This week’s Give and Take isn’t about what Congress failed to do.

With Washington largely in campaign mode, the more useful question is what is actually happening inside the Department of Veterans Affairs while lawmakers are occupied elsewhere.

And there is real news this week.

More than 300,000 new veterans have enrolled in VA health care during 2026. VA is rolling out its largest package of improvements yet to the federal electronic health-record system. Another major VA health-care system moves onto that system this weekend.

And in the mortgage market, VA rates essentially held onto the improvement we saw earlier this month.

So rather than spend another week talking about an empty Capitol, let’s look at what actually changed for veterans — and what it means.

More Than 300,000 New Veterans Enrolled in VA Health Care

On October 21, VA announced that more than 300,000 new veterans have enrolled in VA health care so far in 2026.

According to VA, those newly enrolled veterans have already generated more than 1.8 million completed or scheduled medical appointments.

That includes:

• More than 420,000 mental-health appointments
• More than 16,000 emergency-care visits
• Millions of additional appointments across the broader VA system

VA also says it has opened 43 new health-care clinics since January 2025 and offered veterans more than 3.4 million appointments outside traditional operating hours, including early-morning, evening and weekend visits. Those are VA’s reported performance figures.

Whatever anyone’s politics, getting eligible veterans connected with medical care and benefits they earned is a positive development.

A benefit sitting unused on a government website does not help anybody.

Some Veterans May Be Eligible and Not Realize It

This is probably the most practical takeaway from those enrollment numbers.

Veterans sometimes assume they cannot use VA health care because they have private health insurance, Medicare or too much income.

That is not necessarily true.

VA specifically states that having other health-insurance coverage does not prevent an otherwise eligible veteran from receiving VA health-care benefits.

Eligibility depends on factors such as service history, discharge status, disability, toxic exposure and, in some circumstances, income. VA also expanded eligibility for veterans exposed to toxins and hazards, including veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan and other post-9/11 combat zones.

So if you served and never applied because you assumed you would not qualify, there is nothing wrong with checking.

VA allows veterans to apply online, by phone, by mail or in person. The health-benefits assistance number is 877-222-8387.

You earned the right to find out.

The Mental-Health Number Deserves Attention

Of those 1.8 million completed or scheduled appointments involving newly enrolled veterans, more than 420,000 are mental-health appointments.

That stands out.

We have discussed veteran suicide repeatedly in The Give and Take, particularly the number of veterans who die without having recently been connected to the VA health-care system.

Enrolling someone does not solve every problem.

But the VA cannot provide counseling, treatment, preventive care or support to a veteran it never reaches.

Getting veterans through the front door matters.

VA’s Electronic Health Record Gets 15 Improvements

Another important development this week involves something considerably less interesting than a congressional fight but potentially much more important when you are sitting in an emergency room.

VA announced 15 new or updated improvements to its Federal Electronic Health Record system — the largest set of improvements since regular upgrades began in 2022.

Among the changes:

• Emergency-room clinicians can now view vital signs, orders, documentation and major events on one chronological screen.
• Rehabilitation teams receive a consolidated view of schedules and treatment information.
• Point-of-care ultrasound images can flow directly into the electronic medical record instead of being handled separately.

The objective is pretty simple:

The people treating a veteran should have the information they need when they need it.

That sounds obvious.

Government technology has demonstrated repeatedly that making the obvious actually work can be much more complicated.

Alaska Moves Onto the New System This Weekend

On October 24, the Alaska VA Healthcare System is scheduled to transition to the Federal Electronic Health Record.

Approximately 23,000 veterans are enrolled in that system.

The long-term goal is for a veteran’s medical information to follow that veteran across military care, VA facilities, participating community providers and other federal health-care systems.

In practical terms, that should mean:

• Less time repeating medical histories
• Fewer duplicate tests
• Easier transfers between facilities
• Better continuity when veterans receive care while traveling
• A smoother transition from military service into VA health care

VA has also been straightforward about the short-term risk.

Officials warned Alaska veterans that prescription refills and appointment scheduling could experience temporary disruptions around the October 24 transition.

That is worth saying out loud.

Technology modernization is valuable.

Veterans should also know when implementation may temporarily make things less convenient before making them better.

VA Rate Watch

Now to our standing look at the VA mortgage market.

The benchmark we use is the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices, reported through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Unlike an advertised lender rate, this index is built from actual locked mortgage rates. Optimal Blue says its data represents more than one-third of U.S. mortgage transactions nationwide.

This Week’s 30-Year VA Benchmark

October 22, 2026: 6.915%

One week earlier, on October 16:

6.926%

That is a difference of only about one basis point.

