By Trish Svoboda

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, joined 19 colleagues in urging Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to address policy changes that are impeding veterans’ access to care.

In 2018, Congress passed the MISSION Act to enhance veterans’ healthcare access by expanding their ability to seek care from providers in their communities. However, recent actions by VA leadership have sought to restrict these community care options for veterans.

In the letter, the Senators wrote, “Congress has never failed to provide VA with the resources required to fulfill its mission.” They continued, “If you believe that VA lacks the funding to provide the level of access to care that veterans deserve in VA and in the community, it is incumbent on you to reprioritize resources from non-patient care areas and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, not to unilaterally implement purported cost-savings measures that, even as an unintended consequence, decrease veteran choice and endanger veteran lives.”

You can find the full text of the letter here.