American Legion’s Matthew Cardenas submits Statement for the Record for House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing.
The American Legion submitted a Statement for the Record (SFR) this week during congressional testimony focused on veterans’ community care before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The first hearing, “Restoring Focus: Putting Veterans First in Community Care”, took place Jan. 22. In its SFR written by American Legion Health Policy Analyst Matthew Cardenas, The American Legion reaffirms its support for the 2018 MISSION Act, which streamlined veterans’ access to community health care outside of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The SFR refers to the legislation as “being intended to supplement – but not supplant – the VA direct care system, serving as a relief valve. The VA should remain the center of veteran healthcare with a constant focus on improvement, keeping the veteran as their North Star.”
The Legion reiterates its support for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) serving as the coordinator of care for veterans, but “If, however, the VA cannot provide veterans with the care they need, when they need it, community providers are the only realistic solution that is in the best interest of the individual veteran. Important changes in policy to reduce barriers to accessing care, streamline appointment scheduling, support gender-specific care unique to women veterans, and improve reimbursement requirements are critical to providing veterans with the healthcare they have earned."
The SFR also calls for VHA to improve access to specialty services in house, particularly in urban facilities with large catchment populations, as well as the decision to use community between the patient and his or her VA provider. “Efforts to keep a veteran in VHA care should be made before treatment is needed, not at a time when a veteran is simply trying to get better,” the Legion states. “Sidelining veterans with bureaucratic or unnecessary procedural roadblocks requiring extra reviews, referrals, and conversations does nothing to accomplish VA’s mission or improve on it, nor does it help veterans.”
Read the entire Statement for the Record here.
- Legislative