WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin says Congress needs to act quickly to extend a program aimed at widening veterans’ access to private-sector health care, pointing to a growing demand for medical treatment outside the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Shulkin also pledged additional efforts by his agency to combat suicide, saying he wanted to expand mental health care to former service members who receive “other than honorable discharges” from the military, typically for behavior problems such as violence or use of illegal drugs. Shulkin did not release specific details, but said the VA will act on its own to expand coverage without waiting for legislation. Pentagon data has indicated that thousands of service members have had such discharges in recent years.
“We are going to start doing that now,” he said, referring to the expanded mental health coverage. “So many veterans that we see are so disconnected from our system.”
Testifying before a House panel March 7, Shulkin acknowledged that the Choice program offering access to private care that was put in place in 2014 following a wait-time-for-care scandal was hastily done, and had problems of its own in providing timely care. But the physician says improvements to the Choice program have resulted in more than 1 million out of 9 million veterans in the VA system now using some Choice care, with data pointing to even greater use this year.
Shulkin, who previously served as VA’s top health official in the Obama administration, says Congress must hurry to extend the Choice plan beyond its Aug. 7 expiration date, or the VA will lose nearly $1 billion left over in that account. That money can provide stopgap care until a broader revamp is designed, he said.
“There is no time to waste,” Shulkin told the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “Many veterans are using the Choice program today, and it is important to continue to care for and support those veterans.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced legislation with Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., that would extend the Choice plan until its money runs out, likely in early 2018. The bill also calls for fixes in the program to speed up VA payments and promote sharing of medical records.
