The trial, known as the Psilocybin Intervention for Veterans Overcoming Treatment-Resistant Depression,” or PIVOT, study aims to include at least 240 veterans, all of whom have difficult-to-treat major depressive disorder and some who also have PTSD.

The study will take place at five VA medical centers through June 2031 and will assess patients’ levels of depression before and after treatment, side effects and overall response among participants.

“Far too many veterans are living with mental health conditions that don’t respond to available treatments,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “Under President [Donald] Trump, VA is pursuing all avenues to evaluate new treatments and offer meaningful relief for those who have worn the uniform. This clinical trial reflects another step toward this goal.”

Last month, researchers with Ohio State University’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education published the findings of a small, 12-person study on the safety of using psilocybin to treat severe PTSD in veterans.

After receiving eight hours of psychotherapy and two doses of synthetic psilocybin and integrative therapy, nine participants, or 75%, no longer met the clinical criteria for having PTSD.

According to the research, published July 30 in Communications Medicine, participants showed no serious adverse effects, including suicidal ideation or behavior. Non-serious side effects included headache, anxiety and dizziness.

“For a population with severe treatment-resistant PTSD, these results are striking,” said Stacey Armstrong, associate director and senior researcher at the center.

The PIVOT study will involve veterans with major depressive disorder who have not responded to current treatments, including those with or without a diagnosis of PTSD. In the double-blind, randomized trial, veterans will receive one dose of psilocybin or a placebo, along with therapeutic support. They will receive a second dose one month later, also with support, and will be evaluated two to four weeks following each session.

They also will receive follow-up six months after their participation.

VA officials said for the study, they will use pharmaceutical-grade drugs and treat veterans in a “safe, controlled, clinical setting.”

The five VA facilities that are slated to host the research include: the Birmingham VA Health Care System and Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, Alabama; the VA Portland Health Care System, Oregon; Cpl. Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia; and VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle.

Trump signed an executive order in April directing the Food and Drug Administration to accelerate the review of some psychedelic therapies to treat mental health conditions. The order also required the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the VA to collaborate on psychedelic research.

As a result of the order, HHS and the VA signed an agreement last month to increase coordination on research, including increasing clinical trial participation, training therapists, nurses and doctors to administer psychedelic medications if they are approved and collecting data and evidence to support patients, physicians and federal regulators.

According to the VA, its staff is involved in 20 current clinical trials focused on psychedelic treatments for mental health conditions, including MDMA and LSD.

Studies sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies have shown that 87% of veteran participants in a study on the use of MDMA — the chemical compound known recreationally as Ecstasy or Molly — had significant improvement in PTSD symptoms four months after receiving treatments, and 71% no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD at the end of the studies.

The advancement of MDMA as a treatment met a setback in 2024, however, when the Food and Drug Administration rejected an application to approve it as a PTSD treatment, requesting more research on its safety and efficacy.

VA officials said in a release on the PIVOT study Wednesday that they strongly discourage self-medication, and veterans should not “replace other mental health treatment options with psychedelics or any other unprescribed substances.”

“Proven, evidence-based treatments are currently available at VA facilities to treat Veterans with mental health conditions,” they wrote.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has proposed barring the VA from collecting voluntary or involuntary separation pay from veterans who are approved to receive disability compensation.

The bill also would allow veterans who later qualify for military retirement pay to remit the net amount they received instead of the gross amount so they don’t end up paying more than they actually received after taxes.

Gallego, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla, introduced a similar bill in the House when Gallego served in that chamber, but the legislation never made it out of committee.

The senator said the legislation is needed because the money is paid out for separate reasons: disability payments are akin to workman’s compensation and separation pay reflects “time served” — an incentive tool used by the Defense Department to manage force strength and design.

“It is ridiculous to claw back money from a veteran who has put life and limb on the line, just because later in life they qualify for disability benefits,” Gallego said in a statement to Military Times.

From 2013 to 2023, the VA recouped $2.44 billion in separation pay and bonuses from 112,834 veterans under a law that the department cites as prohibiting it from paying disability compensation to those who received the pay unless the money is paid back.

The VA has been required to recover the money since the 1940s, and the Defense Department is required to inform transitioning service members of the potential for recoupment. Sometimes, however, veterans are surprised when letters announcing the recoupment arrive, sometimes decades after they left military service.

