“To Care for Him Who Shall Have Borne the Battle”
Public Attitudes About Privatizing Veterans’ Health Care in the U.S
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21427872 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anisha Aggarwal (Texas A&M University, College Station, USA), Siddharth Srivastava (0000-0001-7550-0358, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA), Simon F Haeder (0000-0003-0077-6047, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Armed Forces & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0095327x261459116 |
| OpenAlex | W7167695267 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Most health care services in the United States are delivered by private providers. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) serves as one major exception. However, over the past decade, various new policies have expanded veterans’ access to community providers, opening an ongoing debate over how far privatization should go. We fielded a national survey ( N = 5,852, including 772 veterans) in early 2022 on four privatization proposals of varying scope. Americans broadly supported limited expansions of Community Care but were sharply divided on proposals to replace the VHA through private contracting or private insurance. Conservatives were the most consistent supporters. Veterans who received VHA care were less supportive, and veterans who received Community Care more supportive, of the more far-reaching proposals. Contrary to expectations, veterans satisfied with Community Care were not more supportive of unrestricted privatization. Future reform beyond existing Community Care arrangements may face public resistance, though opinion remains malleable
Administration (probate law) · Face (sociological concept) · Health care · Health care reform · Primary care · Private sector · Public health · Public opinion · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Healthcare Policy and Management · Primary Care and Health Outcomes
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
The Partisan Sort
Policy Feedbacks and the Impact of Policy Designs on Public Opinion
Dismantling the Welfare State?
Policy Feedback
The Divided Welfare State
Boutique to Booming
Policy Makes Mass Politics
The Future of the VA—The Privatization Debate
Validating the demographic, political, psychological, and experimental results obtained from a new source of online survey respondents
The Privatization Decision
Veterans as a Social Movement
Reconsidering Policy Feedback
Understanding VA’s Use of and Relationships With Community Care Providers Under the Mission Act
How Did Veterans’ Reliance on Veterans Health Administration Outpatient Care Change After Expansion of the Veterans Community Care Program
Did Access to Care Improve Since Passage of the Veterans Choice Act
When Effect Becomes Cause
Political Parties, Motivated Reasoning, and Issue Framing Effects
Personal Experience and Public Opinion
Reforms and Redistribution
Competition and Choice in New York City . Social Services
Contracting and Accountability in State Medicaid Reform
An Empirical Assessment of Devolution's Policy Impact
The Consequences of Public Policy for Democratic Citizenship
The Struggle to Remake Politics
Reconstituting the Submerged State
What Do They Know, and Whom Do They Hold Accountable? Citizens in the Government-Nonprofit Contracting Relationship
Sociotropic Politics
Reevaluating the sociotropic economic voting hypothesis
Privatizing Risk without Privatizing the Welfare State
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |