VA Misses Important Deadline To Implement Part of VA Reform Law
CVA Reacts to Continued Lack of Accountability and Timely Health Care At The VA
Arlington, Va. – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has failed to meet a critical deadline to provide veterans who have been on a wait list for a long period of time with a medical “choice card” that would enable them to get health care outside of the VA. The deadline was written into law as part of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act – which Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law in August, to bring long-overdue accountability to the VA and provide veterans with timely access to health care.
In addition, the VA Secretary Robert McDonald has failed to aggressively use new powers given to him under the VA reform law that enables him to more quickly fire senior VA leaders who are guilty of misconduct. Instead, the VA is allowing many managers implicated in the VA wait list scandal to resign or retire with full benefits and no real punishment for their actions which harmed the well-being of tens of thousands of veterans.
These failures, coupled with recent revelations that the White House and VA officials pressured the VA Office of Inspector General to improperly amend a report on the Phoenix VA to obscure the deaths of dozens of veterans, demonstrates that the VA cannot be trusted to reform or oversee itself.
“It’s tragic that not only did the department fail to meet the deadline, but it then chose to paper over the fact by releasing a letter from Secretary McDonald claiming they are in the process of rolling out the choice card while providing few concrete specifics,” said Pete Hegseth, CEO of CVA. “Concerned Veterans for America will continue to serve as a watchdog on VA accountability and refuse to let injustices such as this go unchallenged. We will make the VA understand that they cannot get away with skirting the law just because the scandal has temporarily faded from the headlines.”
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For media inquiries or interview requests, contact Bill Turenne at 703.638.3927 or email bturenne@cv4a.org.
Concerned Veterans for America is a non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for policies that will preserve the freedom and liberty we and our families so proudly fought and sacrificed to defend.