In one case, an Air Force officer received $30,000 in separation pay in 1990 and received a letter in 2024 telling him his entire disability compensation check would be withheld until the money was recouped.

The situation placed the veteran at risk for losing his living quarters and vehicle, he told Military.com at the time.

“I fail to comprehend how or why they intend to cut me off for several months without even negotiating a lesser but [survivable] monthly contribution. I also fail to understand why it took 34 years for VA to come up with this [scheme]. Why now?” retired Air Force Maj. Raymond Thomas, 75, told the publication.

By law, veterans’ monthly disability compensation can be withheld if they received readjustment pay, non-disability severance pay, disability severance pay, special separation benefits or involuntary or voluntary separation pay.

According to the VA, the recoupment effort hit a peak in 2018 with 17,066 veterans paying more than $396 million.

The Restore Veterans Compensation Act would also change the recoupment rate for retired military veterans who are required to make payments to 25% of their paychecks rather than the current 40% — an alteration that would lessen the financial impact of the recoupment.

When Gallego and Bilirakis introduced their bill in 2022, it drew the support of Disabled American Veterans who said the practice of withholding VA disability compensation because a service member received a separation benefit “must end.”

Sen. James Risch, R-Id. introduced a separate bill Wednesday that would limit the amount that veterans paid each month to the VA for recoupment.

Risch’s Veterans Earned Benefits Access Act would allow the VA to collect the separation pay but limit it to no more than 25% of their monthly disability compensation checks. Currently, the VA can withhold the entire amount of checks until the veteran pays back the government.

“My [bill] ensures that veterans can receive the disability benefits they need while repaying their separation pay,” Risch said in a release.

The 80,000-square-foot museum will highlight the maritime service’s mission, history and accomplishment across three exhibit floors, interactive displays and experiences, featuring more than 5,000 photos and 600 artifacts, including an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter and the Medal of Honor awarded to Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, the service’s sole recipient of the honor who heroically led the extraction of Marines under fire during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said the museum will be more than a collection of artifacts; it “will illuminate the hard-earned lessons of the sea.”

“This museum is a permanent tribute to the Long Blue Line—the generations of crews who have saved lives, defended our borders and maritime approaches, facilitated vital commerce, and responded to crises with little or no warning,” Lunday said in a news release Tuesday.

A national Coast Guard museum has been a goal for the service and its supporters since at least 2001, when officials said they wanted to build one in the historic Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London, a prime waterfront parcel slated for redevelopment by the city.

But the land the service was eyeing had been seized by eminent domain and was involved in an extended legal battle that wasn’t resolved until 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city.

But the development never transpired. In 2013, the city donated a parcel of waterfront property for the museum, and the state of Connecticut pledged $20 million in funding to revitalize the effort.

In 2022, the museum received nearly $50 million from Congress, and a “keel-laying” ceremony was held to mark the start of construction of the main building.

At the time, then-Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan said the facility would be a place to “share our history and the stories with the American public.”

“Today was a beautiful day in New London and for the Coast Guard,” Fagan said

Last year, the federal government provided another $50 million to complete the facility’s construction.

With the exception of the U.S. Space Force, founded in 2019, the nation’s armed services will now each have their own national museums. However, the Navy’s is currently closed due to its location on an active military installation and aging infrastructure.

The National Museum of the Air Force, located in Dayton, Ohio, traces its roots to 1923 and is the oldest military aviation museum in the world.

The National Museum of the Navy was established in 1963 at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Fundraising efforts are underway to build a new state-of-the-art facility accessible to the public somewhere in the District.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, opened in 2006, while the National Museum of the U.S. Army, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, opened in 2020.

Retired Capt. Wes Pulver, president of the museum’s association, said completion of the Coast Guard’s museum will represent “incredible dedication, vision and partnership.”

“We are deeply grateful for the Coast Guard’s steadfast support throughout this journey and look forward to continuing our collaboration as we build a museum worthy of the remarkable men and women who have served our nation. Together, we are ensuring their stories will inspire generations to come,” Pulver said in a statement.

The museum is slated to open to the public Aug. 2, 2027, with the dedication planned for Coast Guard Day, Aug. 4, 2027, the 237th anniversary of the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.

