Hoeven highlights efforts to improve coordination, availability of veteran health care

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) highlighted a pilot program on Monday that he has championed to improve coordination of healthcare for veterans in North Dakota and western Minnesota.

The Veterans Care Coordination initiative, which went into effect on Oct. 4, enables veterans receiving care through the Veterans Choice Program to coordinate care through the Fargo Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center rather than a third-party contractor headquartered in California.

“The whole idea of the Veterans Choice Act was to ensure our veterans were receiving timely access to health-care services by allowing them to secure care locally,” Hoeven said at a North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs conference. “Our new pilot program will now reduce bureaucratic delays and confusion in scheduling appointments and make it easier for veterans to receive timely care. Similarly, legislation I introduced and am working to pass in the Senate will enable veterans who need long-term care to access those services nearer to home and loved ones.”

The Veterans Care Coordination pilot program will enable veterans in North Dakota and western Minnesota to access care in their community when a VA facility or appointment is unavailable.

Hoeven, who led the Veterans Care Coordination initiative after hosting a series of listening sessions with veterans, noted that it is an 800-mile roundtrip drive from Williston, N.D., to the VA Medical Center in Fargo.

Hoeven also highlighted his efforts to advance the bipartisan Veterans First Act, S. 2921, on the national level during Monday’s veterans conference. A provision of the bill led by Hoeven would allow the VA to enter into provider agreements with qualified medical providers to expand care for veterans in both rural and urban areas.