[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IMPLEMENTING THE VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM

  (Mr. HULTGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, more than a year ago, Congress passed and 
the President signed into law an overhaul of veterans' health care. The 
Veterans Choice Program nominally gave our Nation's veterans more 
health provider and service options. However, despite having more than 
a year to implement it, local VA facilities are refusing to work with 
new providers to get veterans the care they need. The VA claims its 
hands are tied, but by what?
  Through the Veterans Choice Program, the men and women who have 
served our country are entitled to vital home care services that are 
critical to follow-up care and medication adherence assistance, 
especially for disabled veterans and those without access to 
transportation.
  My conversations with the VA have yielded only excuses. Our vets 
deserve results.
  I ask again, how many veterans are waiting for physician visits? How 
can the VA sit on its hands while our Nation's veterans wait and 
suffer?
  I ask my colleagues to join me. Let's be a voice for our veterans and 
demand the VA give these heroes access to and reimbursement for the 
care they need and deserve.

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