CVA Statement on VA Outside Care Consolidation Plan
Arlington, Va. – Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) CEO Pete Hegseth made the following the statement following today’s House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing regarding the VA’s outside care consolidation plan:
“While we are encouraged to see Sec. McDonald publicly touting choice as a central component of VA reform, the outside care consolidation plan, is simply a cosmetic solution for the systemic problems the department faces.
“This program is nothing new, but was mandated by a measure passed by Congress in July that, ironically, granted the VA’s request to raid the current Choice Card program to the tune of $3.3 billion to pay for its mismanagement of other programs. Worse, it does nothing to remove the VA as the final authority on veterans’ health care decisions and further empower veterans to make those choices, a fact recent reports make clear.
“That this announcement comes during yet another week of national scandal for the VA should only increase skepticism that this announcement represents meaningful reform in line with the recommendations of the recent independent assessment of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and not a distraction from the many missteps of the department.
“If the VA is to be veteran-centric, veterans must be the final authority on their health care decisions. Reform that does not embrace that concept is no reform at all.”
To schedule a TV interview with Pete Hegseth, CEO of CVA, or other CVA experts, please email booking@guestbooker.com. For media inquiries, contact press@cv4a.org.
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Concerned Veterans for America is a non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for policies that will preserve the freedom and prosperity we and our families so proudly fought and sacrificed to defend.