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Health Affairs, Vol 16, Issue 4, 200-204
Copyright © 1997 by Project HOPE

DataWatch

The VA health care system: an unrecognized national safety net

N J Wilson and K W Kizer

The dominance of local health care markets in conjunction with variable public funding results in a national patchwork of "safety nets" and beneficiaries in the United States rather than a uniform system. This DataWatch describes how the recently reorganized Department of Veterans Affairs serves as a coordinated, national safety-net provider and characterizes the veterans who are not supported by the market-based system.

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