Byrne: Veterans Deserve Better Health Care Options

Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-1) today voted in support of legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by giving veterans access to non-VA medical care when they live more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility or the wait time for an appointment at a VA facility is more than 30 days.

The Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act (H.R. 3230) provides $5 billion to hire new physicians and improve VA medical facilities. The bill also includes important accountability measures, including making it easier to fire or demote senior level VA officials and limits funds available for the VA to offer bonuses to employees.

Congressman Byrne previously pointed out that the culture of complacency at the VA must change in order for veteran care to improve. He has also advocated for a program that allows veterans to seek medical care from private doctors and hospitals.

Byrne said: “The crisis at the VA opened our nation’s eyes to a systemic issue that needed to be addressed, and today the House took an important step toward improving care for our nation’s veterans. The federal government should be working for our nation’s veterans, not against them.

“In Southwest Alabama, this bill means that our veterans no longer will have to travel hours out of the way to receive medical attention from the VA hospitals in Biloxi or Montgomery. Instead, under most circumstances, our local veterans can now choose to visit a specialist or hospital of their choosing close to home. I cannot understate how much this freedom of choice will mean to our veterans.

“I applaud House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) for his hard work on this bill, and I know he faced serious challenges in his negotiations with the Senate.  At the end of the day, this is a good bill which puts important accountability measures in place, in addition to giving veterans more health care options.

“However, this bill won’t make all the problems at the VA disappear. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House and new VA Secretary Robert McDonald to ensure that our nation’s veterans receive the best care possible.”

H.R. 3230 passed the House by a vote of 420 to 5. The legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration.