VA spends millions promoting Obamacare, little cutting wait times

By Sarah Westwood, Sarah Westwood

Published December 20, 2015

Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs spent millions of taxpayer dollars promoting the Affordable Care Act to veterans who didn't even need the coverage, but have dedicated relatively few resources to helping veterans on the agency's long waiting list get access to their benefits, internal documents show.

The VA spent $6.125 million on brochures, letters and posters in an outreach campaign for Obamacare that ended last year, according to internal reports obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Scott Davis, a program specialist at the Atlanta VA enrollment center, said the VA likely spent much more than that on the Obamacare promotion campaign, given that the Atlanta enrollment center hired at least 40 additional staffers to push the health care legislation.

Records indicate the VA also spent money on Google advertisements, Spanish-language promotional materials and videos in an effort to spread the word about Obamacare.