WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) voted on Wednesday for bipartisan legislation to reform the Veterans Affairs medical system. The compromise bill would give veterans new flexibility for receiving medical care, empower the VA to hire more doctors and nurses, and give the VA Secretary the ability to fire underperforming senior managers. The Senate approved the bill Wednesday by a vote of 93-3.

“Our veterans deserve to receive the medical care and support that they have earned,” Senator Coons said. “As I said when Secretary Shinseki resigned, the problems facing the VA system go far beyond any one individual. Real reforms are long overdue. This bipartisan bill takes a number of steps to strengthen and modernize the VA system, making it easier for veterans to get the care they deserve. I’m glad my colleagues in the Senate have chosen to put politics aside today and stand by our nation’s veterans.”

The Veterans Access to Care Act would:

  • Give veterans the opportunity to seek care outside of the VA system. If the VA cannot schedule an appointment for a veteran within their wait time performance metrics or the veteran resides more than 40 miles from any VA medical center or Community Based Outpatient Clinic, then the veteran can exercise their choice to receive care from the Medicare program provider of their choice, or use Federal Qualified Health Centers, or facilities funded by the Department of Defense or Indian Health Centers.
  • Empower the VA Secretary with the authority to fire poor-performing senior employees. Senior managers who have been found to be performing poorly would be able to be removed or demoted. Congress would need to be notified within 30 days, and the Senior Executive would be allowed an expedited review by the Merit Systems Protection Board.
  • Hire more doctors and nurses. Using appropriated but unobligated funds, the VA would be given expedited authority to hire more doctors and nurses for VA facilities.
  • Create a framework for additional study. The bill would create independent commissions on scheduling and care, and on capital planning, to further assess the VA’s needs and make recommendations moving forward. The bill would also create a technological task force dedicated to making and implementing recommendations for modernizing the VA’s antiquated scheduling system.

Senator Coons wrote last month to the head of the Wilmington VA Medical Center seeking assurances that Delaware veterans are not being subjected to the kind of misconduct that has been found at other VA facilities. http://1.usa.gov/1lGHbtp

A member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Coons also voted last month for legislation that would fund a nationwide investigation of alleged scheduling misconduct at the VA. The military construction/veterans affairs appropriations bill will also fund work to reduce the backlog in disability claims at the VA, and increases funding for repairs to veterans’ long-term care facilities, including the Delaware Veterans Home in Milford. http://1.usa.gov/1t05lD7

Senator Coons also cosponsored three bills last month to strengthen the care America offers its veterans. The Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act and the Medical Evaluation Parity for Servicemembers Act would improve access to critical mental health services, and the Military and Caregiver Services Improvement Act would ensure family caregivers have the support they need to provide for wounded veterans. http://1.usa.gov/1ibx5ja