Rep. Calvert Votes for Better Health Care Access for Veterans

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) voted along with a bipartisan majority of his House colleagues (420 - 5) in support of H.R. 3230, the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act.

"Our veterans deserve nothing less than timely, high quality health care and the bill approved by the House today will help achieve that goal," said Rep. Calvert. "There is simply no excuse for the delays and incidents of poor treatment of our veterans in VA medical centers. We need to provide a consistent, world class health care treatment and benefits for all veterans across the country. The bipartisan nature of the bill passed today signals the unwavering support our veterans have in Congress. This bill provides important health care options, outside the VA, while also investing to improve our current VA system."

Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act Highlights:

(Courtesy of the House Veterans Affairs Committee)

To improve access to and quality of care for veterans, the bill would:

• Require VA to offer an authorization to receive non-VA care to any veteran who is enrolled in the VA health care system as of August 1, 2014, or who is a newly discharged combat veteran if such veteran is unable to secure an appointment at a VA medical facility within 30 days (or a future published goal established by VA) or resides more than 40 miles from the nearest VA medical facility, with certain exceptions.
  • Require VA to provide a Veterans Choice Card to eligible veterans to facilitate care provided by non-VA providers.
  • Provide $10 billion for the newly-established "Veterans Choice Fund" to cover the costs of this increased access to non-VA care.
• Require an independent assessment of VA medical care and establish a Congressional Commission on Care to evaluate access to care throughout the VA health care system.

To provide real accountability for incompetent or corrupt senior managers, the bill would:

• Authorize VA to fire or demote Senior Executive Service (SES) employees and Title 38 SES equivalent employees for poor performance or misconduct.
• Reduce funding for bonuses available to VA employees by $40 million each year through FY 2024.

To improve education benefits for veterans and dependents, the bill would:

• Require public colleges to provide in-state tuition to veterans and eligible dependents in order for the school to remain eligible to receive G.I. Bill education payments.
• Expand the Sgt. Frye Scholarship Program to provide full Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits to spouses of servicemembers who died in the line of duty after 9/11.

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