The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is earning high marks for the quality of care provided to veterans, according to multiple sources. For instance, systematic reviews published in 2023 found that VA health care is consistently as good as, or surpasses, non-VA health care. In the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, 67% of VA hospitals received either 4 or 5 stars, compared with only 41% of non-VA hospitals.
Veterans themselves are awarding high marks. According to the Medicare nationwide survey of patients , VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics, including overall hospital rating, communication with doctors, communication about medications, and willingness to recommend the hospital . Furthermore, trust in VA outpatient care has reached an all-time record high of 92% , according to a survey of more than 440,000 veterans.
This year, in fact, the VA has broken a number of its own records. The VA cites other high points:
- More than 127.5 million health care appointments, a 6% increase over last year;
- Shorter wait times: new patients saw an 11% reduction in average wait times for VA primary care and a 7% reduction for mental health care compared to last year;
- $187 billion in benefits to 6.7 million veterans and survivors this year—an all-time record;
- 2,517,519 disability benefit claims processed, a 27% increase over 2023;
- No-cost emergency health care is provided to more than 50,000 veterans in acute suicidal crises; the Veterans Crisis Line supported 1,123,591 million calls, texts, and chats, up 12% from 2023;
- 47,925 veterans experiencing homelessness were housed in fiscal year 2024 and 96% remain housed long-term;
- 519,453 spouses and dependents received survivor benefits, a 4.5% increase from 2023;
- Services, resources, and assistance provided to a record 88,095 veteran family caregivers, an 18.6% increase over the 2023 record;
- A record 741,259 women veterans received compensation payments, 8.2% more than 2023;
- VA dental clinics provided > 6 million procedures to > 630,000 veterans; through community care, the VA delivered a record additional 3.4 million procedures to > 330,000 veterans.
Other actions this year include: expanding eligibility for VA healthcare to all toxin-exposed veterans years earlier than called for by the PACT Act; expanding access to care across the nation through VA Access Sprints , adding night and weekend clinics, and increasing the number of veterans scheduled into daily clinic schedules; removing copays for the first 3 outpatient mental health care and substance use disorder visits of each calendar year through 2027; expanding access to VA cancer care through establishing new cancer presumptive conditions, expanding access to genetic, lung, and colorectal cancer screening , and expanding the Close to Me cancer care program; expanding access to in vitro fertilization for eligible unmarried veterans and eligible veterans in same-sex marriages; expanding access to VA care and benefits for some former service members discharged under other than honorable conditions ; and launching tele-emergency care for veterans nationwide.
The VA will continue to “aggressively reach out to and engage veterans to encourage them to come to VA for the care and benefits they have earned.”