A common measure of a successful project is the return on investment of what you put into it. Your time, money, and effort should yield results; if they don’t, you better reevaluate what you’re doing, and fast. You’d rightly be called insane to keep doing the same wrong thing over and over again while expecting a different result each time.
But if that is the case, then what should we call it when a federal agency does the same things for two decades with no progress yet receives a massive hike in spending?
That’s easy — we call it the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Consider these facts: The rate of veterans taking their own life has stayed the same or gotten worse each year for the past 15 years. There is an extensive backlog for medical appointments (the secretary recently stated over 20 million) at the same agency that previously made secret wait lists for veterans, resulting in several veterans in Phoenix dying while waiting for care. There continues to be a massive backlog for disability claims that has spanned over a decade with no end in sight.
Countless new programs have been started by the VA over the past 20 years, and many other programs have been expanded. The VA budget has grown from $53 billion in 2002 to more than $269 billion proposed for 2022, while the Census calculates the total number of living veterans has dropped from 24.6 million in 2000 to just 18 million in 2018. Looking at it differently, the VA budget has grown 500% during a time when the number of veterans decreased by almost 30%.
Meanwhile, the number of employees within the VA has almost doubled from 219,000 in 2002 to nearly 421,000 in 2021. To put that number into perspective, with 9 million veterans enrolled at the VA, that averages about one VA employee for every 21 veterans enrolled.
Yet, the problems remain or have gotten worse. This is more than just one administration or one office at the VA; it is a systemic failure. This is insanity.
Congress has taken note. To their credit, both parties in Congress have made it a priority to take care of veterans, and there have been significant reforms put in place. It has taken the veteran community many years to earn the trust, confidence, and support of Congress.
But now, the VA is letting this goodwill go to waste.
Much more oversight and transparency are needed from Congress, the White House, and the veterans’ community. But more than that, there needs to be an earnest discussion about the role of the VA and what it looks like going forward.
It starts with this: The VA is a resource for veterans. The VA is not the solution to every veteran issue.
But if the conversation is honest, when do we say that the model and methods of the VA are just not working anymore?
The VA will always need large hospitals and claims centers. However, a recent Pew research study highlighted that the number of living veterans will decrease over the next 25 years. Further, the number of younger veterans is increasing, and these younger veterans have expressed their desire for more flexibility with their healthcare.
Now is the time to think outside the box and fully use the MISSION Act and other authorities granted to the VA to allow veterans to choose their own care providers. The Government Accountability Office reviewed the Community Care program last year, recommending four fixes needed by the VA to ensure timely access to care that are still waiting to be implemented. This has been a broadly bipartisan issue, with both parties in Congress pushing the VA to use the authorities explicitly passed into law to help veterans access care faster.
The VA can be an option for these veterans, but as two decades of war wind down, there is a chance to fundamentally change the way VA does business — and the VA has the power to do it today.
Secretary Denis McDonough has testified on several occasions that his focus is on outcomes. If that’s true, then now is the time to move forward with progress and make generational changes at the VA or risk staying on the hamster wheel of ineffectiveness.
More money, yet same outcomes. What’s the answer? More money. This must change.
Darrell Owens is the director of government relations for America’s Warrior Partnership and currently serves as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.
