“President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs is meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and has told several key Democratic senators that he is committed not to privatize veterans’ health care.”
“The meetings, detailed in interviews Tuesday, provide the first insights into Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson’s policy views ahead of an expected confirmation hearing next week, and place the White House physician squarely in the middle of a heated debate over how to best care for the United States’ 20 million veterans.”
“…announcement that Jackson, the White House physician, was his pick to serve as the head of the VA caused alarm among Democrats on Capitol Hill and major veterans groups like the Disabled American Veterans and American Legion. Those groups have worried that the change in leadership at VA would lead to a stark change in veterans’ health care that they have long opposed, but that has the support of the advocacy group Concerned Veterans for America, which is funded by the billionaire conservative Koch brothers.”
“…But as a candidate, Trump campaigned on the idea that he would fix the VA by allowing veterans more access to private doctors and, as recently as last month, he said veterans should be allowed to “run to a private doctor” if they wanted, a statement that revived concerns that drastically expanding private care was the end goal…” Read the full article here.
Source: Trump’s pick to lead Veterans Affairs courts a skeptical Senate – By Juana Summers and Ted Barrett, April 17, 2017. CNN.
