"VA"

Alaska’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, explained that part of the superlative has to do with Alaska’s demographics.

The Alaska Veteran Association, or V.A., wants to provide Homer veterans with more health services and a larger clinic. But there’s a hang up. Only half of the estimated veterans in town are signed up for insurance through the V.A. Without more registered vets, it may be harder to justify additional services, and getting unregistered vets to sign up isn’t easy.

An NPR investigation last year revealed that a number of VA centers were ejecting hundreds of caregivers from the program. The VA promised reform, but a year later few have returned to the program.

Shooting suspect James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., is dead, President Trump says. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot in the hip; he’s one of five people who were taken to the hospital.

The Trump administration says there’s no evidence the program works, but supporters say that thinking is misguided. Some even call it a “godsend.”

The move by the Supreme Court halts activity in the case, but doesn’t necessarily mean the court will ultimately take up the case involving a high school student in Virginia.

A new director has been appointed to oversee the Portland and Anchorage offices in charge of benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will return to using its own employees to make appointments for Alaska veterans who need services outside the VA system.

The $10 billion Veterans Choice program was supposed to cut down on wait times and let veterans see private doctors, but less than two years later, the faltering program needs an overhaul.

Without the VA facilities and representatives, information has a hard time reaching vets in bush Alaska.