“By bridging our rich history with the challenges of tomorrow, we are creating a dynamic foundation to inspire the next generation of leaders ready to answer our nation’s call,” Lunday said.

In a review of 9.9 million veterans in the VA medical system from 2000 to 2024, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and elsewhere found that 14,419 patients had received an ALS diagnosis.

In the group with ALS, 46% were Army veterans – nearly the same percentage of soldiers in the entire patient cohort.

Using the rate of ALS diagnoses among Army veterans as the baseline and adjusting for sex, race, and ethnicity, researchers found that Air Force veterans had a 29% higher rate, former Coast Guard members had a 26% higher rate and Navy veterans had a 15% higher rate. Marines had the lowest rate, at 22% below that of Army veterans.

Overall, officers had a 64% higher rate than enlisted personnel, while women officers had a 72% higher rate. Differences among branches were more apparent in men ages 61 and younger and less evident among men older than 75.

“Our study looked at the rates of ALS among people in different branches of the U.S. military and found ALS rates varied considerably by branch and rank, with larger differences among younger veterans,” said study author Marc Weisskopf at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in a release.

ALS is a rare disease diagnosed in roughly 5,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A fatal illness most famously associated with baseball legend Lou Gehrig and British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, it is a progressive disease that affects the motor neurons, causing them to lose connectivity and die off.

There are two types of ALS: sporadic, meaning occurring without a known cause in the general population, and familial, likely the result of an inherited genetic mutation, according to the ALS Association.

While military personnel are diagnosed with ALS at nearly twice the rate of civilians, the cause has not been scientifically proven. The VA presumes the condition to be service-connected given the heightened occurrence in the veteran population.

Researchers have theorized that exposure to hazardous environments and substances, including burn pits, jet fuel, exhaust, heavy metals, dioxins and other toxic materials, may contribute, but no direct connection has been proven.

“Our findings suggest that officers and those serving in the Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard may have been exposed to military environments that increase risk of ALS,” said Weisskopf. “Future research should aim to identify these exposures.”

In the civilian population, some occupations such as airline pilots, truck drivers, metal workers and those who work with pesticides and other toxic substances are associated with increased ALS risk, according to a 2022 Columbia University study.

The authors noted that the likelihood of developing ALS is low, even in the U.S. military. Of the 9.9 million veteran records reviewed, less than 0.2% of patients were diagnosed with ALS, according to the study.

“It is … important to note that ALS is rare and the overall risk remains small, so even statistically significant increases associated with branch and rank represent only modest increases in risk among military personnel,” Weisskopf said.

VA staff evacuated an unknown number of patients to local hospitals and are caring for 27 patients at area shelters, according to the facility’s Facebook page. The medical center, which lies less than a third of a mile from the fire perimeter as of Monday, will remain closed, “with future operations to be determined.”

More than 60,000 people have been evacuated from the area as a result of three fires collectively known as the Spokane Complex Fire. More than 8,000 acres had burned as of Monday, with 0% containment, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Mann-Grandstaff is closest to the Old Trails Fire, which began Saturday and was fueled by high winds.

“We are grateful for the support received. Spokane VA extends our sincere condolences to all victims, including local VA staff members who, like so many, have lost so much,” VA officials wrote on the hospital’s Facebook page.

According to the post, Spokane-area VA outpatient clinics and business operation centers are also closed. The hospital provides administration and services for local VA clinics, including records, pharmacy management and specialty care.

Mann-Grandstaff is a 46-bed facility with more than 1,400 full-time positions, including its clinics.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

In the decade from 2014 to 2024, the number of suicides among active personnel and activated reservists ebbed and rose each year, with the lowest number of deaths, 3, occurring in both 2018 and 2021, and the highest — 12 and 14 — in 2022 and 2024, according to data released July 16 at the request of Military Times.

The 2024 increase occurred at a time when the service experienced a slight decline in its number of active-duty personnel, the result of recruiting challenges. That year, the Coast Guard had roughly 39,000 active-duty members, according to the Government Accountability Office, compared with roughly 43,000 members in 2014.

The Defense Department issues a report each year on suicides in the armed forces, examining rates of suicide for each service, demographics and trends to provide information for its suicide prevention policies and strategies.

