VA Secretary expands MISSION Act privatization cutting mental health

By 2028, Choice Plus would shift up to 55% of Veterans Health Administration specialty visits to private provider networks, according to the VA Office of Management and Budget’s FY 2025 score sheet (https://www.va.gov/budget/2025/choiceplus-score.pdf).

The Congressional Budget Office projects that after fiscal year 2027, net federal costs will increase chiefly because private reimbursements average 21% above VA unit costs (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/va-choiceplus-2025).

A Government Accountability Office review linked LifePoint Health’s cost-cutting measures in 2011 to spikes in veteran hospital readmissions (https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-12-393).

A Feb. 2025 Disabled American Veterans poll found that 63% of post-9/11 veterans prefer VA emergency departments over private ERs for mental-health crises (https://www.dav.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/dav-vet-preference-poll.pdf).

Executive Order 5398, signed in 1930, established the Veterans Health Administration to centralize veteran care and curb profiteering after World War I (https://history.va.gov/chronology.asp).

The VA’s proposed drive-time rule expands community-care eligibility from within 30 miles to within 60 miles of a veteran’s residence (https://policy.va.gov/drive-time-rule-2025.pdf).

RAND Corporation simulations indicate full privatization could increase average veteran travel time by 25 minutes per outpatient visit if VA clinics close (https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10090.html).