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by Kristin Rowan, Editor
VA Issues RFP
Updates to Community Care Contracts
Some Veterans receive care from VA providers. Non-VA providers can still provide care for Veterans through a Community Care contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In late 2025, the VA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for new CC contracts. The new contracts are designed to substantively change non-VA provider care to Veterans.
According to the VA, the new contracts are intended to:
- Increase choice through an IDIQ model that allows multiple health plans to compete to serve Veterans
- Raise quality of care by requiring plans to follow broad standards of care adopted by major health systems
- Improve oversight and quality of care using better data, technology, and real-time management
- Add flexibility so the VA can issue competitive task orders and remove underperforming contractors
How Does This Impact Care at Home?
The primary contractor, and therefore the ones responsible for bidding and ensuring quality of care are the health plans. So, how does this change impact home care and home health providers? Here’s how:
- Fast changes in network participation along with sudden shifts will inevitably come as a result of plans competing and task orders changing
- Plans will need to align with VA targets, so expect waves of onboarding, recurring pushes for credentialing, and increased local networking
- Because the plans will be held to quality standards, you can expect that those standards will flow through provider documentation, timeliness, claims accuracy, and EVV and FWA compliance
- IDIQ is specifically designed to allow changes in the middle of care, which means the VA and health plans can add or change rules or portal, and make revisions to edit sets during the contract
Get Ahead of the Changes
Plan to make some changes before these new Community Care contracts come to your local health plans. In order to comply with the contract requirements, your credentialing packets need to be updated to include up-to-date CAQH, insurance, licenses, and compliance. This will help minimize the lag-time before getting paid.
Anticipate Expectations
The health plans will be competing for contracts, so they will expect you to compete as well. Awarded contracts will likely be fulfilled by agencies who have a high clean claim rate and quick response to edits and denials. Whatever you are using for coding, documentation, and rules need to be validated before the new care contracts start. Complete documentation will comply with the VAs focus on better data and real-time management. Make sure your team is executing precise reports; centralize your records, documentation, and audits to prove performance records and decrease issue resolution time.
Final Thoughts
Non-VA providers who want to be considered to provide care to Veterans need to show alignment with the VA’s goals to expand choice, raise quality, and increase oversight. Planning ahead by meeting those standards early will make the transition process smoother one the new contracts roll out. We will continue to provide resources and information on these Community Care contracts as they are available.
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Kristin Rowan is the owner and Editor-in-chief of The Rowan Report, the industry’s most trusted source for care at home news. She is also a sought-after speaker on Artificial Intelligence, Technology Adoption and Lone Worker Safety. She is available to speak at state and national conferences as well as software user-group meetings.
Kristin also runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in content creation, social media management, and event marketing. She works with care at home software providers to create dynamic content that increases conversions for direct e-mail, social media, and websites. Connect with Kristin directly at kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com
©2026 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com
