Breaking: VA issues new Community Care RFP, what it means for home and community-based providers

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next generation of Community Care contracts, the framework that governs how Veterans receive care from non-VA providers over (potentially) the next decade. (VA News)

According to VA, the new contracts aim to:

• Increase choice via an IDIQ model that lets multiple national and regional health plans compete to serve Veterans.
• Raise quality by requiring plans to follow broad industry standards of care used across major health systems.
• Improve oversight with better data, technology and real-time management to ensure Veterans receive the highest quality care.
• Add flexibility so VA can issue competitive task orders over time and off-ramp underperforming contractors with no disruption to Veteran care.

VA’s community care program already accounts for ~40% of VA care; many current administrator contracts expire in 2026, hence this new round.

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Why this matters to home care, home health, and community-based providers

While health plans will bid as prime contractors, front-line provider impact is real:

• Access shifts & network dynamics. With multiple plans competing and task orders changing over time, network participation can open quickly, or shift suddenly. Expect onboarding waves, credentialing pushes, and local network optimizations as plans align to VA targets.
• Performance & compliance pressure. Plans will be held to broadly accepted quality standards and real-time oversight, requirements that will cascade to provider documentation, timeliness, claims hygiene, EVV requirements, and FWA compliance.
• Operational change as a constant. The IDIQ structure is designed for adjustment mid-stream. Translation: expect updated rules, new portals, and revised edit sets over the life of the contracts, especially during plan transitions or off-ramps.

What providers should start doing now

1. Make sure credentialing is in force. If new plans enter your region, you’ll want credentialing packets, CAQH, insurance, licenses, and compliance attestations up to date to minimize lag between “award” and “paid.” (Multiple plans plus competitive task orders = more credentialing motion ahead.)‍
2. Stay compliant. The next wave will reward providers who submit clean, standards-aligned claims and respond fast to edits/denials. Validate service coding, documentation completeness, and any plan-specific rules you depend on today, before transitions begin.‍
3. Centralize data & proofs. VA highlights better data and real-time management; expect more precise reporting. Centralize encounter records, documentation, and audit trails so you can demonstrate performance and speed up issue resolution.

How Paradigm will help (and what to expect from our team)

Paradigm’s role is to decode the RFP and turn it into simple, actionable playbooks for providers. Over the coming weeks, we’ll publish:

• RFP Summaries for Providers. A plain-English breakdown of what’s changing, timelines to watch, and the practical impacts for home care and home health teams.
• Live briefings with Q&A. Short webinars that cover network participation readiness, credentialing checklists, claim/authorization best practices, and reporting hygiene you’ll need as new plans come online. We’ll deliver state- and service-line nuances where it matters.
• Templates & checklists. Downloadable credentialing kits, checklists, and denial-prevention guides to cut time-to-cash when task orders shift.
• On-call escalation desk. During transitions, we’ll help troubleshoot payer routing, portal access, EFT/ERA hiccups, integrations, and claim edits, and track recurring issues so you don’t keep solving the same problem twice.

Stay ahead of the curve

• Subscribe for updates. Don’t panic. We’ve got you. We’ll notify you as VA posts clarifications and as practical provider implications become clear. The official VA announcement and RFP link are here: https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-to-improve-health-care-choice-and-quality-for-veterans-with-new-community-care-contracts/
• Follow Paradigm for updates. The best way to get immediate news as it comes out is by following us on our social media channels, both on LinkedIn and also over here on Facebook.
• Join our first briefing. We’ll walk through provider-specific implications of the IDIQ model, what “more choice and more oversight” will feel like operationally, and the fastest steps to get transition-ready. This will be held on January 8th, 2026. Stay tuned for registration details.
• Ask us anything. Send questions you want addressed in our briefings, network participation, documentation standards, claims, or reporting.

The VA’s goal is to expand choice, raise quality, and tighten oversight. Providers who prepare now, credentialing-ready, documentation-clean, portal/EFT-tight, will move smoothly and protect cash flow as the new contracts roll out. We’ll keep you current and translate each policy move into the few concrete actions that keep your teams caring for Veterans and your revenue predictable.