The Coast Guard is not included in that report because it is a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

According to a Pentagon report released earlier this year, 471 service members took their own lives in 2024, down from 531 the previous year. The suicide rate — a measure that reflects deaths relative to the size of the population — among active duty, Reserve and National Guard members declined by almost five percentage points from 2023 to 2024 but increased for the active component.

That rise reflected the increase in suicide rates in the comparable U.S. population, according to the report.

The Coast Guard does not release an annual report on suicides within its ranks, suicide rates or details on the deaths. In a report to Congress in July 2024, officials said calculating rates using “relative low suicide death counts” would result in rates that are “highly sensitive to small changes over time” and are “unreliable for comparison within and between groups.”

The low numbers also limit the service’s ability to glean and release information on demographics because the information may be used to identify the deceased, officials wrote.

In a statement to Military Times, Rear Adm. Chuck Fosse, deputy commandant for personnel, said all Coast Guard members must undergo annual suicide prevention training.

Fosse added that the service had a service-wide stand-down to highlight resources and provide additional training. That event, in December 2024, highlighted a suicide prevention app, the Columbia Protocol, strategies for intervening and support.

“Every suicide is a tragedy that deeply affects our Coast Guard family. The Coast Guard remains committed to reducing suicide risk through prevention, early intervention, and ensuring members and dependents have access to the support and care they need,” Fosse said.

In an August 2022 article in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, Coast Guard Lt. (junior grade) Riley Cassidy wrote about the suicide of a friend, Ens. Theodore Frisk, in Alaska earlier that year. Cassidy commended the support he received from his command, Sector Anchorage, but added that the service must be more forthcoming on the subject to help units, colleagues and family members.

“The Coast Guard’s lack of transparency and awareness in the wake of [Frisk’s] suicide, at both the Coast Guard Academy and in the fleet, makes it challenging to find closure. There was no official notification, nor any management to the rumors spreading throughout the organization,” Cassidy wrote. “Multiple Academy graduates and cadets asked me how Teddy died. They were told he died unexpectedly, with no mention of suicide or the resources available to help them process the trauma.”

Cassidy implored the service to institute a system to notify unit commands of suicides across the service so they can assist those who knew the deceased.

“Timeliness is critical to give commanding officers and officers in charge information on the incident and identify service members at their units who may be affected,” Cassidy wrote.

Military Times asked the Coast Guard about reports that are circulating in the service regarding two alleged suicides this year on the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, a three-masted sailing barque homeported in New London, Connecticut, which participated in numerous America 250 events earlier this summer.

Officials denied the reports, saying in the last five years on the Eagle, “there has been one suicide which occurred in September of 2022.”

Researchers at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine in California looked at VA disability benefits and Social Security Disability payments to veterans across 14 years.

They found that the average yearly payment rose from $17,286 in 2010 to $24,057 in 2024, while the percentage of U.S. veterans receiving compensation rose from 9% in 2010 to 22% in 2024.

The increases are likely attributable to a number of causes, the authors said. They noted the high rate of deployments and increased possibility of serious service-connected illness and injury for post 9/11 veterans, improved medical care that resulted in increased survivorship of combat injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan and VA policies that have made more veterans eligible and made it easier to receive benefits.

Over the same time period, meanwhile, annual Social Security Disability Insurance payments to veterans remained steady, averaging around $19,550. Veterans may be eligible for SSDI payments if they have a condition that affects their ability to work.

According to the study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, college educated, married and younger veterans were more likely to receive VA compensation while older veterans with non-service-connected disabilities were more likely to receive SSDI.

The authors theorized that the challenges associated with filing VA claims — “administrative hurdles,” as they described them — and the draw of VA education benefits may favor those who can navigate the system.

The increase in the percentage of veterans receiving VA disability benefits as well as the rise in amounts paid comes at a time when the population of U.S. veterans is declining: In 2010, the country had 22 million veterans; by 2024, that figure had declined to 15.8 million.

The researchers described their study as “descriptive” and drew few conclusions.

“These findings can inform policy discussions about optimal fiscal payments and program structures needed to achieve and streamline federal programmatic goals, while underscoring the need to reduce growing disability burden among veterans and to ensure ease of benefits navigation,” they wrote.

The authors did not respond to a request for an interview by publication.

