Federal Manager's Daily Report

The VA has asked Congress to allow reprogramming of some funds, particularly from the Choice program that allows veterans to receive care from non-VA facilities on a reimbursement basis in some circumstances.

“This is necessary to replenish critical operations funding that VA had to reallocate from other medical services programs to sustain Care in the Community, after those funds were depleted. If these program funds are not restored, VA will face shutting down hospital operations during August 2015,” the department said in similar letters to various congressional committees overseeing it.

Other cost-saving steps that would be needed without such reprogramming could include furloughs and hiring freezes.

The department says it needs about $2.5 billion in reprogramming due to higher than expected health care costs from a growing workload—some of that growth triggered by the need to catch up on backlogged care after it was revealed last year that some facilities had been misreporting timeliness of care.

However, it is uncertain whether Congress will grant the request, based on statements by some leaders there that the agency had mismanaged its funds, for example by excessive spending on constructing a hospital in Denver.