VA Long-Term Care: Service Gaps and Facility Restrictions Limit Veterans' Access to Noninstitutional Care.

摘要

With the aging of the veteran population, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is likely to see a significant increase in demand for long-term care. In response to recent GAO findings that variation exists in availability of noninstitutional services across VA, GAO was asked to update and expand its previous work to determine (1) whether veterans access to six noninstitutional services is limited by service availability and restrictions on use and (2) if access is limited, what factors contribute to limited access. GAO surveyed VA's 139 medical facilities, visited 4 of them and updated information collected from a fifth facility visited during earlier work, and interviewed headquarters and field officials.