Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., asked VA Secretary Denis McDonough to increase the number of providers and ensure they are “in locations where veterans need them most.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough says that the department is quickly processing new claims made by veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service, thanks, in part, to robust hiring, but warns that those claims may not have hit their peak yet.
Legislation from Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., proposes to expand VA health care benefits to personnel in the reserve components when not on active duty to help ensure “force readiness.”
The Veterans Claims Quality Improvement Act seeks to mitigate errors made by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals with new training, performance evaluations and required reports to Congress.
GAO officials said the Defense, Veterans Affairs and Labor departments could better collaborate to provide more at-risk veterans “warm handovers” to help transition them from military service to civilian life.
COMMENTARY | "Only through a united front can we hope to honor the service of our veterans by ensuring they have the security and dignity of a place to call home," writes Navy veteran Michael Embrich.
Up to now, the VA has only provided IVF care for married veterans who were able to use their own eggs or sperm during the process, but the new announcement allows veterans to use donor eggs, sperm and embryos.
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., sent a letter asking for interviews with several senior leaders as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into sexual harassment allegations in one of the department’s offices.
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mt., wants answers from the Postmaster General about ongoing issues veterans have had receiving VA-prescribed medications by mail.
The report, which notes that Black women have a higher rate of complication, recommends that the VA collect more data on mental health, race and ethnicity to understand the reasons for the disparity.
The Department of Veteran Affairs’ 2023 inventory of AI use cases listed 100 instances where VA is working to use emerging technologies, with at least 40 of those examples in an operational phase.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough candidly admitted fault during a House committee hearing for not discerning more quickly whistleblower complaints of sexual harassment within a department office.
With budget negotiations ongoing, OPM officials said that the pay rates for the vice president and other senior political officials will remain frozen until at least the expiration of the latest continuing resolution.
The watchdog said that the Veterans Health Administration does not have the modeling capability to predict how much supplemental funding would be needed to address a black swan event like the pandemic.
Watchdog officials warned lawmakers that the community-based counseling centers for returning veterans use a platform for identifying those at high risk of suicide that is “neither effectively nor consistently utilized.”