1) Over decades, the Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA) has delivered equivalent or higher quality veterans’ healthcare at with lower cost and with greater patient satisfaction when compared with non-VHA healthcare providers⁽¹⁾

2) Over the last 10 years, VA has outsourced a growing share of veterans’ healthcare—and health data systems—to external vendors who do not share VA’s mission

3) The main rationale for this shift—concern about excessive wait times causing delays in veterans’ care—is inconsistent with available evidence on timely care and access in VHA and non-VHA healthcare settings⁽²⁾

4) The result of this shift has been a rapid increase in VA spending on purchased healthcare services of uncertain quality and value and well-documented waste and abuse⁽³⁾

5) The cost of Community Care is eroding VHA’s high value, integrated internal systems and, with passage of the 2026 budget, will further erode its resources⁽⁴⁾

6) If this trend continues, VHA facilities may be forced to close, and veterans may be forced into costlier, often overburdened community health systems ill-equipped to meet their specialized needs; as healthcare costs increase, veterans’ benefits will be jeopardized⁽⁵⁾

7)  Service is the common thread uniting VHA’s 4 missions: to provide veterans’ healthcare, education, research, and emergency services for the common good.  This thread not only “binds up the nation’s wounds;” it binds America’s medical, scientific, and military communities in a common patriotic enterprise.  If VHA quality degrades, the damage to our cultural fabric may be difficult to repair.