Mission Act: An investigation into problems at the VA
A six-month investigation by inewsource investigative reporter Jill Castellano has exposed how the federal government has failed to deliver on its promise to care for U.S. veterans.
Under a 2018 law, the U.S. government agreed to cover medical costs for veterans inside and outside the veterans affairs health care system to ensure they wouldn’t go without needed care.
But a review of thousands of pages of medical records and internal federal documents show VA administrators have prevented sick and disabled veterans from getting much-needed medical help from hospitals outside the health care system. These efforts have caused gaps in care, questionable cancer treatment plans and cutoffs in mental health care for suicidal patients.
This investigation was published in partnership with USA TODAY. It was also featured by inewsource’s local partners.
READ THE INEWSOURCE INVESTIGATION
SEE THE STORY IN USA TODAY
WATCH
The VA is overruling doctors’ medical decisions
Veterans health care explained. Here’s how health care access is supposed to work at the VA and here’s how, as we uncovered, things can go wrong.
Waiting for VA health care
A former Navy combat engineer John Seymour and his wife recount their difficulties getting medical care.
LISTEN ON KPBS
One veteran’s fight for cancer treatment
Former marine searches for life after ketamine
ABOUT THE REPORTER
Jill Castellano is an investigative reporter and data analyst at inewsource. Before joining inewsource, she was part of a team from the USA TODAY Network that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for a project on the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Contact: jillcastellano@inewsource.org
