Far fewer veterans use choice card and private health care than expected

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By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux

Only 27,000 veterans have made appointments for private medical care since the Department of Veteranā€™s Affairs Choice Card program rolled out at the start of November, Secretary Robert ā€œBobā€ McDonald said this week.

Itā€™s such a tiny number compared with the 9 million people who use VA health care that McDonald has asked for ā€œflexibilityā€ 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 VAā€™s release of the choice chard numbers is at the heart of a controversy over President Obamaā€™s 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.hire vets

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) has roundly rejected the plan, calling it a ā€œcomplete non-starter, which I will not support.ā€

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