
Expanding the Health Policy Mission of the Veterans Health Administration
Summary
With 1,255 VA medical facilities serving over 9 million veterans each year, the VA — through its Veterans Health Administration — maintains the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. The VA is a national leader in delivering quality health services and driving innovation in high-priority healthcare issues such as telehealth, precision medicine, suicide prevention, and opioid safety. Yet the VA remains an under-appreciated and underutilized health policy stakeholder, involved in minimal interactions with other federal health agencies and exerting limited influence on the private healthcare system. This is a mistake. The VA is a robust healthcare provider with innovative clinical and operational practices that should be firmly entrenched in the national health policy conversation.
As a remedy, we propose strategically coordinating and consolidating the healthcare innovation, demonstration, and implementation capacities of the VA and HHS in order to ensure care of the highest possible quality across urgent issues. Elevating the VA as a major healthcare policy stakeholder will demonstrate the value of government-run healthcare, promote best practices for building an effective and forward-thinking healthcare system, and advance the VA’s “fourth mission” of supporting national preparedness.
The space economy is enormous, but one of its biggest challenges is tiny: space debris.
The U.S. would need 65,000 miles of pipeline to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Here’s how the Biden Administration can expanding the use of low-emission, composite materials to support a net-zero vision.
Amino acids are essential but costly inputs for large-scale bioproduction. Federal funding can incentivize scalable production, cutting these costs in half.
Investing in oxygen as a utility through on-demand infrastructure can improve access and mortality rates globally. Healthcare experts propose how an international coalition led by USAID can transform the medical oxygen marketplaces of low- and middle-income countries to ensure every patient has the oxygen they need.