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The Trump administration on Wednesday announced a new effort to initiate legal guardianships for hundreds of veterans, including some who are homeless or “at risk of homelessness,” that could be used to force more of them into involuntary or institutional care. Under the new arrangement, the Justice Department would give officials at the Veterans Affairs Department authority they currently lack to initiate guardianship proceedings in state courts for veterans who have no family and are “unable to make their own health care decisions.” (Barry and DeParle, 3/11)

The wife of one veteran wanted her husband to be evaluated, fearing his cancer may have spread, and sought a radiology appointment last year with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She made “multiple phone calls that went to voicemail,” last March and received “no follow-up within the promised 24 hours,” according to the VA’s chief watchdog. That incident is just one documented by investigators with the VA’s inspector general’s office who are trying to get to the bottom of a longstanding complaint from the nation’s veterans: They can’t get through to their health care providers on the phone. (Todd, 3/11)

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to launch an automated fraud-detection tool to scan more than a million disability benefits questionnaires for evidence of fabrication or other problems that could force a new medical exam and impact compensation, according to a VA official. James W. Smith, a deputy executive director at the Veterans Benefits Administration, told lawmakers that the tool will have the capability to quickly review submitted questionnaires — known as DBQs — that document medical evidence to determine a disability rating and monthly compensation. (Hersey, 3/9)

As Jason Beaman recounts his long slog searching for mental health therapy last year, he sounds defeated. The first therapist assigned to him by the Department of Veterans Affairs told him at their initial meeting that she was leaving the agency. A few months later, his second therapist told him she was also leaving. An appointment with a third counselor was canceled with no explanation. (Coleman, Sanders, Jacobs and Umansky, 3/12)

As many as 724,000 service members, their families and veterans may rely on health care at hospitals that face financial vulnerability, partly due to cuts in President Donald Trump's megabill, according to a new analysis. The bill, known as HR.1, was signed into law in last summer and included sweeping changes to health care including Medicaid. Strict work requirements, reduced federal funding and tightening provider tax rules impacts hospitals that are dependent on Medicaid, increasing their risk of uncompensated care and reducing revenue. (Kekatos, 3/11)