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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Rep. Phil Roe: Veterans need choices for medical care

Michael Collins, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

WASHINGTON – Just a few weeks into his new job as a congressional watchdog over veterans’ issues, Rep. Phil Roe is ready to take on one of his top priorities: Giving veterans more choices for medical care.

Rep. Phil Roe, R-Johnson City

The Johnson City Republican, who chairs the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to take a comprehensive look at a program that allows some veterans to seek medical care outside of the VA.

The so-called choice program gives veterans who have waited more than 30 days for an appointment — or who live more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility — the option of seeking VA-funded care from other facilities in their community.

Critics, however, say the program isn’t working. An inspector general’s report released in January concluded that veterans faced several barriers, including eligibility reviews and appointment scheduling, in accessing outside care and that there were not enough authorized facilities to provide such outside care.

Tuesday’s hearing – the first of several the committee expects to hold on the choice program – will look at what parts of the program are working and where improvements are needed.

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Ideally, Roe said, he’d like for all veterans to have the option of seeing a VA-approved doctor in their community and, if they wish, for that doctor to become their primary-care physician.

“We want to put choice into the veterans’ hands,” said Roe, who himself is a veteran and a physician.

Roe estimates the committee has about a year to figure out what to do about the choice program. The program was enacted three years ago amid reports that many VA patients seeking care were being put on secret waiting lists — resulting in long, unreported wait times. The delays reportedly resulted in the deaths of more than 40 veterans.

As of last November, 25.5 million veterans were seeking care in their communities under the choice program. That’s an increase of 61 percent since the program began just three years ago, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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The choice program is to expire on Aug. 7. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs has notified Congress that as much as $1 billion of the program’s original funding could still be available after that date.

Roe and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have introduced legislation that would allow the program to continue until its original funding has been spent.

Roe said that could allow the program to continue into 2018. That also would give lawmakers more time to evaluate the program and see what changes are needed, he said.

Roe’s other priorities for the committee include hiring an additional health investigator, who would make unannounced visits to VA facilities, and another inspector who would be dedicated to examining the VA’s information-technology system.

The VA has been criticized for using outdated IT systems for scheduling, electronic health records and processing claims. VA Secretary David Shulkin said at his confirmation hearing earlier this month that information technology needs to be overhauled at the VA and the appeals process for benefits claims modernized.

Roe agreed.

“The whole IT system has got to be resolved,” he said. “To run the VA properly, you’ve got to get an update to a modern IT system.”

Reach Michael Collins at 703-854-8927, at mcollins2@gannett.com or on Twitter at @mcollinsNEWS.

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