Privatizing veterans’ care may be next big health policy battle
Conservative donors who backed efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have found a new health policy cause: making it easier for veterans to see private hospitals and physicians instead of going to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.
The New York Times reports the push is being led by a group called Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), which is funded by billionaire megadonors Charles and David Koch. It was founded in 2012 and gained prominence in 2014 over the scandal where the VA was found to have manipulated records to mask long wait times for veterans. It then supported the Veterans Choice Act which allowed veterans to be treated by non-VA physicians, at the government’s expense, if they lived 40 miles away from a VA facility or were unable to get an appointment quickly.
Older veterans groups, such as the American Legion, have wanted to see the VA system reorganized and given extra funding, not dismantled. But CVA executive director Dan Caldwell said their ideas don’t go far enough.
“We’ve really strongly advocated for three core reforms: accountability, making it easier to fire and discipline bad employees; choice, giving veterans more control over their health care; and transparency, making the VA share more information with the public in terms of how it’s performing,” Caldwell said.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.