PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Paul Lawrence said private healthcare providers in communities across the United States should expect more referrals to come in from local VA hospitals.
WATCH BELOW: 'Quite frankly, it may even make the care better,' Paul Lawrence tells WPTV
WPTV Chief Investigator Jamie Ostroff spoke with Lawrence after a report that ran Monday, in which local veterans and care providers voiced concerns that recent VA workforce reductions could lead to less access to quality, timely care for veterans.
Lyle Fried, of Beach House Center for Recovery in Juno Beach, said veterans were in the past referred to programs like their “Freedom First” treatment program by the VA, as part of the Community Care program.
Community Care was established in 2018 on the heels of an access-to-care crisis within the VA system. The policy allowed VA hospitals to refer veterans to private providers and foot the bill.
The Biden Administration cut back on those referrals last year, when a panel cited the ballooning costs of Community Care as a potential threat to care offered within the VA.
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“Starting in January of ‘24 it's almost like there was a spigot flowing, and they just turned the valve and it just stopped,” Fried said. “We haven't really expanded the VA system. My guess is there's just less care being accessed.”
According to VA, the department’s workforce will be reduced by 30,000 by October, as a result of widespread federal layoffs and voluntary resignations. That amounts to roughly 6% of its workforce.
Lawrence told WPTV the reductions will have no impact on care.
“Quite frankly, it may even make the care better,” he said. "We hope by eliminating positions that were, quite frankly, as the secretary says, bureaucratic in nature, not contributing directly, that we free up resources that we can use to hire more doctors and provide more care.”
Asked whether the VA under President Trump would like to rely more on Community Care referrals moving forward, Lawrence replied, “Yes, absolutely.”
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“This was something President Trump championed in his first administration,” Lawrence said. "We don't understand why the last administration chose to break the law, quite frankly, and not offer choice.”
Fried said he hasn’t yet seen an increase in those referrals. Lawrence said he does not know at this time, specifically, when Community Care providers can expect the referrals to return.
"But we wish that wasn't happening,” Lawrence said. “We know that there's a lag in training, that if you spent four years learning to do something one way-- albeit illegal -- we need to train our folks better. I've heard this elsewhere, but no, that is not the intention. We want to offer care in the community if it works for veterans."
He encouraged any veterans in need of help to go to their local VA facility.
WPTV will continue to follow up with the department and local providers to see how the number of referrals changes in the coming months.
