{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hamadeh.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=965", "Congressman Hamadeh Urges Secretary Doug Collins to Implement Veterans Community Care Program Audit Findings", "2026-07-29", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Abraham J. Hamadeh", "H001098", "hamadeh.house.gov", "hamadeh", "https://hamadeh.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congressman Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) joined Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-09) in urging Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to implement recommendations from a recent Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit identifying significant deficiencies in the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP).\n\nCongressman Gosar urged Secretary Collins and Acting Undersecretary Figueroa to take action in a letter following the OIG's Audit of Veterans' Community Care Eligibility Determinations, which found widespread failures in the Department of Veterans Affairs' administration of the program.\n\nThe audit revealed that nearly one in four veterans referred to community care did not meet eligibility requirements, while millions of veterans receiving care through the VA lacked proper documentation showing they had been evaluated for community care or had voluntarily declined that option.\n\nThe OIG estimated that more than $440 million in unnecessary spending occurred during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 alone due to inaccurate eligibility determinations. An amount that could total $1.7 billion annually if left unaddressed.\n\n\u201cThe findings of the audit show that not only are we wasting money, but we are depriving our veterans of the care they so rightfully deserve\u201d stated Congressman Hamadeh. \u201cI have faith that the administration will take the appropriate action to ensure that the recommendations are implemented and quality care is delivered when needed by our veterans.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-30T07:32:48Z", "2026-07-30T07:34:08Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hamadeh.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=965"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7802629843354225, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}