Austin News

U.S. Senator John Cornyn and seven of his Senate colleagues have sent a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, urging them to fully implement the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) recommendations to improve timeliness and efficiency within the VA's community care program. The letter expresses concern over the ongoing failure to make consistent improvements to community care wait times and emphasizes the need for timely, quality care for veterans.

The letter, led by Senators Jon Ossoff and Rick Scott, was also signed by Senators Raphael Warnock, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ted Budd, and Shelley Moore Capito. It highlights the unacceptable delays faced by veterans seeking health care through the VA's community care program. The senators state that they frequently receive communications from veteran constituents regarding lengthy wait times in both scheduling and receiving health care through community care providers.

The senators reference the GAO's reports on the challenges faced by the community care program and the VA scheduling process. They note that the GAO has made recommendations since 2018 to improve the program but that these recommendations have not been fully implemented. They highlight the GAO Health Care Director Sharon Silas' report that "most VAMCs did not meet the timeliness standard for scheduling community care appointments" and that "VHA has recently established a timeliness standard for VHA facility appointments, but not for community care." The senators express their concern that the lack of care time standards for community care exacerbates the problem of lengthy wait times.

The senators also share that they have heard similar concerns from their veteran constituents, with veterans waiting months for certain types of community care appointments and experiencing significant administrative delays between referral and appointment scheduling. They emphasize that the ongoing failure to address these issues is unacceptable.

In light of these concerns, the senators pose several questions to Secretary Denis McDonough:

- Why do veterans continue to experience lengthy wait times to both schedule and receive care through the community care program?

- Why have the GAO's recommendations regarding community care appointment scheduling and time standards not been fully implemented?

- What accountability measures are in place when consistent delays in veteran care occur?

- What actions is the Department of Veterans Affairs taking to improve community care wait times?

- What additional resources or authorities are needed from Congress to improve veteran community care wait times?

- Will the Department of Veterans Affairs commit to establishing a meaningful target within the next 30 days for improving community care wait times?

- Will the Department of Veterans Affairs commit to establishing an acceptable wait time standard within the next 90 days for the interval between making an appointment and attending that appointment?

The senators reiterate that providing timely, quality care for veterans is of utmost importance and express gratitude for the Department of Veterans Affairs' attention to this issue. They look forward to a prompt response.

This bipartisan inquiry highlights the pressing need to address the lengthy wait times that veterans face when seeking health care through the VA's community care program. It emphasizes the importance of implementing the GAO's recommendations and establishing care time standards to ensure timely access to care for veterans.