June 6 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will sign into law a new veterans healthcare program — the VA Mission Act –on Wednesday.
The law, passed by Congress last month, will replace the Veterans Choice Program, which was disparaged in a report Monday by the Government Accountability Office.
The new legislation aims to streamline the VA’s duplicating community care programs into a single program. it will also create a process for reviewing VA assets to ensure care to veterans, and expand the department’s Post-9/11 Caregiver Program.
Trump will sign the bill at 12:15 p.m. EDT.
The GAO report was critical of the Choice Program it says was hurriedly installed as a response to a scandal involving long wait times VA facilities. It allows patients to receive non-VA healthcare in some cases.
The GAO cited complex referral and appointment scheduling, communications issues between hospitals and Veterans Affairs and “an insufficient number, mix, or geographic distribution of community providers.”
The new law will replace the Choice Program after a one-year conversion.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.