Calling it “an emergency”, bill co-sponsors Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona, and Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont, have rounded up virtually unanimous (519 in favor, 4 against) support for spending an additional $35 billion on private healthcare services over the next three years.
The bill, called the Unified Veterans Bill, is a response to the recent delay scandals that have plagued the Veterans Administration (VA). VA healthcare services, which have justifiably earned high marks over the years for coordination of care and leading in several technology areas including electronic medical records, has been overwhelmed with demand from returning Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers.
The VA’s Office of Inspector General said in a report last month that 1, 700 veterans seeking treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital were at risk of being “lost or forgotten.” The VA has confirmed that at least 35 veterans died while awaiting treatment in Phoenix, although officials say they do not know whether the deaths were related to long waiting times for appointments.
The Veterans Affairs Department released an audit this week showing that more than 57, 000 veterans have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments. An additional 64, 000 veterans who asked for appointments over the past decade never got them.
The VA, which serves almost 9 million veterans, has faced mounting evidence that workers falsified reports on wait times for medical appointments in an effort to mask frequent, long delays.
One expert estimated that the VA would require approximately 700 additional physicians in order to adequately meet the current demand.
The bill, which is expected to reach President Obama’s desk for signature in a matter of days, will pay private healthcare institutions to care for veterans.
Critics of the bill say that it is a “blank check” to spend billions of dollars with little or no way to rein it in. Said Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican from Alabama, the Senate bill created “an unlimited entitlement program” for veterans, and voted against it.
