The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation to send to President Trump on Wednesday that would allow more veterans to see doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system.
The president has openly backed the bill, the VA Mission Act, and is expected to sign it into law. It passed the Senate 92-5, marking a bipartisan legislative victory for the president.
The bill failed to win the support of Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
The bill would allow more veterans to go outside the VA healthcare system and use private-sector doctors when VA medical centers can’t provide appointments within a month, veterans have to drive more than 40 minutes to access care, or when care is determined inadequate by VA leaders. It also would provide more access to caregivers.
The $52 billion plan includes $5.2 billion to avoid a shutdown of the Choice program, which is expected to run out of funds as early as May 31, disrupting medical care for veterans. Choice was created as a reaction to the scandals involving long wait times for care in the VA system, when veterans died while they waited to receive medical care.
“Veterans of all eras rely on the promise of accessible, quality care when they return home,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrote on Twitter. “But too often, the VA has fallen short of fulfilling it, with long waiting lists and limited treatment options. The shortcomings of the federal bureaucracy were apparent.”
Veterans of all eras rely on the promise of accessible, quality care when they return home. But too often, the VA has fallen short of fulfilling it, with long waiting lists and limited treatment options. The shortcomings of the federal bureaucracy were apparent. (1/2)
— Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) May 23, 2018
Opponents of the legislation have said they fear the VA is headed toward privatization, which would remove many responsibilities from the VA system and provide public funding to private medical centers.
Sanders said in a statement that while he believed the bill contained some positive provisions, he believed the best way to reduce wait times was to fill vacancies and feared the legislation would continue “a trend toward the slow, steady privatization of the VA.”
