NAVAPD Members,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by those nearest and dearest to your heart.  I hope that you have had time to reflect on those things for which you are thankful. On behalf of myself and the NAVAPD Board of Directors, we are thankful for each and every one of the VA’s Physicians and Dentists who have dedicated their lives and careers in providing healthcare to our nation’s veterans. We are thankful for your commitment and dedication to the Mission.

I wanted to take this opportunity to update our membership on the meeting I recently had with Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz. The Congresswoman is the current chair of the committee in charge of appropriations for VA. (This is likely to change when the new Congress is installed in January 2023 and committee members and chairs are realigned.) I felt meeting with her first was important since it is her committee that sets the budget for VA. It was a short meeting; the Congresswoman was very busy and had other meetings to attend both before and after the meeting I had scheduled with her.

Because I had limited time with the Congresswoman, I was able to bring up a few of the most pressing issues you, our members, have told NAVAPD are most important to you; including:

• Physician and Dentist pay

• Increasing Workload without Adequate Staffing

• Recruitment and Retention

• Community Care

• The impact of the PACT Act on our members

In this initial meeting I was able to highlight for the Congresswoman and her staffers the most important points NAVAPD wanted to bring to her attention in each of those areas and we spent the majority of the time talking about compensation for Physicians and Dentists and VA’s inability to meet workload demands due to their inability to recruit and retain qualified providers.

We had a long discussion about the Pay Tables and tiers and where physician and dentists are aligned on those table. I provided her and her staffers a copy of NAVAPD’s recent response to the Workforce Management Steering Committee on Physician and Dentist pay where NAVAPD outlined 10 recommendations to that Committee to improve compensation for physicians and dentists. For a summary of recommendations NAVAPD made to the committee, please see the article on the website.

We had a robust discussion about pay disparities between VA and non-VA community hospitals and the private sector in general. Although most of us agree and we understand that as servants of the Federal Government we will not be compensated the same as our private sector colleagues, I brought data showing how the maximum pay levels on some of the pay tables is nearly the same as the starting pay levels at non-VA facilities. I informed that that because of that fact VA will not be able to (or have an extremely difficult time) recruit young physicians and dentists.

I brought up the increased workload seen across the country in VA Medical and Dental services and provided data showing the growth in veterans seeking care at VA, the growth in the number of encounters and procedures done in VA, and consequently the unsustainable exponential growth in community care services since the implementation of the MISSION Act, and the near stagnation of hiring of physicians and dentists to meet the needs of the veterans.

I was able to highlight for the Congresswoman and her staffers the issues seen by VA Dental services when sending patients out on Community care including unreasonable treatment plans provided by private practitioners, even when VA sends patients out for specific reasons or specific treatment, and how this is leading to a mistrust of VA by the veterans.

The data I provided and the notes they took were going to be sent to her staffers assigned for healthcare and health policy. She indicated she would be open to further meetings but again, that might depend on how things align with the new Congress.  The Congresswoman suggested that NAVAPD also talk to Chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, and I have already reached out to that Congressman to see if a meeting may be set up for after the holidays.

All in all, I felt this was a positive, productive first meeting with the Congresswoman.  I will continue to update our membership as I have additional discussions with members of Congress on the issues facing VA Physicians and Dentists.

Until then I wish everyone a very happy, healthy, joyous holiday season. Embrace your loved ones and let them know you love them.

Happy Holidays,

Joseph T. Abate, DMD