June 27, 2014

The VA hosted MOAA and other military and veterans service organizations at a June 26 briefing to get the word out about the VA’s new purchased care (PC-3) health care system.   

The contracts launched in April, allow veterans who are not able to be seen within a VA facility due to long wait times, travel distance, or lack of available specialty to be referred to a network community health care provider.  

The contracts are administered by TriWest (covering West and South regions) and Health Net (Midwest and North). Both firms have experience as TRICARE contractors.   

The contracts do not provide primary care currently, a key concern of veterans organizations given the access challenges exposed by the Phoenix VA hospital scandal.   

Another concern is the length of time it takes for a veteran receiving a VA referral to be seen by a civilian provider. The VA does not appear to track that metric at this time.  

A three-year VA pilot program to assist veterans in rural areas, known as Project ARCH (Access Received Closer to Home), is slated to shut down in September. Under this program, regional VA medical centers in five locations contract directly with local hospital provider networks to provide primary, specialty, and hospital care.   

The VA does not plan to extend the ARCH program, as they anticipate the new PC3 contracts will replace these local initiatives. A number of lawmakers are pressing to extend the Project because of its perceived success in getting veterans into care closer to home with savings from reduced travel costs.  

Using civilian providers to ensure access to VA sponsored care should be improved. At a recent meeting with VA Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson, MOAA suggested he consider extending the PC-3 contracts to primary care where needed to address the backlog of wait-listed veterans.