The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans (VA) may become privatized. The Veterans ACCESS Act, currently under review by the House and Senate, would allow for more outsourcing of VA medical care to the private sector.
Suzanne Downing reported for Must Read Alaska that the legislation is designed to strengthen the Veterans Community Care Program, ensure veterans receive timely access to healthcare, and prevent the VA from limiting medical referrals to non-VA providers.
The VA MISSION Act of 2018 was designed to provide more choices for Veterans in their healthcare decisions, BusinessWire reported. “However, in recent years, the VA has systematically restricted access to community care, resulting in delayed treatment, excessive travel burdens, and unnecessary suffering for many Veterans in need of care.”
The National Association for Veteran Rights (NAVR) applauded the introduction of the ACCESS Act. “Veterans should never be forced to wait months for care or have to travel hundreds of miles when qualified providers are available closer to home,” Peter O’Rourke, President of NAVR and former Acting Secretary and Chief of Staff of the VA said in a statement.
Alaskan Congressman Nick Begich is a co-sponsor of the proposed legislation. Considering that veterans in rural areas sometimes have challenges reaching VA resources, Begich said in a statement, “This bill puts veterans first, strengthens private healthcare options, and ensures that no veteran is forced to wait or travel extreme distances for care they should be able to receive closer to home.”
However, opinions about the bill are divided. “Hidden in the depths of the ACCESS ACT like a ticking time bomb is a provision intended to dismantle the VHA system quicker than you can say “privatization,” enabling all veterans seeking help for addiction or mental health challenges to walk into virtually any private medical or mental health provider and request outpatient care without any VA authorization, referral, approval, or oversight of the care provided,” reported John Ketwig for Counterpunch.
In an op-ed for Military.com, Russell B. Lemle warned that leaders in Congress are planning to gut VA-delivered care. “[T]his arrangement is intended to encompass all medical care, fundamentally transforming the VA’s primary role from a healthcare provider to an insurance company writing checks.”
Further concerns regarding veterans’ care have been expressed following layoffs at the VA, directed by the current administration. “To say that these firings will not affect veterans’ care and benefits is a lie,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
