The Biden Administration’s Plan to Support Veterans

Key Takeaways:

• One of the Biden administration’s highest priorities is supporting veterans through excellent healthcare and mental health services, seamless civilian transition and improved department management.
• President-elect Biden’s pick for Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Denis McDonough, former Obama Chief of Staff.
• In order to implement the new administration’s agenda for VA, contracting opportunities may arise to fill staffing needs, supply mental health services, improve medical facility infrastructure, upgrade IT infrastructure, expand telehealth, and improve claims processing.

The Biden administration places supporting veterans as a high priority and vows to provide veterans with world-class healthcare, promote mental health, create civilian opportunities, and improve department management and accountability.

McDonough, former chief of staff for President Barack Obama, will be tasked with carrying out these priorities. In public remarks last Friday, McDonough vowed to “fight like hell to give our veterans and their families the health care, respect and dignity they deserve.”

According to the Biden campaign website, the new administration has a number of initiatives to support each high-level veteran priority, many of which may require assistance from the federal contracting community. Several of these initiatives and possible opportunities and impacts for contractors are as follows:

Improving Healthcare for Veterans

• Plans to assess staffing needs will likely uncover shortages, which may be filled through outsourced service providers.
• Expanding access to telehealth and eHealth will likely require additional investments in IT and IT services.
• Modernizing VA hospitals and clinics through a nationwide infrastructure plan will likely result in opportunities for AEC contractors to refurbish and upgrade medical facilities.

Promoting Veterans’ Mental Health and Well-Being

• Providing access to mental health services for veterans in crisis will likely require more outsourced mental health providers, counselors and caseworkers.
• Marketing and communications services will likely be needed to implement public outreach to help veterans understand available services and care options.

Improving the Transition to Civilian Life

• Job training and placement organizations may find opportunities to assist VA and veterans with early transition activities prior to the end of active duty service.
• Federal contractors could play a prominent role in providing corporate mentorship and job placement programs for veterans.

Advancing VA Management and Accountability

• Improving the veteran customer experience may result in consulting opportunities and contract requirements to implement human-centered design techniques.
• Reducing errors in claims processing may require implementation of analytics, machine learning or robotic process automation solutions.

If confirmed, McDonough would be the second person without military experience to lead the department. In addition to White House Chief of Staff, McDonough also served as Deputy National Security Advisor and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council during the Obama Administration. While on the National Security Council, he went into the field regularly to meet directly with service members in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For more information regarding the transition to the Biden administration and its potential impact on federal contractors, look for Deltek’s report, “Impact of the Administration Transition, 2020-2021,” planned for publication on December 18th.