Richard Burr

Listen, there is nobody that is rooting for you more than we are.

I am a veteran. I have got an education benefit. I have chosen my school. I show up at school, tuition had not been paid.

Mr. Warren, you said that in areas that have risk that safeguards are in place. What safeguards do you have in place for the manual process that these claims processors go through?

I challenged the VSOs several weeks ago, General, to start with a clean piece of paper and tell us how to design that process so that we would not have a backlog system, and I say to all of them that are here today I am still waiting for…

I think we may all be shocked at how close the ideas come.

I would like to ask you on the Committee's behalf today, as we go through 2010 and you begin to bring in Priority 8s, will you regularly make us aware of how many Priority 8s have come into the system?

I believe you on that, and I believe that that is the mission of VA.

I commend them for their hard work on behalf of our veterans.

I am especially pleased that the budget appears to fund legislation I authored and was signed into law last year to help our veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless.

I want you to know what a special privilege it is to have you in this position.

Many members brought up in their opening statements concerns as it relates to the VA's intent to raise revenue by billing insurance companies and charging them for the VA's care related, I think, to medical services even for…

There are very few issues that are more important, in my estimation, than to ensure that the programs and the services for our veterans are adequately funded.

I do not want to squander the opportunity for change afforded by this budget because of miscalculations or misuse of funds.

We must take care of our veterans.

I was very impressed with Senator Burr's comment that there is discussion going on between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources Service Administration, Bureau of Primary Care, and the Indian Health Service to…

Where we have used non-VA contractors, which we currently do, part of the contracts, as I understand it, is a requirement that those records be supplied to the VA and electronically supplied.

Last year's legislation that was enacted directed the VA to establish a pilot program for collaboration with non-VA providers to deliver health care services to veterans specifically in rural areas.

So they would do home telehealth from that rural clinic.

If we want the ideal, most efficient, highest quality of the delivery of care utilizing telemedicine, then we have got some barriers to overcome.

It is more of a privileging issue that you are talking about.

I would just point out to the Chairman I cheated myself on the first round, so I may go over.

We must find new ways to serve our rural veterans.

I am convinced we must tackle this problem, and I am eager to hear what the witnesses from VA are doing to solve it.

I am inclined to agree with my colleagues that it has not worked out well.

From our perspective, it does not work and it needs to be removed.