Planning and justifying the costs for one of the nation’s largest health care delivery systems is no easy chore. In fact, it’s so complex, that the Department of Veterans Affairs starts its annual budget exercise almost a year and a half before the President’s budget hits Capitol Hill. Now, based on some prior recommendations from the Government Accountability Office, VA is implementing some new measures to make its budget justifications more digestible and transparent to lawmakers. GAO just finished its annual review of VA’s health care budget. Randy Williamson, director of health care issues at the Government Accountability Office, discusses some of its findings.