ICYMI: House Passes Bipartisan VA Improvement Package to Continue Overhaul of Veterans’ Healthcare

 

ICYMI: House Passes Bipartisan VA Improvement Package to Continue Overhaul of Veterans’ Healthcare

Washington D.C. – Congressman John Faso (R-Kinderhook) released a statement highlighting the House-passage of S. 2372 – VA Mission Act.

“Last night, the House overwhelmingly passed, with my support, a bill to further overhaul veterans’ health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Faso. “This is an important step in restoring trust in the VA and improving care for our veterans. Our veterans have earned quality healthcare and access to robust benefits to help them succeed after leaving the military.  It is past time we addressed the VA’s shortfalls, gaps in health services, and backlogs. This bill is just one more step in overhauling the VA and fixing deep rooted problems.”

The VA MISSION Act provides veterans with more choices and availability of health services that may not be directly administered at a VA facility. The Veterans Choice Program was a first step to providing timely and quality care options to veterans across the county. Having learned from this program, the VA will now move to a more convenient, effective, and streamlined system called “community care.”

The VA MISSION Act funds the Veterans Choice Program until June 2019, ensuring that veterans will have a smooth transition to the newly improved, more robust, and easier-to-use community care program. In addition, this new legislation establishes a nonpartisan commission to audit the VA’s health care services and improves the VA’s employee recruitment and retention services to enhance its ability to administer health care.

Background

  • A letter of support for the legislation from veterans groups is available here.
    • The bill passed on a widely bipartisan basis of 347-70 and has key support in the Senate, along with support from the White House. (link)
  • A section by section summary of the bill is available here.

Author: Harlem Valley News