By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
Only 27,000 veterans have made appointments for private medical care since the Department of Veteranās Affairs Choice Card program rolled out at the start of November, Secretary Robert āBobā McDonald said this week.
Itās such a tiny number compared with the 9 million people who use VA health care that McDonald has asked for āflexibilityā to reallocate billions of dollars for other pressing matters, from hiring more claims officers to help wade through a vast veteransā benefits backlog to managing other patient medical needs.
The VAās release of the choice chard numbers is at the heart of a controversy over President Obamaās 2016 budget, which asks for authority to reallocate funds from the temporary $10 billion program that Congress established last year to help former troops struggling to obtain care at vastly overstrapped VA clinics.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) has roundly rejected the plan, calling it a ācomplete non-starter, which I will not support.ā
āRead the Full Article at www.washingtonpost.com >>>>ā
All content herein is owned by author exclusively.Ā Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VNR, authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians, or VT Network.Ā Some content may be satirical in nature.Ā
All images within are full responsibility of the author and NOT VNR.
Read Full Policy Notice - Comment Policy