Trump signs extension of VA Choice Program, calls it a ‘good start’Stars and Stripes, Apr 19, 2017, NIKKI WENTLING
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a bill extending the often-criticized Veterans Choice Program beyond its August 2017 expiration date, a move that Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said would buy him time to work with Congress on program improvements.
“This new law is a good start, but there is still much work to do,” Trump said before the signing. “We will fight each and every day to deliver the long-awaited reforms our veterans deserve.”
“The Choice Program was passed as a quick fix to the wait list manipulation scandal that broke three years ago, and while it’s helped, too many veterans still are forced to seek care at failing VA facilities,” said Mark Lucas, director of Concerned Veterans of America, a conservative-leaning veterans group. “Congress now has some time to work with Shulkin on broader, more permanent choice reforms.”
“We need to make sure the Choice Program continues, but it works better for veterans,” Shulkin said. “It’s too complex; it’s too hard to use, so we’re working hard now with Congress to redesign an improved way of accessing care in the community.”
Because of the extension signed Wednesday, veterans can seek care in the private sector after August and until a new program is established. Shulkin said last month that the looming expiration had already been affecting veterans’ appointments in cases when they were scheduling procedures months in advance.
Shulkin went on to say he was designing a system that was “seamless” and an “integrated approach” to veteran treatment.
At the signing Wednesday, Trump said he would hold a news conference April 27 about the VA. Details of the news conference weren’t made available.
“The veterans have poured out their sweat and blood and tears for this country for so long and it’s time we now take care of them and take care of them properly,” Trump said.
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