https://www.legion.org/legislative/testimony/225841/examining-quality-and-cost-va-health-care
The CBO was asked to conduct an examination of how the costs of health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) compare with the costs of care provided by the private sector. With the lack of evidence, and substantial uncertainty, CBO had difficulty reaching any firm conclusions to determine if it would be cheaper to expand veterans’ access to VHA facilities or private sector facilities. However, if CBO is looking for a baseline by which to estimate the cost of non-VA care, they need look no further than their own library of published reports when in June of 2014, they estimated the cost of outsourcing VA care to exceed $50 billion
[1] over 5 years, or roughly $10 billion dollars per year, just to eliminate the backlog of veterans waiting more than 30 days to see a VA doctor.
One important point to keep in mind is that this $50 billion represents an additional $10 billion per year to VHA’s already existing $65 billion annual budget, and this measure was only designed to serve less than one percent of VA’s total patient population.
CBO’s analysis also states the claim, that VA “has provided limited data to Congress and the public about its costs and operational performance. The overarching theme of the study is clear – CBO needs more data in order to make recommendations or be able to come to any credible conclusion.