VA may expand private care options

– Nearly four times as many veterans could be eligible for private health care paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs under sweeping rules the agency proposed Wednesday.

The rules, which will be open to public comment, would permit veterans to get private care if they had to wait more than 20 days or drive more than 30 minutes for a VA appointment.

That would be a considerable expansion of eligibility standards, in which private options kick in for vets who have to wait 30 days or live 40 miles from a VA facility. The new rules would allow vet- erans who need urgent care to go to a private doctor without pre-authorization.

If they go into effect, the rules would deliver on a presidential campaign promise made by Donald Trump to expand health care choices for veterans.

VA officials estimated the plan could increase the number of veterans eligible for private care to as many as 2.1 million – up from roughly 560,000.

The proposal has already drawn sharp rebukes from critics who said the changes go too far and would drain money from the VA and lead to its privatization. “This will significantly increase the overall cost and amount of care VA will send to the community,” a group of more than two dozen Democratic senators wrote in a letter this week to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Given that the administration opposes increasing overall federal spending, these increased costs for community care will likely come at the expense of VA’s direct system of care. And that is something we cannot support.”

In a statement, Wilkie said claims the rules would lead to privatization are unfounded.

“Here are the facts: under President Trump, VA is giving Veterans the power to choose the care they trust, and more Veterans are choosing VA for their health care than ever before,” he said.

Though more veterans would be eligible, VA said it doesn’t expect a significant number would choose private care.