Latest news with #MissionAct
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Veterans' VA Referrals to Private Medical Care Will No Longer Require Additional Doctor Review
The Department of Veterans Affairs has changed its process for veterans to get medical care from non-VA providers, removing a requirement that a referral to community care be reviewed by another VA doctor. The VA announced Monday that it is enacting a provision of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act that will help ease veterans' access to medical services from private providers. The law, signed in December by then-President Joe Biden, prohibits VA administrators from overriding a VA doctor's referral for a patient to get outside care. Read Next: VA to Expand Online Memorial Website to Include Veterans Buried Overseas "Now, we're making it even easier for veterans to get their health care when and where it's most convenient for them," VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement Monday. "We are putting veterans first at the department, and that means placing a premium on customer service and convenience. This important change will help us do just that." The VA Choice Act of 2014, passed in the wake of a scandal over medical appointment wait times at VA medical centers nationwide, gave veterans broader access to medical care at non-VA facilities if they faced long waits for care at a VA hospital or clinic. The Mission Act, signed by President Donald Trump in 2019, expanded the benefit to include veterans who face more than a 30-minute drive for primary care or an hour or more for specialty care, or those who can't get an appointment within 20 days for primary care and 28 days for specialty care. Under the Mission Act, eligible veterans could consult with their VA physicians to receive referrals to community care. The VA required these referrals to be reviewed internally by an administrative staff member. During congressional debate over the Elizabeth Dole Act, Republicans said the review process intentionally hampered access to community care, while Democrats argued that it was proper government oversight and that removing it was part of an overall effort to privatize VA health care. According to the law, the ban on the administrative review will remain in place for two years, after which the VA must report on its effects to Congress. An investigation last year by into the challenges faced by veterans seeking mental health treatment found that VA schedulers were pressured by hospital administrators to keep veterans at VA facilities rather than send them to community care. The Elizabeth Dole Act, first introduced in 2023, largely addressed at-home care for senior veterans and programs for the homeless. It also made changes to several VA education programs and health services. It was hotly contested, however, for the efforts to change the referral approval process and another provision that would have established new access standards for veterans to go to non-VA residential mental health and substance abuse programs. That provision was dropped during the final bill deliberations. During a hearing March 25, however, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said a change is needed to ensure that veterans can access private residential substance abuse treatment centers. Miller-Meeks said that, in some cases, veterans who decide they need to go to a rehab facility have been told to wait because the VA can get them into a VA facility within the 20-day mental health treatment requirement set by the Mission Act. In another case, a veteran experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms wanted to go to a rehab in his community but was denied the referral because the VA had a bed available at a facility 100 miles away, she said. "VA claims that there is no wrong door for veterans seeking care, yet we continue to hear about doors locked, doors hidden, and doors that simply do not exist," Miller-Meeks said in a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs health subcommittee, which she chairs. Rep. Julia Brownley of California, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, said during the hearing that any veteran who seeks residential treatment should get it, but she added that the VA has not developed a fee schedule for community treatment centers and, in at least one case, the department was charged up to $6,000 a day for one patient. Brownley also said the VA doesn't track the timeliness or quality of medical care in community residential treatment facilities. "We have no way of knowing the level of treatment or support they are getting," Brownley said. "I have said before, we must find a balance between community care and VA direct care. In my opinion, we have not found that balance when it comes to residential rehabilitation treatment facilities." In Monday's announcement, the VA said it would begin training employees to ensure that the community care referral process is followed in compliance with the Dole Act. Related: 'Disturbing' Number of VA Mental Health Appointment Cancellations Prompt Lawmakers to Call for Reforms
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
VA Begins Search to Fill Health, Benefits Leadership Positions Now Held by Acting Officials
The search is underway to fill two key leadership positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs: under secretary for benefits and under secretary for health. The jobs have been filled by acting leaders since the departures of Josh Jacobs, who led the Veterans Benefits Administration, and Dr. Shereef Elnahal, former head of the Veterans Health Administration, with the change in presidential administrations. The department announced Monday that Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence, who also served as under secretary for benefits from 2018 to 2021, will chair the commissions tasked with recommending candidates to President Donald Trump. Read Next: Military Families Sue over Defense Department School Book Bans, Other Anti-Diversity Measures The under secretary for benefits is responsible for the segment of the VA that oversees disability compensation and benefits, including the GI Bill, home loans, and pensions for 6 million veterans and surviving family members. During Trump's first term, the position of under secretary for benefits had been vacant for more than a year when he took office in 2017. Lawrence was nominated for the post in 2018 and served until Trump's departure on Jan. 20, 2021. Currently, the duties