed or inadequate care, with a family case highlighted describing the death of a female veteran after repeated treatment failures at VA facilities.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6170233,"House hearing flags VA workforce losses, coordination gaps in community care program",5823,3777000,9600000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2&start=3777&end=9600","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5398396-129e6b9b9d68d8339d7123eaff881eb2/thumbnail_3777000.jpg","/articles/6170233/House-hearing-flags-VA-workforce-losses-coordination-gaps-in-community-care-program","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6170233-ff2fe189a2b65b59de686384c599e210/orig.mp4?Expires=1774938187&Signature=BOpS1YcAhshxmI1RqF8hqyANtp3PbOw5gX09RWpf19wVc6Ncdqv5D0P1ED6UJg2vfOHhGdHvhZPWC2rIc~d-8DvZsY0XARVaDc~A5CfdixnUQJGNvNpJL-Wtm5aXw0KpvvhxWNu4SRTn0kHiwrNqGtYRoTVTwlKBdyOfxsmWQ46FY4JrC1V61wjovpBbceThx4N32M2KOZXaiZB2AUzhq7grEQ1igV4x9n7qksDOK7PdcRXkW29XU9NdCePisvw7-0YqyfIJ-uPh8HrmXSdL4zccwEZkiPbIBtxV02-KoIyb20rxAyie85I9trAWKjCB83Qa-yaMogKmGkGbqNIKoQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","House lawmakers and veterans' advocates said at a June oversight hearing that large staff losses at the Veterans Health Administration and inconsistent coordination with outside providers are reducing timely access to specialty care for veterans.

The subcommittee's chairwoman, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, emphasized the role of community providers in expanding access under the Mission Act while warning that the VA must remain responsive: “Through the Mission Act, Congress has closed the gap that was crippling the delivery of care by the VA,” she said.

Ranking Member Julia Brownlee countered that recent policies and personnel changes at the VA have made it a less desirable place to work and are already constricting access. Brownlee told the panel that the VA expects to lose nearly 30,000 employees by Sept. 30 through voluntary separations and buyouts and that ‘‘these losses will continue to grow,’’ a trend she said will harm both VA and community care coordination.

Nut graf: Lawmakers and witnesses told the Subcommittee on Health that community care — intended to supplement VA capacity where necessary — is being strained by workforce attrition inside VA, inconsistent referral coordination, and incomplete follow-through on oversight recommendations from the Government Accountability Office.

Subcommittee members and witnesses recounted several patterns they said are reducing access to care. Witnesses described delays and unclear referral responsibility between VA patient-aligned care teams and community providers; the GAO has issued multiple recommendations to improve the program and, according to testimony, only a portion have been fully implemented. Dr. Megan Mobbs, director of the Center for American Safety and Security at Independent Women's Forum, told lawmakers that \"community care provides nearly 40% of all VA-delivered care, and it's working,\" while also urging stronger accountability and data collection.

Witnesses and members discussed VA staffing statistics presented at the hearing: as of May 31, 2025, about 22,000 employees had separated from Veterans Health Administration functions in the current fiscal year, and VHA had a net shortfall of roughly 10,310 more separations than hires in the same period, according to materials cited by Ranking Member Brownlee.

Lawmakers also pressed witnesses on the need for better data and electronic record sharing between VA and community providers. Several witnesses said community clinicians are not consistently required to return complete course-of-care documentation to VA care teams, creating delays and repeated patient interviews. Representative Andy King-Hines and others asked for more robust performance metrics tied to scheduling and referral coordination; Dr. Mobbs and other witnesses pointed to GAO work as a basis for legislative fixes.

Members of Congress on both sides repeatedly framed the problem as requiring a dual approach: preserve and strengthen direct VA care while improving and standardizing community care coordination. Chairwoman Miller-Meeks said she supports both tools, and members urged the VA to publish clearer standards for community-provider training, timely reporting of appointments, and better electronic health record interoperability.

The subcommittee expressed concern that no VA officials attended the hearing to answer questions about implementation. Ranking Member Brownlee asked that the department be invited to future oversight hearings so officials can respond directly to the barriers described by witnesses.

Ending: Lawmakers did not vote on legislation at the hearing; members and witnesses urged corrective steps including improved staffing retention, clearer performance metrics for community referrals, and stronger requirements that community providers return standardized care documentation to VA teams. The full written testimony submitted to the record will inform follow-up oversight and possible legislative proposals.","A House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee hearing focused on large VA workforce declines, uneven coordination between VA and community providers, and incomplete implementation of oversight recommendations for the VA community care program.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Community providers warn reduced authorizations, lower fees and Medicaid cuts threaten rural veteran care

Women veterans testify to delays, retraumatization under VA; panel hears account of a fatal treatment failure

House hearing flags VA workforce losses, coordination gaps in community care program