Review of the VA in Advance of “DOGE” Staffing Cuts
By Eli Ibanga
Originally published at www.linkedin.com/in/eibanga/ on 12 March 2025
There has been lots of talk recently about “DOGE” and its sweeping cuts to various US federal agencies, and most recently, the VA. I think its safe to say their approach is reckless when it comes to government cuts. American politicians always say how much they love their veterans, but if that is the case then I would recommend these cuts are halted for a non-arbitrary period until proper review is done by qualified experts, because the current available data does not support their claims.
For today, let’s just look at healthcare outcomes and patient satisfaction. The VA maintains better healthcare outcomes than the larger US healthcare system provides the general public, in fact, the VA by and large maintains better healthcare outcomes than veterans receiving care external to the VA (Apaydin, et al., 2023). Comparatively, the general population of course experiences worse healthcare outcomes in most metrics (Apaydin, et al., 2023). This also does not take into consideration access to care for the general population, which is often influenced by income, location, race, etc. While I’m not aware of any research on that topic, I’d argue the government’s focus on inclusion and anti-discrimination in the past ensures that the lowest private and most senior general receive the same standard of care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is underscored by the fact that the VA holds an outpatient satisfaction rate of 92% (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2024).
So, we’ve established the VA does a fantastic job of taking care of its veterans. Well, how does the rest of our nation fare? The answer, as you likely presumed, is not great. US healthcare expenditures double the average healthcare expenditures of other developed countries, and our healthcare outcomes are low to dead last when compared to those same countries (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2024).
The point of this isn’t to carry water for the VA. Nor to claim that the Trump administration has no right to review or demand increased efficiency from federal agencies. It’s to highlight that:
1. The VA is working very well as it is currently constructed
2. This energy would be much more beneficial to all Americans if focused on improving healthcare expenditures and outcomes for the general public.
The US government is not a startup. Moving fast and failing fast does not work for organizations that maintain critical functions. Breaking these organizations will have drastic, and at times fatal, consequences that we won’t see make headlines.
Sources:
Apaydin, E.A., Paige, N.M., Begashaw, M.M. et al. Veterans Health Administration (VA) vs. Non-VA Healthcare Quality: A Systematic Review. J GEN INTERN MED 38, 2179–2188 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08207-2
Peter G Peterson Foundation. (2024, August 16). How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to other countries? https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries/?utm_term=healthcare+outcomes+by+country&utm_campaign=Healthcare%2BGeneral&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=1523796716&hsa_cam=15585669000&hsa_grp=131358281459&hsa_ad=570089444339&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-329647557082&hsa_kw=healthcare+outcomes+by+country&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlPu9BhAjEiwA5NDSA5b0mMB-WVZWDI4KMoyOSDnKgupnvRbFCFuac9AAI8uQy4pasqqh5xoCWAcQAvD_BwE
Department of Veterans Affairs. (2024, May 9). Trust in VA among veteran patients rises to 91.8%, up 6% since 2018. VA News. https://news.va.gov/press-room/trust-in-va-among-veteran-patients-rises-to-91-8/