of the job are being fulfilled by Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Michael Frueh. The under secretary for health manages the bulk of the VA's workers, responsible for more than 370,000 employees at 172 medical centers and roughly 1,100 health clinics, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers across the country. The position also oversees medical research at the VA as well as training and education for its medical professionals. In the coming years, the under secretary of health will play a major role in deploying a new electronic health record system at VA health facilities nationwide, a process that will restart in 2026 under an accelerated plan that will roll it out at 13 new sites across the country. The candidate also will help lead the Trump administration's efforts to ensure that community care -- medical services paid for by the VA but provided by civilian health providers -- is accessible to veterans as stipulated in the Mission Act, a law that expanded eligibility for the program. During his confirmation hearing as deputy secretary, Lawrence said he would tightly manage much of the work of the VHA and VBA. "I pledge to work with you to get VA's electronic health record modernization effort back on track; ensure VA provides veterans with the health care choices and options Congress promised them as part of the Mission Act; properly and faithfully implement the PACT Act; and put veterans at the center of everything the department does," Lawrence said during his confirmation hearing Feb. 19. During Trump's first term, the under secretary for health position was never filled by a permanent leader. Dr. David Shulkin, the under secretary for health appointed by President Barack Obama in 2015, vacated the post after he was nominated by Trump as VA secretary. Deputy Under Secretary for Health Steven Lieberman is currently serving as the acting under secretary for health. Lieberman previously held the job as acting under secretary, from July 2021 to July 2022. The VA is amid efforts to reduce its workforce as directed by Trump. The department laid off 2,400 probationary employees and is now preparing for a reduction in force that could trim roughly 80,000 additional workers from its ranks. Critics have said that the cuts will reduce services to veterans and delay care and benefits processing. But during a visit Monday to the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia, VA Secretary Doug Collins said the cuts are necessary to improve VA services and that reductions will come from administrative ranks, not from jobs that are "forward facing" and directly serving veterans. "We still have a lot of doctors and a lot of nurses in our system who are pushing paper and not helping patients," Collins said in a report from 13WMAZ News in Macon, Georgia. The search committees will be made up of VA appointees, community representatives and industry experts. While the committees are responsible for the search and vetting process and making recommendations to Trump, the president may accept or reject any recommendations. Any presidential nominee to come from the process then will undergo confirmation in the Senate, an effort that could take months. Related: VA Watchdog: Misdated PACT Act Disability Decisions Costing Government, Veterans Millions
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Senate confirms Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs
The Senate confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday. Collins scored one of the widest bipartisan votes of any Trump Cabinet nominee so far: 77 to 23. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed 99-0. The Air Force Reserve chaplain served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment inquiry. Collins also passed through the Veterans' Affairs Committee on a wide bipartisan vote – only Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, voted against him. Collins will now head an agency marred by budget shortfalls, millions paid out to executives who weren't eligible to receive them, and complaints from veterans about long wait times for care. It'll be his first time leading an organization as sprawling as the VA, with its 400,000 employees and 1,300 health facilities. Hawaii's Hirono Only Senator To Vote No On Collins, Continuing Partisan Streak At Hearings Read On The Fox News App "I do not come into this with rose-colored glasses. This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be at," Collins said. "When a veteran has to call a congressman or senator's office to get the care they have already earned, it's a mark of failure." In response to questions about Trump's focus on budget cuts and a hiring freeze, Collins said he would work to ensure that did not come at the expense of veterans' care. "I'm gonna take care of the veterans. That means that we're not gonna balance budgets on the back of veterans benefits." Collins said he aligned with Trump on allowing veterans choice for their healthcare. Trump during his first term pushed through the Mission Act, which allowed veterans to choose the VA or private care in their communities. "I believe you can have both. I believe you have a strong VA as it currently exists and have the community care aspect," he said. Democrats repeatedly asked Collins to promise not to privatize the VA, so many times that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked him to "pinky swear" not to do it. Collins held up his pinky to promise that would not article source: Senate confirms Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs
Fox News
04-02-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Senate confirms Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs
