Veterans tell House panel delays, poor coordination cripple VA Community Care

WASHINGTON — Veterans and clinicians told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs that failures in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Community Care Program have delayed or blocked timely care, exposed gaps in case management and left VA clinicians without essential medical records.

At a full committee oversight hearing, Chairman Mike Bost said the panel convened to hear veterans’ firsthand experiences with community care under the VA Mission Act and stressed the program “is not a solution to privatize VA health care.” Ranking Member Mark Takano said he was “anguished by the unacceptable delays” veterans described and criticized the majority’s witness list for not including VA officials or the program’s third‑party administrators.

The most acute examples came from veterans who said long waits and poor coordination cost them time-sensitive treatment. William Dooley, a 20‑year Army veteran who testified that he was diagnosed after a community colonoscopy, said he first reported symptoms in September 2023, was referred to community care in December 2023 and was not scheduled for the colonoscopy until May 2024. “I woke up with the dreaded words, ‘you have cancer and need surgery immediately,’” Dooley said. He testified that delays contributed to disease progression and that securing timely authorizations required intervention from his member of Congress’ office.

Lori Willis Locklear, a former VA employee who spoke for her late son, Logan, described repeated missed opportunities to get him mental‑health care and said he was given a five‑month appointment that she learned about only after his death. “He was never contacted,” she told the committee. Locklear said her son’s experiences eroded his trust in VA and that she later developed post‑traumatic stress after the loss.

Witnesses from veterans’ organizations and VA clinicians said the problems are systemic. Brittany Dimon (testifying for the Veterans of Foreign Wars) described difficulty getting approval for inpatient programs that met a veteran’s clinical needs because of network and location rules. Dr. Kelly Sandin, secretary‑treasurer of the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA), urged Congress to require community providers to submit medical records to VA as a condition of payment, saying the lack of records “poses a real threat to good coordination of care.”

NOVA presented system figures during testimony: “Community care referrals have risen by approximately 20% annually, and 44% of VHA health care funds are spent on community care,” Sandin said. She and other witnesses argued the Mission Act was intended to supplement — not replace — VA direct care, and they warned that expanding community care without stronger quality standards and record‑sharing would undermine the VA’s specialized services.

Committee members and witnesses repeatedly cited third‑party administrators, including Optum Serve/UnitedHealthcare, as central to the program’s operations. Ranking Member Takano noted those contractors oversee provider networks and payments and criticized UnitedHealthcare for declining to appear at the hearing. Members raised particular concern that authorizations and payment sometimes proceed without timely transmission of community providers’ medical records back to VA clinicians.

Committee members from both parties also discussed workforce and technology challenges. Witnesses and lawmakers warned that a federal hiring pause would further impede VA’s ability to coordinate community care and to staff direct‑care facilities. Several members called for investments in an interoperable electronic medical record and for clearer, enforceable standards for provider qualifications, scheduling and records transfer.

The panel did not take formal legislative action. Chairman Bost said this hearing would be the first of several on community care; Ranking Member Takano said additional oversight — including testimony from VA, the Office of Inspector General and third‑party administrators — is necessary before major legislation moves forward.

The hearing highlighted a core tension: veterans and clinicians testified that VA hospitals often provide specialty and veteran‑specific care not easily replaced in the private sector, while many veterans also face distance and access barriers that make community care necessary. Witnesses urged lawmakers to strengthen quality standards, require record sharing, improve case management and invest in VA direct care so both systems can work together without leaving veterans behind.

The committee accepted unanimous consent to allow Representative Harris to participate in the hearing and ordered that members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. The hearing record remains open as members seek additional briefings and planned follow‑up oversight.