In 2018, Medicare paid over $2 billion for anesthesia services such as those needed for surgery. In 2007, we reported that private insurance was paying about 3 times more for certain anesthesia services than Medicare was. Recent studies indicate that has increased to about 3.5 times more than what Medicare pays. Anesthesia providers can negotiate higher payments from private insurance for a number...

Jobs in home care are expected to grow by 40 percent in the next decade to meet demand from older adults and people with disabilities. Despite being part of one of the fastest growing industries, many home care workers did not have federal minimum wage and overtime protections until 2015. The Department of Labor extended these protections through a regulation known as the Home Care Rule. We compar...

Veterans Affairs researchers have found that LGBT veterans may experience higher rates of depression and more frequent thoughts of suicide. Yet the VA can't systematically analyze the health of these veterans because it doesn't consistently collect data on sexual orientation or self-identified gender identity. For example, according to the VA, 89% of veterans' records lack gender identity data. Wi...

Prescription medications, if misused or overprescribed, can lead to dangerous drug interactions, abuse, overdose, or death. Prescription drug monitoring programs—state-operated electronic databases that track patient prescriptions for opioids and other medications—can help. Physicians said that access to these programs improved patient care and helped them prevent drug misuse and potentially d...

The Department of Veterans Affairs intends the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program to be the primary supply source for its 170 medical centers. But only 11% of centers met the VA's target for using the program. The VA plans to revamp the program to fix some problems—like delivery delays and limited supply selection—but that has been delayed. The VA is piloting a similar DOD medical supply pr...

Most veterans seeking Department of Veterans Affairs medical services use its 170 medical centers or over 1,000 outpatient facilities. Veterans may also use community care—services from non-VA providers—in some cases, such as when they face long waits or drive times to VA facilities. Congress expanded access to community care beginning in June 2019. The VA estimates community care will cost $2...

The Department of Veterans Affairs implemented the Veterans Community Care Program in June 2019—replacing similar programs that allow eligible veterans to receive care from non-VA providers. We reviewed how the VA implemented the new program and found: The VA hasn't established a timeliness goal for veteran careFew community providers use the VA's new software system to exchange information elec...

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates 300 Vet Centers throughout the U.S. that provide counseling services to military veterans and their families. The agency has changed how it assesses Vet Center counselors' productivity and its expectations for the number of clients that the counselors see each week. But the VA hasnÂ’t evaluated how these new expectations may affect veteran care or...

Three FDA regulatory centers help ensure the safety, security, and effectiveness of medical products. These centers had $200 million in property-related expenses in FY 2019. We found that the centers did not consistently collect, analyze, and verify the accuracy of information needed to manage personal property, such as scientific and laboratory equipment and office furniture. Effective management...

This report updates our oversight of federal actions to support public health, individuals, and the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings include: There have been shortages of personal protective equipment and testing supplies because very few of them are made in the U.S. and global demand for them is highHHS may be able to collect more complete data on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, a...