When a community care provider asks VA for more care for a veteran, the answer took about 12 days to reach the veteran or the provider, on average. VA’s standard is three business days, so the notice came roughly four times later than required. The VA inspector general reported the figure in a Sept. 24 audit of requests handled between October 2024 and January 2026.
The report says that on average, veterans and providers were notified around 12 days after the facility received the request. Only about 1.4 million of nearly 2.6 million requests, or 54 percent, had a recorded notification date to the veteran or the provider at all.
For a veteran, a late notice can leave a hard question: whether the added care a provider recommended is approved or denied. Providers who hear nothing may schedule the visit anyway, and the cost of an unapproved visit is where the danger lies.
A slow answer on care is a different matter from a VA pension decision, but both turn on knowing which VA channel to use. The Veterans Benefits Action Kit walks through the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance and how to file for free (VA Form 21P-527EZ) for wartime veterans with limited income.
Read the VA pension filing steps for veterans stuck waiting on VA answers →
How late the notices ran
The three-business-day standard comes from VHA’s Community Care Field Guidebook, which says a formal decision must be made, documented and communicated to both the veteran and the community provider in that time. The inspector general found that about 445,000 notifications, 17 percent of the almost 2.6 million requests, met that standard.
The gap shows up in two steps. The decision itself took about eight business days nationally, according to the report. The notice that followed pushed the average to around 12 days from the date the facility received the request.
The report’s own measure of the gap is blunt. Of the almost 2.6 million requests, the large majority either went unrecorded or reached a veteran or provider after the three-day mark. That leaves a veteran with no reliable way to know, from the outside, which group a particular request belongs to.
When a denial does not reach the provider
The inspector general describes the risk directly: “If veterans and providers are not informed about denied requests, there is a risk that providers will continue to give care to veterans that will ultimately not be authorized—potentially leaving the veteran or provider liable for the cost.”
The report also warns that delayed approvals can delay care, reduce the chance of earlier diagnosis or treatment, and hinder continuity of care.
Why the dates themselves are shaky
The 12-day average depends on when VA says it received each request, and the report found problems with that date. About 22 percent of the sampled requests had receipt dates that did not match the actual transmission date on the fax cover sheets in veterans’ medical records.
That finding is part of why two of the inspector general’s six recommendations concern accurate receipt dates and accurate notifications to providers and veterans. All six recommendations are open. The acting under secretary for health agreed with them in August 2026, with action plans due by July 2027. The report is signed by Larry M. Reinkemeyer, the assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations.
A problem GAO has flagged before
The Government Accountability Office reported in March that VHA facilities lack enough staff to manage community care referrals and that VHA had not fully carried out recommendations on wait time measures. Staffing is also behind the audit’s findings: vacancies ran from 12 to 16 percent at the medical centers the inspector general visited.
Confirming authorization before more care
A veteran who has not heard back can start with the community provider’s office and ask whether VA has approved the added care in writing. If the answer is unclear, VA’s community care page lists a general VA number, 1-800-698-2411.
VA’s patient advocacy program is the next step. Each VHA facility has a designated Patient Advocate, and VA’s guidance says to start with the treatment team, move to the provider’s supervisor or service chief if needed, and then contact the Patient Advocate at the facility if the concern remains unresolved. Write down the dates of each call and the name of the person who answered.
Holding off on added visits until approval is confirmed protects against the cost risk the inspector general describes. Whether care can safely wait is a question for the veteran’s clinician.
For veterans looking at another VA benefit, The Veterans Benefits Action Kit includes the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance plus the pension-poacher warning signs.
Get the pension-poacher warning signs in The Veterans Benefits Action Kit →
This piece was drafted with AI assistance and edited against the VA inspector general report and the pages linked above.
