There was a shooting Tuesday at a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in a small town at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains in Georgia, and the gunman was shot and killed, police said. A Veterans Affairs employee was taken by helicopter to a hospital after the gunfire Tuesday afternoon, VA spokesman Peter Kasperowicz said.
It can be difficult for veterans to use their health benefits for care outside the federal system. A bill in Congress could ease that. Opponents are wary funds being "siphoned" away from the VA.
The VA Servicing Purchase program has helped about 20,000 veterans avoid foreclosure. But Republicans in Congress have been critical of the program, saying it puts too much taxpayer money at risk.
Researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs warn that crucial medical research is in jeopardy unless the Trump administration reverses course on cuts.
The VA looks like it is changing course on a plan that would have threatened the privacy of veterans receiving mental health care via telehealth, according to documents obtained by NPR.
The Department of Veterans Affairs embraced telehealth, especially for mental health care, in recent years. Now, staffers hired to give therapy and other health care remotely are ordered to do it from offices lacking privacy, VA clinicians told NPR.
While the VA never offered gender-affirming surgery, it did offer treatments like hormone therapy. The agency says less than than 0.1% of the 9 million veterans it provides care for identify as trans.
In an internal VA memo seen by NPR, the VA says it's rescinding a directive that contains detailed guidance on the kind of care transgender veterans can receive at VA facilities.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the largest providers of mental health care in the U.S. Its integrated care model means patients are already feeling the cuts and changes that are underway.
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Doug Collins as secretary of veterans affairs, putting the former congressman and Iraq War veteran at the helm of a department that provides crucial care to America’s veterans.
