Veterans' Health Care: Veterans' Perceptions of VA Services and Its Role
in Health Care Reform (Testimony, 04/20/94, GAO/T-HEHS-94-150).

GAO conducted a series of focus group meetings with veterans to explore
their views on the current veterans health care system and the future
role of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) under health care
reform.  Among the topics discussed were the reasons and extent to which
the veterans used VA health care services; their overall satisfaction
with the care VA provides; the need to maintain a separate VA health
care system; whether the VA health care system should be expanded to
cover dependents; whether VA should set up managed care plans to compete
with private sector plans, and the potential competitiveness of VA
plans; the factors they would consider in deciding whether to select a
VA health plan; and improvements that would make VA a more competitive
provider. The veterans expressed a wide range of opinions on these
topics. Although their views may not be representative of the nation's
27 million veterans, many of the concerns expressed--such as the
excessive waiting times and poor customer service--have been the focus
of earlier GAO reports and congressional hearings.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-HEHS-94-150
     TITLE:  Veterans' Health Care: Veterans' Perceptions of VA Services 
             and Its Role in Health Care Reform
      DATE:  04/20/94
   SUBJECT:  Veterans hospitals
             Veterans benefits
             Hospital care services
             Health care planning
             Surveys
             Health services administration
             Handicapped persons
             Disadvantaged persons
IDENTIFIER:  National Health Care Reform Initiative
             Clinton Health Care Plan
             Health Security Act
             
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