Trump signs VA MISSION Act of 2018
Yesterday, President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act of 2018 extending the life of VA Choice for veterans who can’t easily access VA healthcare, according to Stars & Stripes;
Trump, who considered the moment a major political victory, signed the VA Mission Act during a ceremony at the White House, surrounded by some of the lawmakers and veterans groups who brokered the deal to get it through Congress. During his presidential campaign, Trump described the VA as the most corrupt federal agency and promised veterans increased access to private doctors.
“In the campaign, I also promised that we would fight for Veterans Choice. And before I knew that much about it, it just seemed to be common sense,” Trump said prior to signing the bill. “I’ll be signing landmark legislation to provide health care choice – what a beautiful word that is, “choice,” – and freedom to our amazing veterans.”
The signing ceremony finalized the end of a contentious legislative fight. Now, VA officials will initiate a rulemaking process, getting down to the nitty-gritty of deciding when veterans will be eligible to go outside the department for medical treatment.
More urgently, Congress must find a way to fund it.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will cost $52 billion over the next five years and Congress hasn’t worked out the funding, of course.
I’m going on the road today to Martinsburg VA for a little out-patient surgery, so you probably won’t hear from me again until tomorrow. Enjoy.
Category: Veteran Health Care
I like it. on funding: can mexico pay for that too?
best of luck on your surgery, Jonn.
Simple way to provide the funding….stop all the pork barrel crap by congress people sending buckets full of money to their states, also cut out the agencies we don’t need or want to pay for …like the dept of energy, what a joke that is, how about the N.E.A. maybe our kids could be taught about patriotism instead of communism..how many other depts can you name that don’t even havd a function, clock in, then go home….all bullshyt imho
,b>VA Choice has been a live saver, (literally), for me. I have just finished with the 3rd usage of it. I first had a Pacemaker installed, (the life saver), then got a Cortisone shot to a torn rotator cuff, and just this week got a Cortisone shot to my lower lumbar, that went to work instantly. I live nearly 200 miles from my VA Regional Hospital, so the VA Choice works well for me. And in the same theme, my VA Outpatient care is over the top good. I have no need for any other medical care than the JACC at Pensacola. I am one of the ones that get proper care, and great service from the VA.
I’ve used Choice extensively. I get ablation of nerves in my spine every six months to be able to turn my head. Also get Botox for long history of migraines. Have used dental several times and probably am going to be referred to an outside dentist under the Choice program. My teeth are extremely brittle and easily crack. I’m always asked if I have a preference and have asked for my TRICARE dentist and have been lucky in being able to get him. Also see a Choice doc monthly for another procedure/service not available at VA. The program has worked well for me. I have injections coming up in knees and shoulders that will be taken care of at the VA, I hope. If not, they can send me out in town under Choice. I’m so thankful for VA care and TRICARE. No way I could afford these.
Funding? Maybe they can cut some crap like the handouts for windmills and solar farms that are a waste along with abolishing cell phone handouts and CUT every illegal alien OFF of welfare, Medicare and Medicaid?
I’m concerned about the half million dollar study paying fat people to ride the bus to see if they lose weight in the walk to the corner.
The feds literally throw money at stupid stuff.
As Mr. Paycheck said, they spend millions studying the sex habits of South American swamp bats…
If they studied “Ding Bats” they would have to study congress LOL
yeh and studying the sex life of whores in asia, or maybe the sex life of flies…you know all that shyt that congresspeople set up for their brother-in-law imho
I hope this works well, the way it is intended.
P.S. Have a good trip there and back, and my best wishes for your return.
Jonn, I am curious. With your retirement entitlements, why are you using the VA? Probably because it’s the closest available facility living where you do.
I see a private doctor for a service connected condition. The doctor gets paid by the VA.
Going on thirty years now.
It is because I live many klicks away from the nearest VA facility.
Shrink the distance to qualify to something like zero miles and let the VA dry up and blow away for anything other than paying the private sector billing.
“Trump, who considered the moment a major political victory….” I read the article. I guess I missed the part where Trump called it that.
Glad to see this.
Travel safely Jonn. Godspeed with your surgery.
Best wishes for you speedy recover from today’s procedure, Jonn…
VA choice program in both Montana and New Hampshire has been a complete failure.
The VA hired a contractor to run the program and they have delayed and denied payments for all patients.
All of them.
The amount of bureaucracy involved is truly unbelievable.
It takes so much time to get any payment at all that the doctor needs a full time staff person just to deal with the V. A. Contractor.
Most, if not all doctors drop out because of the headaches.
I hope this time it is different.
The best thing to do is to close the VA entirely.
Makes you wonder if the VA selected that contractor specifically for those reasons – eliminate competition by creating something worse for everyone?
The VA needs to focus more on service connected disabled veterans. I saw my VA PCP for the first time in almost three years this past week. My PCP wanted to update my records and see if I was still alive (my words). If it wasn’t for Tricare, I would be dead by now. My PCP’s last words to me before showing me the door, “see you next year.”
I am 90% disabled per the VA. I also average around 600 hours a year as a VA Volunteer.
Oh well, it could be worse.
I for one appreciate your volunteering…I am lucky enough to be healthy, and I basically go to the VA once every couple years just to keep my name in the system, but I notice that the volunteers do so much to make the visit less unpleasant.
My 2500 hour pin.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmgqsQT6
Safe travels, Jonn. I’ll look around for something to post up while you’re on the road. Gotta keep ’em busy or they’ll just get into trouble!
Being retired and over 65, I am completely covered by Tricare for Life and Medicare Part B so with the exception of eye glasses and hearing aids I have no need to visit the VA. BTW, the hearing aids and eye glasses suck but the eye glasses are better than what the Air Force provides. The VA hired my Urologist of over 12 years for their LR facility. I am 40 percent service connected and want to continue getting my annual from him (i.e., he has skinny fingers). The VA says I must first visit a PCP for the referral. I say no I will not, I have a private PCP and there is a vet who does not have my coverage who needs that appointment. Its a numbers game with those bastards, that’s all. I will prevail with this like I did with the eye glasses because exceptions can be made but they will bust my chops until consenting. Maybe Trump needs to do what Reagan did with the air traffic controllers to get their attention.
I got Tricare for Life last year. I was able to keep my PCM on the Base under Tricare Prime. I just had to fill out a few forms.
At Little Rock Air Force Patch they cannot wait for retirees to turn 65 to boot them out. All sorts of excuses. Made sense during the heavy OpTempo but things have settled down. As I told one dental NCO a few years ago, one of these day’s you’ll be on this side of the counter asking for your earned entitlements and have to deal with someone like you.
Best wishes for your health issues Jonn. You can count on many prayers from the entire T A H gang.