Summary: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates one of the nation's largest health care systems, including 400 service delivery locations, 3,000 buildings, and 183,000 employees. This year, VA will serve about 2.7 million of the nation's 26 million veterans, at a cost of $19 billion. During the past 75 years, this health care role has evolved from one of rehabilitating disabled wartime veterans to also providing a health care safety net for veterans in peacetime. Today, VA is positioning itself as a competitive health care alternative for all veterans. More specifically, three years ago VA began to transform its health care system, in response to market changes and budgetary pressures, to make it more competitive with other health care providers. To aid in this transformation, Congress provided new revenue sources and reformed veterans' eligibility for care and VA's ability to purchase services from other providers. This testimony focuses on how the transformation of VA's health care system is progressing and what challenges VA faces as its role evolves.
