Flores Votes to Provide Veterans with Immediate Access to Care

Statement

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Veterans Access to Care Act, which allows veterans who have been waiting for medical care to seek immediate care outside the VA system. Following passage of the bill, Congressman Bill Flores (R-Texas) issued the following statement:

"The VA health care system has been plagued with poor performance and an unresponsive bureaucracy. Because of the dysfunctional culture at the VA, over 57,000 veterans have had to wait over three months to receive their first medical appointment. Additionally, nearly 64,000 veterans never received their requested appointments. Having just one veteran denied an appointment or having to wait longer than necessary for basic or life saving care is unacceptable. We must focus on creating a more accountable VA with a smaller bureaucracy that is committed to putting the care of our nation's veterans first.

"As an original cosponsor of the Veterans Access to Care Act, I was pleased that the House acted quickly to pass this much needed legislation. This legislation provides those veterans waiting for care the ability to see a doctor or health care provider outside the VA system immediately. It will make sure that fewer veterans suffer as a result of the VA's inability to provide timely care. This legislation also directs the VA to contract with independent private care experts and leading private sector entities to conduct a system-wide assessment of VA performance in order to adopt best practices. Additionally, it bans all bonuses for VA employees for the next several years. The VA should not have a bonus system that incentivizes inappropriate behavior.

"It is my hope that the Senate will act quickly to pass the Veterans Access to Care Act. Our veterans deserve better treatment than they have received from the federal government's second largest bureaucracy.

"Looking forward, the failure of a huge federal bureaucracy to take care of our veterans is a foreboding wake-up call to hardworking American families as the tentacles of the Obamacare bureaucracy begin to invade our nation's health care system. As a result, I will also not lose sight of the need to repeal and replace Obamacare with free market systems that restore the patient-doctor relationship."

Source