Beto O'Rourke: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, as we now know, we are 43,000 providers short within the VA…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, as we now know, we are 43,000 providers short within the VA, which means that there is an unmet need and demand from veterans in the communities that we serve and whom we represent. To be able to bridge this gap, we are going to have to more effectively leverage capacity for care in public and private institutions throughout this country. These are public hospitals, private hospitals, and public and private clinics. There are different means of doing this right now, which the VA Secretary seeks to streamline into one program, and I support this; but in the meantime, while we are largely dependent on the Choice Program that this Congress passed not too long ago, we must ensure that the care for these veterans is coordinated in a seamless manner. Part of the problem in doing that is that the medical records for veterans are not effectively traveling with them from the VA to their provider in the community, and, in fact, because of an antiquated interpretation of veterans' medical information records, veterans have to sign a waiver allowing the VA to share that information. Now, no other provider of medical care in this country operates under those same standards.…”