Metro East Sun

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, addressed the ongoing issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Community Care Program during an oversight hearing. The focus was on whether current processes effectively serve veterans in crisis or create barriers to accessing urgent mental health care and substance use disorder treatment.

In her opening remarks, Miller-Meeks highlighted significant budget increases for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) from $20.9 billion in 2001 to $121 billion in 2024. Despite this increase, she noted that "17—that’s the number of veterans our nation loses to suicide every single day in 2024," a figure unchanged over two decades.

Miller-Meeks emphasized that "VA does not have a resource problem— It has an access and process problem." She criticized VA's current processes for creating delays and bureaucratic obstacles rather than facilitating timely care for veterans.

She cited cases where veterans were denied necessary residential treatment due to prior lack of VA care or forced to wait because a VA facility did not meet specific thresholds. One instance involved a veteran denied admission into a Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program despite needing immediate help.

Miller-Meeks expressed support for Chairman Bost’s Veterans’ ACCESS Act, which aims to reduce restrictions and allow more veterans access to community care when VA facilities cannot provide it. She stated, "The cost of inaction is too high."

The hearing included testimonies from individuals who could address these process failures and contribute to potential solutions.