“The past two years have been an exciting time for Veterans and for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under President Trump’s leadership, VA has enacted more reforms across the organization than at any other time since the 1990s, with key advances in the areas of transparency, accountability and customer service.”
“VA will soon build on this progress by rolling out a plan that will revolutionize VA health care as we know it.”
“This week, as part of VA’s implementation of the MISSION Act, the department will introduce long-awaited access standards on community care and urgent care that will take effect in June and guide when Veterans can seek care to meet their needs – be it with VA or with community providers. VA’s current patchwork of seven separate community care programs is a bureaucratic maze that’s hard to navigate for Veterans, their families and VA employees.”
“Our new access standards will form the basis of a federal regulation that will consolidate VA’s community care efforts into a single, simple-to-use program that puts Veterans at the center of their VA health care decisions. Strict and confusing qualification criteria like driving distances and proximity to VA facilities that don’t offer needed services will be replaced by eligibility guidelines based on what matters most: the convenience of our Veteran customers.”
“Although these new standards represent an important win for America’s Veterans, they will not be without controversy. Some will claim falsely and predictably that they represent a first step toward privatizing the department.”
“Here are the facts: under President Trump, VA is giving Veterans the power to choose the care they trust, and more Veterans are choosing VA for their health care than ever before…” Read the full statement here.
Source: Secretary Wilkie: Revolutionizing VA Health Care – January 28, 2019. VA.
