Veterans could go anywhere for care under McCain bill

By Bill Theobald

Sen. John McCain proposed legislation Wednesday to expand and make permanent the choice program for veterans so they could go anywhere for health care.

McCain’s bill, borne of frustration over the slow pace of improvement in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ system, would remove the current restriction that veterans can go outside the VA system if they wait more than 30 days or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility.

His bill also would:

• Allow veterans to go to walk-in clinics for minor illnesses. The VA would be required to contract with a national chain of clinics to provide the service.

• Expand operating hours of VA clinics and pharmacies.

• Expand telemedicine to allow VA health care providers in one state to treat veterans in other states.

The bill would encourage VA facilities to undergo a best practices peer review by some of the leading hospital networks in the country.

“This effort that we have been making, I believe, has shown some progress but the fact remains that we have a long way to go,” McCain said.

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