A recent study from the federal VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, co-authored with colleagues from Penn LDI, reveals racial and ethnic disparities in Veterans’ experiences with VA-funded community care. This type of care, funded by the Veterans Health Administration (VA) but delivered outside of the VA health system by non-VA providers, has seen its spending more than double from approximately $8 billion in 2014 to over $18 billion in 2021.
The study used national VA survey data from over 230,000 Veterans who used VA-funded community care from 2016 to 2021. The survey assessed Veterans’ experiences with care in several areas, including overall ratings of community providers, satisfaction with provider communication, care coordination, navigating community care eligibility, scheduling appointments, and billing.
The findings show that compared to White and non-Hispanic Veterans, Black and Hispanic Veterans had worse ratings of community providers, provider communication, appointment scheduling, and billing. Furthermore, Hispanic Veterans also had worse ratings of care coordination compared to non-Hispanic Veterans. While the disparities were small, they were consistent across analyses, including when looking at the probability of reporting very high or very low ratings of care.
The study underscores a need for better administrative processes to help all Veterans navigate community care and for focused efforts to improve Black and Hispanic Veterans’ experiences with community care. It also highlights the deep-rooted racial and ethnic disparities that are a well-documented problem in the United States, including in the VA.
“New Study Documents Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Veterans’ Experiences With VA-Funded Community Care” (June 28, 2024)
