United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-02-06 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-96-52 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52 P0b002ee1803741ce f:he96052 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52 HEHS-96-52 Veterans hospitals Health care services Veterans benefits Income statistics Health resources utilization Handicapped persons Demographic data Health insurance Health care planning Chicago (IL) Rockford (IL) Salem (OR) Dublin (GA) Letter Report HEHS Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on veterans' use of Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) medical facilities, focusing on: (1) users' characteristics; (2) the geographic accessibility of VA and private medical facilities that provide standard benefits; and (3) options to improve accessibility of VA health care.<p/>GAO found that: (1) in the early 1990s, over 80 percent of veterans who received health care services obtained them from non-VA sources; (2) veterans who used VA medical facilities generally had lower incomes and were less likely to have private health insurance than veterans who obtained health care from non-VA facilities: (3) veterans with service-connected disabilities utilized VA facilities more often than other veterans; (4) about 50 percent of all veterans lived over 25 miles from a VA facility and 11 percent of veterans lived within 5 miles of a VA hospital; (5) although VA hospitals and outpatient clinics were geographically less accessible to veterans than private medical facilities, veterans had better access to certain specialty services through VA facilities; (6) options to improve veterans' access to VA health care include determining whether to improve access for current users, all veterans, or selected veterans groups, and comparing the costs of VA-provided services and contractor-provided services; and (7) although VA facilities are more costly to operate, they lessen the chances of program abuse by giving VA more control over resources. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52.pdf GAO/HEHS-96-52 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-96-52 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-96-52; VA Health Care: Exploring Options to Improve Veterans' Access to VA Facilities; Veterans hospitals Health care services Veterans benefits Income statistics Health resources utilization Handicapped persons Demographic data Health insurance Health care planning Chicago (IL) Rockford (IL) Salem (OR) Dublin (GA)