A bipartisan commission of health care experts authorized by Congress to propose ways to improve the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs said in a report released Tuesday that much more than a little tinkering will be necessary to ensure that U.S. veterans have access to quality care.
One of the commission's central recommendations is to allow more veterans to obtain care from private doctors. Although veterans who live more than 40 miles from the nearest VA facility or have been on a waiting list for a VA medical service for more than 30 days already have that right, the commission recommends allowing all veterans the choice of opting for private care.
The debate over allowing more vets to get care through private providers has raged for years, with Republicans generally in favor and Democrats generally skeptical.
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Some veterans advocates worry that diverting VA dollars to private providers will lead to the downfall of the network of VA-run facilities and ultimately leave veterans with fewer guarantees of top-notch care. In spite of the widely cited issues with veterans languishing on wait lists, the medical care that is ultimately performed is generally regarded as high-quality.
"We believe that when a veteran says they want to get treatment from the VA and if the VA can accommodate them, then that should be the first choice," Gary Augustine, executive director of the Washington, D.C., office of Disabled American Veterans, told The Wall Street Journal.
Indeed, the commission's own recommendation that the VA close some of its underperforming facilities seems to confirm the fear that care will be increasingly farmed out to the private sector.
Hillary Clinton has said she opposes the "privatization" of the VA. Donald Trump has said that he would support allowing vets to get care through any private provider that participates in Medicare.
President Obama kept his response to the report vague.
"The commission's report includes a number of specific proposals that I look forward to reviewing closely over the coming weeks," he said in a statement. "We will continue to work with veterans, Congress and our partners in the veteran advocacy community to further our ongoing transformation of the veterans' health care system."
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