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

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.

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