Government and Regulations
Last week, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced legislation that would make permanent the 3-year Veterans Choice Program.
Under the current Choice program, eligible veterans may use their Veterans Choice Card to see a private health care provider only if they live more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility or if they cannot get an appointment at a VA facility within 30 days. However, Sen. McCain’s proposed Permanent VA Choice Card Act extends eligibility to any veteran wishing to see a private provider, regardless of distance or wait time.
Related: VA Relaxes Rules for Choice Program
“This would help remove uncertainty from within the VA, among providers, and especially among our veterans, while sending a strong signal to all Americans that this program is here to stay,” said Sen. McCain in a news release.
The day after Sen. McCain proposed the Permanent VA Choice Card Act, the Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), an organization that favors market-based federal policies, criticized Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald via a “10-page document of VA low-lights,” as described by Mike Allen, Politico’s chief White House correspondent.
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Secretary McDonald stated the CVA is politically motivated and that VA wants to give veterans a choice in using the private sector, not privatize the VA.
"If I'm sending a veteran to the private sector and that doctor does not know the military culture, does not understand how an explosion creates traumatic brain injury, that's dangerous for that veteran," Secretary McDonald said. "The idea of privatizing the VA is antithetical to that."