If you’ve read it here once, you’ve read it here a hundred times: veterans should be the focus of care at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That’s why we support reforms like those in the VA MISSION Act that give veterans more options over where they seek their medical care. More options give veterans access to the care they need, when they need it.
The Wall Street Journal and four former VA secretaries agree.
“One Question Is Why Anyone Would Oppose This Plan.”
This week, the Wall Street Journal editorial board made some great points about veterans’ health care, reacting to the VA’s recently proposed access standards under the VA MISSION Act.
These new access standards streamline the process by which veterans can seek care from non-VA providers. Backlash against the standards left the Journal questioning “why anyone would oppose this plan.”
The Journal was quick to point out, “The silliest complaint is that the new rules are supported by Concerned Veterans for America, which is associated with the Koch brothers. The group’s non-radical view is that the money should follow the veteran’s choice, not the bureaucracy.”
The conclusion drives home all the right points:
The left’s real concern is that any individual choice might result in the private economy providing more services to veterans, and less control from the VA, which means by politicians. Yet if the VA is providing excellent care to veterans, competition won’t matter. If the VA isn’t, then no one should force veterans to stay trapped in a system that isn’t meeting their needs.
“This Presumption Discounts and Disregards What Is Happening Inside the VA.”
Four former VA secretaries also joined forces this week to sing the praises of new access standards proposed under the VA MISSION Act. Anthony Principi, Jim Nicholson, James Peake and Robert McDonald penned an op-ed laying out their support for new access standards and shutting down the critics.
“New regulations recently proposed will place veterans at the center of the health care decisions,” the former secretaries wrote.
These new standards will create “a modern, integrated network that delivers services based on widely accepted industry best practices found in the private sector and other successful government health care systems.”
As for the those who claim new access standards will “somehow lead to the dismantling of the VA,” the secretaries stated, “this presumption discounts and disregards what is happening inside the VA today because of efforts begun during our time in office and since then.”
Big things are happening at the VA right now thanks to bold leadership and willingness to put veterans first. It’s time for the critics to stop playing political games with veterans’ health care and get on board with policies that empower both veterans and the VA.
New access standards under the VA MISSION Act will give more veterans more options over where they seek their medical care. Tell your lawmakers to support more choice for veterans!