Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Chairman Isakson for the work he has done on this important issue. It has been a long road to work through reforming the VA. The VA is exceptionally complicated. There are a lot of interests engaged with this. He has heard a lot of voices from all over the country and all over this town in order to help resolve some of the issues and bring them together. This is exceptionally important, though, for our veterans--especially for our veterans who live in rural areas that are very far from healthcare. Section 101 of this bill requires the VA to give access to community care when a veteran's referring clinician agrees that furnishing care or services in the community would be in the best interest of the veteran after considering certain criteria--and this is very important--things such as the distance they have to travel; the nature of the care that is required; the frequency of the care, so they don't have to travel back and forth, often for long distances; the timeliness of available appointments; whether the covered veteran faces an unusual or excessive burden. It includes the family and the veteran. So in the conversation that is happening, it is not just a clinician making a decision; the veterans are at the table, and their family is brought into consideration. This is important not just for so many veterans who have to travel long distances; it is important for veterans who live close. The chairman and I have spoken on this briefly before.…”