Equipping Our Veterans for the Next Season of Service

VA Update: Our Work for Veterans is Never Done

by JERRY MORAN

This Veterans Day as we honor, remember, and pay respect to those who have served in our military, we should also reflect on what we have done and what more we can do to repay our American heroes for their service. Our country made a binding pact with our servicemembers and veterans to ensure they receive the care, support and recognition earned through their service. Upholding our end of the bargain is not only a moral obligation, it also strengthens the faith our next generation of heroes have in our country.

During the Trump Administration, I’m proud that Congress and the White House were able to take substantial steps forward to fulfill our obligations and make certain veterans received the care they have earned.

We opened the doors to community care through the MISSION Act; we expanded and improved veteran education benefits with the Forever GI Bill; we overhauled the aging appeals process to empower veterans with options on how their appeal was reviewed; and we granted the VA greater authorities to discipline and dismiss bad actors within the agency whenever they did not put the best interests of our veterans first. These wins were significant, but the real test is ensuring the current administration effectively executes these laws.

Since the MISSION Act was signed into law, veterans’ perceptions of the VA have improved as more choose to utilize care through community providers in the towns and cities where they live and work. This evolution of how the VA provides care is a groundbreaking win for all veterans. I am committed to ensuring the federal government puts veterans first and prioritizes their decisions in health care instead of regressing to the days of long wait times and burdensome commutes to distant VA facilities. Veterans deserve a system that provides them the care and benefits they need where they are located. In addition to the MISSION Act expanding health care choice for veterans, the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission was established calling for an independent review of the VA’s infrastructure and recommendations for how the VA can modernize to reflect demographic changes in the veteran population and update aging infrastructure ill-suited for modern medicine. The commission will assess the more than 7,500 buildings the VA owns, leases and

Veterans deserve a system operates. This will help that provides them the care and determine where future benefits they need where they funds should be focused to update aging facilities are located. and make renovations based on needs of the local veteran population and newly available medical technology. As we work to continue improving the VA, it is important to address disparities in access and levels of care available to our veterans. Particularly in rural and underserved areas, veterans can easily fall through the cracks due to unequal access or varying quality of care. That is why I introduced the Guaranteeing Healthcare Access to Personnel who Served Act, or “GHAPS Act.” The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee has already taken the first step to