Racial Disparities Found Among Veterans’ Experiences With VA-Funded Community Care

Veterans who are unable to receive care from the Veteran Health Administration because of time or location constraints are able to received VA-funded “community care” outside of the VA system from a non-VA provider. A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has uncovered racial disparities in veterans’ experience with community care. The study reviewed data from over 230,000 veterans who used community care from 2016 to 2021 to examine if any racial disparities existed among veterans’ satisfaction with their care, as well as if these disparities changed over time. Black and Hispanic veterans were significantly more likely to report negative experiences with community care providers and offices, such as poor communication, difficulties scheduling appointments, and concerns with billing. Although racial disparities persisted, ratings of community care satisfaction among Black veterans did improve over the five-year study period. The authors believe their findings suggest the persisting racial disparities in American healthcare are found among VA care as well. They stress there is an immediate need to improve VA community care administrative processes and continually monitor veterans’ experiences to ensure progress is made and veterans from all backgrounds can receive the care they need. The research team consisted...