Lawmakers want answers from VA on ‘choice card’ rollout

New Hampshire Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R) and Jeanne Shaheen (D) are voicing displeasure with the Veterans Affairs Department over the rollout of legislation meant to give veterans greater access to medical care.

The pair is concerned that the agency, emerging from one of the worst scandals in its history, is not following congressional intent regarding the new “choice card” effort. The program allows veterans to seek medical care at non-VA providers, if they live more than 40 miles from an agency facility or if they do not get a doctor’s appointment within 30 days.

The program was the cornerstone of reform legislation Congress approved this summer to revamp the VA after a months-long scandal over patient wait times that was linked to a series of deaths.
 
“We have been hearing from veterans in our state who are confused by the roll-out of this important program, and we remain concerned that it is not being implemented as Congress intended,” Ayotte and Shaheen wrote in a Nov. 24 letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald.
 
The pair also noted that eligibility cards sent to Granite State veterans contained inaccurate information, creating more confusion about the program.
 
The missive is a follow-up to a Nov. 7 letter Ayotte and Shaheen sent to McDonald, raising concerns about new agency rules that seemed to place restrictions on which outside medical providers veterans could visit or would be included in the program.
 
The lawmakers requested a response from the VA by Nov. 14 but have not received any “substantive” answers from the agency, they said.
 
“Choice cards” started going out earlier this month to around 300,000 veterans who live outside the 40-mile radius stipulated by the reform bill lawmakers approved last summer.
 
An estimated 370,000 more cards started going out this week to veterans who have waited longer than 30 days to see a doctor.

“VA continues to focus on implementation of this new temporary benefit so that Veterans receive the timely quality care they need in a way that reduces confusion and inefficiencies,” McDonald said in a statement on Monday.