What the new VA health care bill means for Alaska’s veterans
The so-called V.A. Mission Act of 2018 will set the
All three members of
"For a state where our veterans cynically refer to the Choice Program as 'No Choice at All,' it's imperative that the
The new legislation is seen as a step forward in revamping the Veterans Choice Program, which was widely unpopular in
Some of what the new bill does to fix the program nationally has already begun in
The bill funds the Veterans Choice Program, which was slated to soon run out of money, for one more year, and sets up programmatic changes that will take effect in several years.
Murkowski made a point of entering that understanding into the record on the
Similarly,
The
The repeated lack of payment caused some local health care providers to drop out of the
"It was a total meltdown of our system," Sullivan said.
The Veterans Choice Program also initially outsourced the process of making appointments to the Lower 48, which was problematic for
Scheduling services will remain in
The bill also has provisions meant to encourage telemedicine, and to add doctors to the state
The latter was a provision Sullivan helped add to the bill, he said. Sullivan worked with Montana Democratic Sen.
The Veterans Choice Program was implemented in 2015, a rushed response to scandals of yearslong wait times for care within the
In response, Sullivan brought then-undersecretary of health
For all aspects of the new legislation, oversight will be "critical," Sullivan said. "Right now, the
Another aspect of the bill that Sullivan said will require great oversight is a massive expansion of an in-home care payment system that used to be available to veterans of wars after
While it's a nationwide provision, it could be "uniquely impactful" in
But it will require oversight to make sure it isn't abused.
"This will be costly," Sullivan said. "The money will be appropriated, I believe. But that's another issue that we've got to focus on."
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