Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Proposes Bipartisan Action to Get Hawai"i Veterans Immediate Access to Care
Statement
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) today introduced the ACT Now for Veterans bill (H.R. 5131) to direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reimburse non-VA medical providers who provide care to eligible veterans. This legislation will ensure that veterans in Hawai"i and across the U.S. who are lost in the VA bureaucracy, and who have been sitting on unacceptably long waiting lists, are able to get medical care immediately.
"Hawai"i veterans need care today, and shouldn't have to wait for Congress, or the VA bureaucracy, to make the systemic changes necessary for the VA to fulfill its mission once again," said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a twice-deployed Army combat veteran. "Some Hawai"i veterans have been waiting eight years to see a doctor. With 1,331 Hawai"i veterans waiting to see a doctor, Hawai"i's Veterans Health Administration leadership only requested $250,000 from the VA to provide access to non-VA physicians for these wait-listed veterans. Other states have asked for and received more than $7 million to provide this access for their veterans to receive care from private physicians and deal with this crisis.
"Our bill will give veterans the flexibility they need to seek care from a doctor in their community immediately, with the assurance that the VA will cover the bill, as a temporary solution to this urgent crisis. Our veterans deserve far better than to have their service dishonored by the VA's bureaucratic red-tape or even blatant negligence."
"Our veterans have been failed by the system, and it is our responsibility to make things right," said Congressman Adam Kinzinger. "Fixing the VA is no small task, and this bill will give veterans an opportunity to temporarily seek private care until we can make the necessary reforms. Frankly, keeping our promise of timely and quality care is the least we can do for the men and women who volunteered to defend our country."
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