Walden, Poliquin, Upton help push House approval of VA healthcare reforms

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare reforms proposed by U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) are included in a legislative package approved on May 16 by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The House voted 347-70 to approve the Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act, S.2372, which now heads back to the U.S. Senate for final approval. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) voted to approve the measure.

S. 2372 incorporates provisions from the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks (MISSION) Act of 2018, H.R.5674, which Reps. Poliquin and Walden both cosponsored, and from the Veterans Affairs Medical Scribe Pilot Act of 2017, H.R. 1848, a bill Rep. Walden co-authored and cosponsored.

Rep. Walden, who is chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a May 17 statement released by his office, that H.R. 1848 would help unburden VA doctors by bringing medical scribes into the VA health system, in turn allowing more VA patients to be seen in a timely manner.

In a May 16 speech on the House floor prior to its vote on S. 2372, Rep. Walden noted that private sector research has shown that “allowing scribes to handle electronic health records allows the doctor to do what they do best: treat their patients.”

Medical scribes also handle other administrative tasks, such as paperwork and record keeping, freeing up doctors to focus on patient care, according to Rep. Walden’s office, which added that the provision also will help with retainment and recruitment of quality VA doctors.

Also included in the House-approved S. 2372 are provisions from the sweeping H.R. 5674 that Rep. Poliquin pushed for to improve closer-to-home services for rural military veterans and to fix problems with claims processing so hospitals are reimbursed promptly, according to a May 16 statement from his office.

Rep. Poliquin, a member of the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said approval of “this major legislation will reform our community care services to help clear up some of its red tape and allow veterans to more easily access health care in communities far distances from VA facilities.”

For instance, included in S. 2372 is funding flexibility for the Veterans Choice Program, which he and Rep. Walden both supported. Poliquin said it’s “a very important and critical service that has helped many thousands of Maine veterans, especially those who live in our rural communities, access health care closer to home.”

H.R. 5674 provisions included in S. 2372 also would reform the VA payment processes so the government can make prompt payments to hospitals providing VA services. “It is long past time the VA pays our hospitals,” Rep. Poliquin said.

“Making sure our Maine hospitals get their overdue payments will not only help our veterans access care, but will also pour needed, important revenue directly into Maine’s local and rural areas so the hospitals can continue to provide health services for those communities,” the congressman added.

S. 2372 also includes H.R. 5674 provisions to expand the VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers to pre-9/11 veterans who suffered a serious injury in the line of duty, among others, according to Rep. Walden’s staff.

Rep. Upton noted that S. 2372 will strengthen and improve the VA healthcare system for the approximately 9 million United States military veteran patients who currently use it.

“This bipartisan bill contains major reforms that will help our veterans in Southwest Michigan and across the country,” said Rep. Upton in a May 17 statement. “Voting to improve the lives of our veterans, and their families, is always the easiest vote I cast.”

Ryan Mitchell, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Kalamazoo, Mich., said the legislation will make a difference for veterans in Southwest Michigan. “We applaud Fred Upton for his positive work and urge the Senate and president to act quickly to sign this important legislation into law,” he said.

The original H.R. 5674, according to information provided by Rep. Upton’s office, is supported by myriad groups, including the Air Force Association, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the American Veterans, the Gold Star Wives of America, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Jewish War Veterans, the Marine Corps League, the Military Family Association, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Wounded Warrior Project, among many more.