Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab
The Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab (HQO) is a state-of-the-art health services research group that produces actionable evidence to improve the quality, equity, and resilience of healthcare delivery systems.
677 Huntington Ave.
Kresge Building, 4th Floor
Boston, MA
Veterans’ Healthcare Research & Policy Collaborative
The Healthcare Quality & Outcomes Lab partnered with Boston University’s Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center (PEPReC) to lead work examining veterans’ healthcare delivery and outcomes.
Our work has been presented to Veterans Affairs leadership, informed policy discussions in the the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and led to the drafting of a new bill that would fix a policy loophole that allows for duplicative payments for veterans’ care. Below, we highlight research and policy work from this collaborative.
Nearly 6 million veterans are dually eligible for Veterans Health Administration (VA) care and Medicare benefits. Many veterans access care through both systems, creating a complex landscape of overlapping benefits and financing streams.
We examine plan characteristics and utilization and spending patterns for veterans in Medicare Advantage (MA). Our work demonstrated that when veterans enroll in MA plans, there is significant cost-shifting to the VA system—with some MA plans paying for virtually none of veterans’ care.
JAMA Health Forum
Payment Source Shift for Surgical Care Among Veterans Enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans
June 9, 2025
JAMA
Dental and Vision Services Among Veterans in Medicare Advantage vs Traditional Medicare
May 15, 2025
JAMA Health Forum
Characteristics and Benefit Design of Veteran Medicare Advantage Affinity Plans
March 28, 2025
Health Affairs
Medicare Advantage Plans With High Numbers Of Veterans: Enrollment, Utilization, And Potential Wasteful Spending
November 4, 2024
The 2018 Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks (MISSION) Act expanded veterans’ access to VA-funded community care, potentially shifting where veterans’ seek care and who pays for it. We aim to characterize trends in community care utilization and spending among veterans post-MISSION Act, as well as differences in quality, costs, and outcomes between community and VA care.
Health Affairs Scholar
Racial and ethnic disparities in GLP-1 prescriptions among veterans with obesity across direct and community care settings
May 29, 2026
JAMA Network Open
Emergency Care for Veterans in the Post–MISSION Act Era
December 8, 2025
Health Affairs
Veterans May Be Seeing Lower-Quality Clinicians In The VHA Community Care Network
January 6, 2025
JAMA Health Forum
Cost Shifting for Emergency Care of Veterans With Medicare After MISSION Act Implementation
December 27, 2024
We engage with policymakers and VA leadership to share our research and inform veterans healthcare delivery and policy reform.
House Committee Roundtable Discussion: Private Equity & Veterans’ Health Care
September 9, 2025
Drs. Jose Figueroa and Thomas Tsai participate in a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Roundtable Discussion on the impact of private equity on health care for veterans.
Guarantee Utilization of All Reimbursements for Delivery of (GUARD) Veterans’ Health Care Act
Introduced in Senate on June 23, 2025
Our work on cost-shifting for veterans in Medicare Advantage plans led to the drafting of a new bill that would allow the VA to seek reimbursement from Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans, preventing them from collecting payments without covering veterans’ care.