In addition, contracts for supplies or other services takes 6 to 9 months to establish. He says that a lot of companies won't even bid on VA contracts because of this. This results in higher costs, with the exception of pharmaceuticals, because the VA has "exerted its marketing clout" in this area." (Mayo, 2006) Oliver (2007) states that "Republicans want still tighter eligibility criteria, re-restricting the VHA entirely to the poor and those with service-related disabilities. Democrats appear to be opposed to greater explicit restrictions on access, but it is important to recognize that the reform process, by perhaps overemphasizing primary care and underemphasizing the hospital sector, has probably led to greater implicit restrictions on access to specialist care in the VHA." Oliver states that the result is that "while the average burden of care has fallen, the need for specialized care has risen." (2007)

V. SWOT ANALYSIS

The strengths,...
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