Hundreds of VA clinicians warn that cuts threaten vets’ health care : NPR

Scott Detrow, host:

Hundreds of current and former clinicians of the Veterans Department signed an open letter to the secretary of VA Doug Collins. They warn that staff shortages threaten the health of veterans. Now will dispute that. He indicates that it serves veterans better than ever in part by increasing private health care funds outside the VA. But doctors will say that this initiative is in fact a large part of the problem, as reported by the NPR Lawrence.

Quil Lawrence, byline: This open letter comes after months of uncertainty in va with the objectives of reducing tens of thousands of VA and experienced staff accepting early retirement offers made by the Trump administration. The letter warns that current policies will quote, “undermine the health care system of VA, overwhelm the budget of VA and negatively affect the life of all veterans”.

Dean Winslow: VA is an excellent integrated health care system, and it is both profitable, but the most important, effective care for veterans.

Lawrence: Dean Winslow signed the letter. He made four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a flight surgeon. He is now a doctor and professor at Stanford, and he consults for VA. He says that most studies show that healthcare rates are good or better than private health care, and Winslow says there is something else that he considers a combat veteran himself.

Winslow: Very few civilian suppliers really understand veterans and our experience, but doctors working in the VA are often paid much less than people in the private sector. They choose to work in the way because they like the mission.

Lawrence: the spokesperson for VA Pete Kasperowicz rejected the premise of the letter. In an E-mail at NPR, he declared that the veterans was much better under the Trump administration will be used than in the Biden administration, and the figures prove it. He quoted a decrease in the back of the complaints VA and said that VA had offered nearly a million appointments outside of normal operating hours to make care more practical, and he cited the increased use of the providers not at the expense of the ministry. But this last point has been debated for years. Veterans generally maintain having the choice to see a VA supplier or a private for free. But it’s not really free, explains Lars Osterberg, who was a doctor goes for over 20 years.

Lars Osterberg: The entertainment of resources to these private suppliers is not always as effective. There are incentives to the sellers, of course, to increase prices and to charge a lot and not necessarily obtain the best quality of care for our veterans.

Lawrence: Osterberg has signed the open letter in part because it fears that the push to privatize care will begin to bleed the resources is, and nothing proves that private options are better or even faster than an appointment goes into most regions of the country.

Osterberg: Above all, we want to stop the staff cuts. It is difficult to provide quality of care when you have inadequate support for auxiliary staff. And then the frustrations also lead to the departure of clinicians, going to other places to take care of the patients.

Lawrence: This could mean that will have to outsource more costs more, which warns the letter could start a spiral that threatens the viability of the VA health care system. Quil Lawrence, NPR News.

(Soundbite of Music)

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.

The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.