The Cutter Healy, which recently completed drydock repairs at the Swan Island shipyard in Portland, Oregon, lost propulsion during sea trials off the Washington coast July 13 and was towed to port without incident. Coast Guard officials said no personnel were injured in the mishap.

The 420-foot ship underwent a $18.3 million overhaul earlier this year that included restoring propulsion components such as shafts, bearings, seals, rudders and its bow thruster. Vigor Marine LLC also upgraded the ship’s sonar system and infrastructure, according to a company release.

An investigation into the incident is underway, and the Healy is expected to need “major repairs,” the Coast Guard says.

The Coast Guard did not provide information regarding the extent of the damage or an estimated time for repairs.

“[The Coast Guard] will provide additional information regarding the casualty aboard CGC Healy as it becomes available,” the service told Military Times on Wednesday.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday praised the Healy crew for acting “with speed and skill in responding to this casualty.”

“The nation needs a highly capable icebreaking fleet operated by the Coast Guard to ensure year-round access to the region to protect our northern border in Alaska and maritime approaches in the Arctic,” Lunday said in the release.

The Coast Guard icebreaker Storis, a commercial vessel that was purchased by the service and converted for Coast Guard use last year, is patrolling the Arctic region in Healy’s absence as is the national security Cutter Munro, which began tracking two Chinese vessels earlier this month as they passed through the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and the extended U.S. continental shelf in the Bering Sea, service officials said.

“Munro’s efforts advanced Operation Frontier Sentinel, which is designed to protect American sovereign rights, ensure consistency with international law, and position the Coast Guard to rapidly respond to any detected malign activity,” a spokesperson told Military Times.

The transits marked the first incidents in 2026 of Chinese vessels in the region.

The Coast Guard has stepped up acquisitions of icebreakers in response to growing concerns of foreign interests in the region and an executive order signed on Oct. 8, 2025, by President Donald Trump that ordered the Department of Homeland Security to increase the number of icebreakers available for patrolling the Arctic.

Bollinger Shipyards is building the first of three polar security cutters, but that program has faced a number of delays as a result of changes in contractors and engineering and design alterations.

The first of the class is now expected to be delivered in 2033, nearly a decade after its original target date, according to the Government Accountability Office.

To accelerate acquisition of additional icebreakers, the service awarded a contract in February to Davie Defense, Inc., for five additional cutters, bringing the total number under contract to 11.

The 27-year-old Healy has previously been sidelined by engine issues. In 2020, it suffered a fire in a propulsion motor, ending its planned deployment and experienced another fire in August 2024, also while underway.

Suicidal thoughts among U.S. veterans have risen nearly 50% in the past five years, but the frequency of suicide planning and attempts remained relatively stable, according to a new study based on a survey of 2,636 veterans.

Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD and the Yale School of Medicine analyzed data from the 2025-26 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study and found that 13.4% of veterans reported suicidal thoughts in the previous two weeks, compared with 9% in the 2019-2020 survey.

The analysis found that rates of suicide planning and attempts remained unchanged in the same time frame, but for certain groups — particularly younger veterans and women — rates were higher for thoughts, planning and attempts over the five years.

Ian Fischer, the study’s lead author and a clinical psychologist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, said the research was needed to understand the changing veteran population and potential shifts in suicidal thoughts and behaviors that can drive suicide prevention efforts.

“The veteran population has become younger, and there have been increases in the proportion of women veterans and shifts in its racial and ethnic composition over the past five years, making it essential to monitor changes in suicidal thoughts and behaviors and identify the veterans who may benefit most from prevention and early intervention,” Fischer said Tuesday in a Yale press release.

More than 6,000 veterans have died each year by suicide since 2001. In 2024 — the most recent year for accurate nationwide data, 6,398 veterans died by suicide. Veterans ages 18 to 34 and those experiencing homelessness or health issues were at higher risk.

According to the VA, the suicide rates among veterans are 60% higher than the national average, with suicide the second leading cause of death among veterans under age 45.

The VA has invested millions in suicide prevention and teamed with community partners, providing grants and support to address suicide among former service members. It recently has focused on encouraging veterans to enroll in VA medical services, citing evidence that patients who receive health care at the VA have lower rates of suicide and suicide attempts.

