---

Excerpts from the Washington Post, and Stars and Stripes 
(Washington, D.C.) – On August 12, 2017, President Donald Trump signed a $3.9 billion dollar funding deal for the Department of Veterans Affairs. It will shore up the nearly bankrupt Veterans Choice Program and allow the VA to open 28 new clinics and implement a new hiring program.  
 
The bill is a compromise, created and supported by both Democrats and Republicans. It authorizes $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans to seek health care outside of the VA. It will also invest $1.8 billion into hiring health care providers and leasing new clinics. 
 
Back in June, VA Secretary David Shulkin warned lawmakers about an unexpected funding shortage in the Choice program. He attributed the shortfall to the program’s increased popularity. At the time he explained the VA had scheduled 15 million appointments through its community care programs since the start of the year.  
 
The recently approved $2.1 billion dollars in additional funding is expected to keep the program going for the next six months, into the new fiscal year which begins October 1. This will provide more time for Congress, the VA and veterans service organizations to work on a broad reform to figure out how best to provide veterans the health care they’ve earned.  
 
President Barack Obama signed the bill creating the Choice Program amid scandalous reports that hundreds of veterans were dying while stuck on a waiting list. Subsequent investigations by the Inspector General confirmed supervisors in some clinics across the country were denying veterans speedy care. The investigations also revealed there were secret waiting lists in some clinics so VA employees could hide the problem and collect performance bonuses.  
 
The program was designed to let veterans, who had been waiting weeks for an appointment or lived far from a VA clinic, to seek care at a private facility with taxpayers covering the costs. The program drew controversy from the start. Democrats feared it would be the first step toward introducing private options outside of the VA’s network of clinics. Republicans argued it should not matter where the care comes from, just that veterans get the care they have earned. The debate over the best way to approach this will continue.  
 
Secretary Shulkin noted the bill was a temporary fix. He said, “We have more work to do with Congress. We have to collapse eight different ways of paying for community care into a single program and simplify it.” The original version of the bill provided funding only for Choice without the $1.8 billion for hiring and clinics. It was shot down by the House after veterans organizations said it prioritized private-sector care while neglecting VA services.  
 
Secretary Shulkin and leaders of veterans service organizations joined the President for the bill signing. Now that the bill is law, the VA can implement a series of provisions to improve hiring for some of the agency’s approximately 49,000 vacancies. The VA is also now authorized to open two new clinics in Gainesville, FL., in addition to new clinics in Pittsburgh, PA.; Pike County, Ga.; Birmingham, AL.; and Santa Rosa and Oxnard, CA. 
 
Replacement clinics will be opened in Ann Arbor, MI.; Charleston, S.C.; Corpus Christi, TX; Daytona Beach, FL.; Fredericksburg and Hampton Roads, VA.; Indianapolis, IN., Jacksonville, FL.; Missoula, MT.; Northern Colorado, Ocala, FL.; Portland, ME; Raleigh, N.C.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Diego, CA., Tampa and Lakeland, FL.; Terre Haute, IN.; and Rapid City, S.D. New research space will be opened in Boston and a replacement business office opened in Denver, CO. 
 
Two other VA-related bills signed by the President include one that will reform the process veterans use to appeal denials of their claims for benefits. The new law aims to shorten the amount of time veterans wait for decisions, which now averages six years. 
The second new law– the “Forever GI Bill”– provides for a large expansion of veterans’ education benefits. (Read more about these new laws in this NDVS newsletter edition.)