Translation:

VA mortgage rates were basically flat this week.

But zoom out slightly.

At the end of September, the VA benchmark stood at 7.083%.

So even though this week itself was quiet, the VA benchmark remains about 17 basis points better than where September ended.

That tells us something useful.

The improvement we saw earlier in October did not disappear.

The market largely held onto it.

What Does 6.915% Mean to an Individual Veteran?

Not necessarily very much by itself.

That number is a national market benchmark — not a personal mortgage quote.

A VA purchase, an Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL) and a VA cash-out refinance do not necessarily price the same way.

Actual pricing can depend on:

• Credit profile
• Loan amount
• Loan-to-value
• Property and occupancy
• Purchase versus refinance
• IRRRL versus cash-out
• Points or lender credits
• Lock period
• Other characteristics of the borrower and transaction

Optimal Blue’s public VA index does not separately publish national purchase, IRRRL and cash-out averages.

Rather than pretend we have precision the data does not provide, The Give and Take will use this overall VA benchmark to answer a more useful weekly question:

Which direction is the VA mortgage market moving?

This week, the answer is:

Sideways — after improving earlier this month.

For VA Buyers

If you are buying a home, a national market benchmark can help you understand the environment, but your actual financing decision should be based on the payment and loan available to you.

A slightly lower interest rate can improve purchasing power.

But price, taxes, insurance, homeowners-association fees, loan structure and seller concessions can matter just as much.

The rate is part of the decision.

It is not the entire decision.

For Veterans Considering an IRRRL

The same principle applies to veterans with existing VA mortgages.

A lower market rate does not automatically mean it is time to refinance.

The question is whether the available rate creates enough savings to justify the transaction.

That means looking at:

• Current mortgage rate
• New rate
• Current balance
• New payment
• Closing costs
• Funding-fee status
• Monthly savings
• How long you expect to keep the mortgage

There is a difference between getting a lower interest rate and making a better financial decision.

The numbers have to work.

And the Proposed IRRRL Fee Increase Is Still Out There

This is one congressional issue we should keep on the scoreboard even while legislative activity is paused.

House-passed legislation would increase the VA funding fee on an IRRRL from 0.50% to 1.42% for veterans who are not exempt from the fee.

That increase has not become law.

The current fee remains 0.50%.

But the proposal matters more if mortgage rates continue moving down.

Why?

Because a larger funding fee increases the cost of accessing the lower rate.

If financed into the mortgage, it increases the new loan balance and can reduce some of the payment savings created by refinancing.

As we have discussed before:

A larger funding fee can raise the threshold at which an IRRRL becomes financially worthwhile.

That is something we will continue watching when regular legislative business resumes.

So What About Congress?

There is no reason to spend half of this article explaining the congressional calendar.

Most people following Washington understand that lawmakers are largely in election mode.

For the record, the Senate held a pro forma session October 22 with no business expected and is scheduled to resume regular legislative business on November 9. The House likewise has been meeting only in brief pro forma sessions rather than conducting normal floor business.

The veterans issues we have been tracking have therefore not materially changed.

The larger veterans-benefits package remains unresolved.

The proposed changes involving some future disability claims remain unresolved.

The proposed IRRRL funding-fee increase remains unresolved.

We know where those issues stand.

We will return to them when somebody in Washington actually does something with them.

The Bottom Line

This was not a major congressional week for veterans.

It did not need to be.

There was plenty worth knowing.

More than 300,000 new veterans have enrolled in VA health care this year, generating more than 1.8 million completed or scheduled medical appointments.

VA rolled out 15 improvements to its Federal Electronic Health Record system, and Alaska’s VA system transitions onto that platform this weekend.

And our VA Rate Watch shows the national VA locked-rate benchmark at 6.915%, essentially unchanged this week but still about 17 basis points below where September ended.

So no dramatic congressional give.

No new congressional take.

Instead, we saw veterans getting connected to care, VA continuing to modernize how that care is delivered, and a mortgage market holding onto some of its recent improvement.

That is worth reporting too.

Because The Give and Take is not supposed to manufacture political news.

It is supposed to answer:

What actually changed for veterans this week?

And when Washington finally gets back to legislating, we will be here to ask the other question:

What are veterans being given — and what are they being asked to give up in return?

---

About the Author

Clay Edmonds is the Corporate Educator and Complete Mortgage Advisor at Complete Mortgage LLC in Hollywood, Florida, and the creator of MortgageSimplified.net. With more than four decades of experience in real estate finance, Clay focuses on simplifying the mortgage process and helping veterans, borrowers and real estate professionals make smarter financing decisions.