Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said the Department of Veterans Affairs is changing how it evaluates health care performance this week. Collins said that veterans should specifically look beyond wait times and focus more on the quality of care they receive. This comes even as the VA has reported record levels of health care appointments and disability claims processing under the Trump administration.
Community care has become an increasingly important part of veterans' health benefits, with nearly 60 million appointments now occurring outside traditional VA facilities each year. But Collins’ new statement suggests the administration is preparing to shift the conversation from simply how fast veterans are seen to whether expanding access is leading to better outcomes. The VA completed a record 59,989,662 community care appointments in fiscal year 2025, according to the department.
This comprised a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Community care specifically allows eligible veterans to receive treatment from private-sector providers paid for by the VA. Further follow-ups on the effectiveness and quickness of services once scheduled would provide a broader picture, and it's possible that research is the next step in determining if some of the VA's changes are as pivotal as proclaimed.” The department also completed a record 82,083,918 direct-care appointments through VA facilities during fiscal 2025, up 4.1 percent from the prior year.
On the benefits side, the VA said it processed more than 3 million disability claims in fiscal 2026 before the fiscal year had ended, surpassing its previous record. The department also reported that average disability claims processing times fell to 75.6 days in September, down from 141.5 days on January 20, 2025, while accuracy stood at 94 percent. Collins did not announce any specific new benefits program, but he focused on several changes and priorities that he says are affecting veterans' overall care.
For one, the administration has expanded access to community care while simultaneously increasing appointment availability within VA facilities. The department says it has offered veterans more than 3 million appointments outside normal operating hours, including evening and weekend visits. The VA has also opened dozens of health care facilities since January of last year and has emphasized reducing disability-claim backlogs and processing times.
Veterans are noticing the difference, and these massive healthcare enrollment numbers underscore that fact.” However, future discussions about veterans' access to care should consider treatment quality and outcomes rather than just appointment speed. The VA is using community care much more heavily while still providing a record amount of care inside the VA system,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. The fallout led to major reforms, including the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act and the VA Mission Act that expanded veterans' ability to seek care from private doctors and hospitals.
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