The Senate confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans' Affairs on Tuesday. Collins scored one of the widest bipartisan votes of any Trump Cabinet nominee so far: 77 to 23. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed 99-0. The Air Force Reserve chaplain served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment inquiry. Collins also passed through the Veterans' Affairs Committee on a wide bipartisan vote – only Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, had voted against him. Collins will now head off an agency marred by budget shortfalls, millions paid out to executives who weren't eligible to receive them, and complaints from veterans of long wait times for care. It'll be his first time leading an organization as sprawling as the VA and its 400,000 employees and 1,300 health facilities. "I do not come into this with rose-colored glasses. This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be at," Collins said. "When a veteran has to call a congressman or senator's office to get the care they have already earned, it's a mark of failure." In response to questions about Trump's focus on budget cuts and a hiring freeze, Collins said he would work to ensure that did not come at the expense of veterans' care. "I'm gonna take care of the veterans. That means that we're not gonna balance budgets on the back of veterans benefits." Collins said he aligned with Trump on allowing veterans choice for their healthcare. Trump during his first term pushed through the Mission Act, which allowed veterans to choose the VA or private care in their communities. "I believe you can have both. I believe you have a strong VA as it currently exists and have the community care aspect," he said. Democrats repeatedly asked Collins to promise not to privatize the VA, so many times that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked him to "pinky swear" not to do it. Collins held up his pinky to promise that would not happen.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP Chairmen Launch Effort to Expand Veterans' Access to Private Doctors
Veterans could have expanded access to private doctors paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs under legislation introduced by the GOP chairmen of the congressional committees in charge of VA oversight. The bill, introduced Tuesday afternoon by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., would solidify the VA's existing standards to qualify for community care. It would also go further and expand access by requiring the VA to take into account the veteran's preference for where they get treatment. "When VA inserts itself as the sole decision-maker and plays politics with veterans' health, people get hurt, cancer patients can't get their treatment, and families spend more time arguing with bureaucrats than focusing on their mental health -- it's high time we change that," Bost said in a written statement. Read Next: Trump Orders Pentagon Policy Saying Transgender Troops Are 'Not Consistent' with Military Ideals The bill is similar to one Bost introduced at the end of last year to signal his priorities for this year. But the introduction of the new bill formally kicks off what is expected to be a marquee debate during the Trump administration over the future of the VA's community care program that allows veterans to see private doctors using VA funding. One of the legislative achievements President Donald Trump frequently touts about his first term is the Mission Act, which overhauled how the department offers private-sector care to veterans. The law led the VA to say veterans can go to private doctors if they face a wait time for VA doctors of more than 20 days for a primary or mental health care appointment or face a drive of 30 minutes or longer -- though those standards are not dictated in the law. During the Biden administration, VA officials attributed a ballooning medical budget in large part to the expansion of community care under the Mission Act. In fiscal 2024, about 42% of VA medical care, or roughly 50 million appointments, was provided through community care. Republicans, by contrast, accused the Biden administration of undermining the Mission Act and blocking eligible veterans from using the community care program. In an effort to ensure the access to private doctors promised by the Mission Act, the bill introduced Tuesday by Bost and Moran would enshrine into law the VA's existing standards for accessing community care. Referrals for community care would also have to consider "the preference of the covered veteran for where, when, and how to seek hospital care, medical services or extended care services," according to the bill text. The bill, dubbed the Veterans' Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers Act, or the ACCESS Act, would also expand eligibility for veterans to seek care at private residential mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities. The introduction of the bill comes after Bost and Moran focused a couple of their earliest hearings of this congressional session on community care. At the hearings, lawmakers heard from veterans and advocates who said the VA was denying veterans access to private doctors despite a desperate need. "The obtuse, heartless interactions with the VA over and over are why veterans do not seek care," Paige Marg, whose Air Force veteran husband twice attempted suicide in 2023 while struggling get a mental health care appointment and was later denied a referral to a residential treatment program, testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday morning. "It is why veterans suffer in silence. And it is ultimately why veterans kill themselves, because the entity that is supposed to help them shows them again and again that they do not matter." The bill introduced Tuesday is endorsed by several major veterans groups, including Wounded Warrior Project; The American Legion; the Veterans of Foreign Wars; Paralyzed Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America; and Disabled American Veterans, according to news releases from Bost and Moran's offices. It is also endorsed by conservative groups that have sought to expand private health care for veterans, including Concerned Veterans for America, according to news releases. While Democrats have expressed sympathy for veterans struggling to get appointments and have said they are generally supportive of community care, they have also accused Republicans of wanting to expand the private care program in order to undermine the VA's in-house medical care and fully privatize the VA. "Republicans are insistent that they don't want to privatize VA, but they complain about the money that VA is spending on health care services," Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said at a hearing last week. "Where do my colleagues think the money to pay private health care providers is coming from? It is the same pot of money, and we need to address how private care is siphoning off funding from VA direct care." At his confirmation hearing last week, VA secretary nominee Doug Collins promised to improve the community care program while ensuring "there will always be a VA health care system for the veteran." Related: VA Secretary Nominee Pledges to Modernize Hospital Infrastructure, Promote Community Care
