‘Beyond Dire’: Understaffing, Facility Closures, Long Wait Times Plague VA
Between December 2024 and August 2025, the VA reported a net loss of thousands of health care positions, at a time when the population of aging veterans is increasing. Other health care news related to the armed forces is on disability benefits, male breast cancer, and Air Force grooming standards.
Impact of understaffing, facility closures and waiting times has been "dire" under Trump’s second term, medical workers say. (Baram, 11/3)
VA vowed to modernize its disability benefits system. As criticism from veterans and their advocates has mounted, efforts to move forward have stalled. (Rein, Whitlock and Gilbert, 11/6)
The number of vets receiving 100 percent disability ratings has surged in recent years. For-profit firms, influencers and the VA play a large role in the trend. (Rein, Whitlock, Gilbert and Schaffer, 11/5)
What Happened: More than two dozen Democrats in the House are pressing the Trump administration to reverse a new policy at the Department of Veterans Affairs that makes it harder for male veterans with breast cancer to get health coverage. The demand, issued in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, follows a ProPublica story last week that revealed the change. (Umansky, 11/6)
The new regulations have restricted shaving waivers as well, allowing them for religious accommodations and only temporary ones for medical conditions. Those waivers must now be approved by unit commanders. (Stassis, 11/4)
