On the recordApril 5, 2017
I would like to begin by thanking the chairman of the full committee, and I join the ranking member of the full committee in honoring the work of Chairman Roe, his staff, and his ensuring that we do the right thing for every single one of the veterans in this country that we are here to serve. It would be easy just to criticize the Choice Program which has not worked fully as intended. Too many of the veterans that we represent are still getting bills when their provider in the community, the VA, and the third-party administrator can't resolve their differences. Too many veterans are having too hard of a time in getting an appointment in a timely fashion. And as we learned recently, the VA still is not fully measuring the true wait time for the more than 3 million appointments that have been made through the Choice Program right now. We don't have the kind of accountability that we must have. All the same, the Choice Program is bridging care for veterans who need it in millions of instances. To simply allow the sunset to take place without having the time necessary to work on some of the necessary fixes would be irresponsible. So thanks to the chairman and the ranking member, we are able to do that today. We also ensure that the VA becomes the primary payer, which is going to reduce some of the billing headaches that veterans have unnecessarily been subjected to. Mr.…
