White House says it's cut VA wait times, but new study paints more complicated picture

The Trump administration claims it has cut VA staff while also shortening wait times for care. A new study shows a more complicated picture, with longer wait times in several key areas. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The VA is America's largest health network. It serves millions of veterans. The Trump administration has cut about 30,000 VA jobs. The VA says after those cuts, timely care for veterans has actually improved. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports on some new data. QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Cutting thousands of doctors and nurses and other positions that VA has struggled to fill for years, it seems like that would make wait times for care longer. KAYLA WILLIAMS: I think we all understand this intuitively. LAWRENCE: Kayla Williams is an Iraq vet, a VA patient and, to be transparent, a former VA undersecretary in the Biden administration. In a study for the progressive Vet Voice Foundation, she examined daily wait time data from 21 VA medical centers from last August to February, as the cuts played out. WILLIAMS: There are so many ways to slice and dice the data, and it can be so complicated to look at every single weed. But trying to pull back and look at the forest, wait times increased at 71% of the medical centers and in 64% of the specialties when averaging. LAWRENCE: Williams found longer wait times in several key specialties, but not across the board. …