Hudson Supports Bill to Improve VA Health Care Access
April 5, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2017
Hudson Supports Bill to Improve VA Health Care Access
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08), the representative of Fort Bragg, released the following statement after supporting S. 544, a bill to improve the VA Choice Program and extend access to timely, quality health care for veterans:
“I regularly speak with veterans who are struggling to access timely, quality care the Choice Program was intended to provide,” said Rep. Hudson.“Time and time again, it appears to be a systemic problem designed to preserve the bureaucracy at the VA and sink the Choice Program. While work remains to clean up the bureaucracy at the VA, this bill takes an important step to eliminate the sunset date of the Choice Program and ensure veterans have continuity of care.”
S. 544, which passed the Senate on Monday, would remove the three-year sunset date for the Veterans Choice Program, make the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) the primary payer for the Choice Program, and authorize the VA to share medical record information with a public or private health care provider in order to provide treatment to a shared patient.
As the voice for North Carolina’s veterans, Rep. Hudson met with representatives from the VA last week to discuss the recent audit on issues with access to care at Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 6, which includes medical facilities in North Carolina. Rep. Hudson has been a staunch advocate for fixing the VA by first allowing veterans with service-connected disabilities to choose care from private providers in their local communities and having the VA pay for it.
As he’s said before, the only way we’re going to get veterans the care they deserve is to break the bureaucratic stronghold at the VA. The first step to do that is allowing all Tier I veterans the option of seeking private care in their own communities and having the VA pay for it, and his legislation, the Care Veterans Deserve Act(H.R. 1152), will do just that. In addition, last month, Rep. Hudson voted for the VA Accountability First Act of 2017(H.R. 1259) to make it easier to fire VA employees for poor performance or misconduct and to establish whistleblower protections.
North Carolina is fortunate to be home to more than 700,000 veterans, and taking care of these retired service members and their families is one of Rep. Hudson’s top responsibilities. As always, Rep. Hudson’s office stands ready to assist every veteran in our district with problems they are having with the VA or a federal agency. If a veteran in the 8th district needs assistance, please contact our office in Concord at (704) 786-1612 or our office in Fayetteville at (910) 997-2070.
###
Issues:Veterans