New VA plan: Vets facing 30-minute drives, 20-day waits for appointments could get private-sector ca [View all]
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/30/new-va-plan-vets-facing-30-minute-drives-20-day-waits-for-appointments-could-get-private-sector-care-instead/
New VA plan: Vets facing 30-minute drives, 20-day waits for appointments could get private-sector care instead
By: Leo Shane III 19 hours ago
WASHINGTON Veterans who live more than 30 minutes from a Veterans Affairs medical clinic or face a wait of more than 20 days for most health care appointments would be eligible for expanded private-sector medical options under new proposed guidelines unveiled by department officials on Wednesday. The new standards would replace the 40-mile, 30-day guidelines currently in place for most veterans and could dramatically expand the number of outside health care appointments that VA will have to fund in coming years.
Veterans would also be able to receive urgent care outside the VA system in a to-be-established community care network. Those emergency appointments would require a co-payment from the patients, but department accountants would cover the bulk of costs.
In a statement, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said the new standards scheduled to be in place by June are a vital part in ensuring proper health care for veterans well into the future. Most Americans can already choose the health care providers that they trust, and President Trump promised that veterans would be able to do the same, he said. With VAs new access standards, the future of the VA health care system will lie in the hands of veterans, exactly where it should be.
The new access standards were mandated under legislation passed by Congress last summer with bipartisan support. But congressional Democrats have repeatedly warned that shifting too many VA resources to outside clinics and doctors offices could slowly drain away needed resources from the departments facilities and lead to privatizing VAs core mission of providing health care for veterans.
Lawmakers were scheduled to be briefed on the new draft standards on Wednesday afternoon. Capitol Hill staffers and several prominent veterans groups have complained that much of the work in writing the standards in recent months has been done behind
the scenes, without sufficient input from the larger veterans community.
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