Date
August 23, 2022
The recently published book, Our Veterans: Winners, Losers, Friends, and Enemies on the New Terrain of Veterans Affairs, explores the physical, social, and psychological impact of military service and the problems that veterans face upon returning to civilian life. It also provides a critical examination of the roles played by advocacy organizations, philanthropies, and veteran-serving nonprofits in the larger effort to support military veterans. The book’s authors delve deeply into the ongoing debate about the cost, quality, and effectiveness of health care delivered by both the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and private providers, proposing a new agenda that links service provision to veterans with the quest for broader social programs benefiting all Americans.
NYHealth Program Officer Derek Coy and two of the book’s authors, Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven, discussed how VA’s increased reliance on private sector care, the evolving political landscape, and an increasingly diverse veteran population impact veterans’ health care.
Suzanne Gordon, an award-winning journalist, is a senior policy analyst at the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute and author of Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope to the Nation’s Veterans.
Jasper Craven is a freelance journalist who covers military and veteran-related issues. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The New Republic. He can be reached at ExecDirector@VeteransPolicy.org.