USA Today’s report last week that the Department of Veterans Affairs had a secret internal evaluation program in which various facets of VA health networks were graded on a 1-to-5 scale drew strong pushback from the department.

According to the department, the newspaper’s coverage didn’t acknowledge that the grades were “relative” and didn’t make clear that hospitals with scores of 1 weren’t “bad or failing.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald wrote that the newspaper ignored the progress the agency has made the past two years and said it was “egregious hyperbole” to call the internal reports a “secret” program.

McDonald doesn’t have much of a case. Given that his department has faced constant scrutiny and near-constant criticism for more than a decade, it’s hard not to worry about the quality of care at health networks with 1 scores. It’s not hyperbole, egregious or otherwise, to call the program “secret” if it’s never been publicly disclosed – especially if the information provides valuable insight.

The argument that the department didn’t publicize the scores because it didn’t want to undermine patient confidence may make sense from the perspective of embattled VA officials. But it doesn’t if you’re one of the millions of veterans who relies on the VA and wonders – or worries – about the quality of care provided by your local network.