{"id":7495,"date":"2026-07-09T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:00:00","slug":"va-welcomes-200000-new-healthcare-enrollees-so-far-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495","title":{"rendered":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong> \u2013 The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that more than 200,000 new Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare so far in 2026, a testament to the landmark improvements VA has made during the second Trump Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Under President Trump, VA is improving its outreach to Veterans who aren\u2019t enrolled in VA care and benefits, which can save Veterans and their families thousands of dollars per year. This year\u2019s enrollment push has already generated more than 500,000 completed or scheduled VA healthcare encounters, including more than 60,000 mental health appointments, and more than 2,100 newly enrolled Veterans have received emergency care services at VA.<\/p>\n<p>To mark America\u2019s 250<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, VA hospitals, Vet Centers and other facilities this summer are holding more than 140 \u201cFreedom 250\u201d events, which will introduce VA to thousands of additional unenrolled Veterans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica couldn\u2019t celebrate its 250<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary without help from the Veterans who sacrificed to protect her,\u201d said <strong>VA Secretary Doug Collins<\/strong>. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re making an extra push this year to make sure Veterans know we\u2019re here to get them the help they earned through their service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Veterans who want to learn more about VA can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accesstocare.va.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">locate and call their nearest VA<\/a>, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/choose.va.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">this site<\/a>, or call VA 24\/7 at 1-800-698-2411.<\/p>\n<p>Under the second Trump Administration,\u00a0VA continues to make major improvements in the way care and benefits are being delivered to Veterans:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>VA\u00a0opened\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeptVetAffairs\/status\/2072651740638323098\">38 new health care clinics\u00a0<\/a>since January of 2025,\u00a0expanding access for Veterans around the country.<\/li>\n<li>The backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.va.gov\/reports\/mmwr_va_claims_backlog.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">down 74%<\/a>\u00a0since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% during the Biden Administration. In June, this backlog\u00a0fell to less than 70,000 claims\u00a0for the first time since 2020.<\/li>\n<li>VA will\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/144652\/\">spend nearly $5 billion in FY2026<\/a>\u00a0to modernize, repair and improve health care facilities, the largest non-recurring maintenance investment in VA\u2019s history.<\/li>\n<li>Since Jan. 20, 2025, VA has offered Veterans more than 3 million appointments outside of normal operating hours. These early-morning, evening, and weekend appointments are giving Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.<\/li>\n<li>VA\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-houses-largest-number-of-homeless-veterans-in-seven-years\/\">permanently housed 51,936 homeless Veterans<\/a>\u00a0across the country in FY25, the highest total in seven years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-welcomes-200000-new-healthcare-enrollees-so-far-in-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-health-care","category-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495\"},\"wordCount\":406,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health &amp; Care\",\"Trump\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495\",\"name\":\"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"width\":793,\"height\":793},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7495#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans","description":"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans","og_description":"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026","datePublished":"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495"},"wordCount":406,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","articleSection":["Health &amp; Care","Trump"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495","name":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026 - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","datePublished":"2026-07-09T15:00:00+00:00","description":"Since the start of 2026, more than 200,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","width":793,"height":793},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7495#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VA welcomes 200,000 new healthcare enrollees so far in 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}