The study, published July 20 in JAMA Network Open, showed that veterans who use the VA for primary health care were twice as likely to have received mental health treatment at some point in their lives. More than half of those who said they used VA health care services were actively enrolled in mental health care.

The survey also found that fewer than 37% of veterans who reported having suicidal thoughts in the previous two weeks were receiving mental health care.

“These findings suggest that the VA is playing an important role in connecting veterans at elevated suicide risk with mental healthcare,” said Brandon Nichter, a visiting scholar in Yale’s Department of Psychiatry and study coauthor, in a release.

“At the same time, many veterans with recent suicidal thoughts are still not engaged in treatment. Expanding outreach and reducing barriers to care across both VA and community health systems will be essential to reaching these individuals,” Nichter said.

According to the study, younger veterans remain at higher risk for suicide, possibly because post 9/11 veterans experienced of “elevated trauma exposure” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Researchers noted that service-era comparisons are complicated by generational differences and “survivorship bias,” meaning older veterans may appear less likely to experience suicide behavior because younger veterans at highest risk are less likely to survive into old age.

According to the survey, woman veterans had higher odds of suicide planning and attempts, while VA national data shows that male veterans die by suicide at higher rates.

Risk factors for suicide attempts include major depression, alcohol use and adverse childhood experiences that preceded military service, according to the study, and risk factors for suicidal thoughts and planning included PTSD, major depressive disorder and adverse childhood experiences.

The authors cautioned that the study relied on self-reported data, and veterans may have been reluctant to disclose suicidal thoughts or attempts. Those surveyed also were a recruited group and did not include incarcerated or institutionalized veterans or other unique veteran subsets, meaning the sample was not fully representative of the U.S. veteran population.

Based on the survey results, researchers estimated that between 2.3 million and 2.4 million of the nation’s roughly 16 million veterans experienced suicidal thoughts within the study’s measured time frame. They also estimated that about 1.4 million veterans had planned suicide at some point and around 830,000 had attempted during their lifetimes.

The researchers said they hoped information contained in the study will be used for improving prevention efforts, intervention and treatment.

“Targeting key risk factors in vulnerable sub-populations may help mitigate suicide risk,” they wrote.

In a report released Tuesday, Government Accountability Office analysts said that although the VA outlays for the Community Care Program have risen from $9.5 billion in 2020 to $25 billion in 2025, the amount of improper payments have been reduced each year, from 78% of the total in 2020 to 2.4% in 2025.

The GAO said improper payments occur when the VA reimburses contractors that manage community care for outdated claims, incorrect reimbursement rates or payment amounts or bills that exceed authorized care.

Sometimes, the improper payments may be related to fraud, the GAO added, noting that as recently as February 2026, a home health care company submitted fraudulent claims for community care for $100,000 in services that were never provided. In another case, a provider agreed to pay $3.7 million to resolve charges that it fraudulently billed the VA for services that were not medically necessary.

The VA has worked to reduce improper payments and fraud risks, the GAO noted, by developing and implementing processes for identifying problems and assessing the root causes of improper payments.

The department developed and implemented corrective actions to address the issues, the analysts said.

The VA has not, however, conducted a fraud-risk assessment that identifies inherent risks, assesses the likelihood of fraud and determines its risk tolerance. GAO auditors recommended the VA create a fraud-risk framework and implement it.

“While VA has taken steps to identify and assess fraud risks, these efforts do not meet the key elements of a fraud risk assessment and have not resulted in a comprehensive fraud risk assessment for the program, leaving it vulnerable to fraud,” the report stated.

VA officials told the GAO that they were able to reduce improper payments in Community Care because they addressed the “broader system and policy issues,” such as payment processing errors and eligibility problems that followed the development of the nationwide program established in 2018 by the Mission Act.

VA officials said they would further address any issues that may contribute to improper payments in the next round of contracts for Community Care, which are expected to be awarded this year.

VA officials concurred with the GAO’s recommendation to create a fraud-risk framework, saying the department would establish oversight during its ongoing reorganization of the Veterans Health Administration, with the effort to be completed by March 2028.

The GAO also looked at improper payments by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to companies that manage Medicare Advantage plans. Analysts found that in 2025, CMS paid roughly $23.7 billion in improper payments, up from $16.3 billion in 2020.