Veterans Affairs
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The Veterans Affairs Department's push to more easily fire employees charged with misconduct has found its latest target — the former director of the Washington, D.C. VA medical center.
August 02, 2017 -
Dr. David Shulkin inherited a Veterans Affairs Department only partway through a badly needed transformation. As secretary, he's got a lot of tough constituents — Congress, a demanding president, veterans groups and veterans themselves. Shulkin discussed a number of pressing matters on Federal Drive with Tom Temin, starting with the consequences of new funding for the Veterans Choice program just approved by Congress. It extends veterans' ability to obtain health care outside of the VA system. Just don't call it privatization.
August 01, 2017 -
The House passed a last-minute bill Friday morning that will replenish the Veterans Choice Program with $2.1 billion in additional funds for the next six months. The additional Choice funds are crucial, as they buy lawmakers and the Veterans Affairs Department more time to redesign the program. But the legislation is also packed with new hiring flexibilities.
July 28, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department managed to double its rate of processing claims for Gulf War Illness, completing more than 11,000 of them in a year. But that number doesn't tell the whole story. Some denial letters were poorly written and claims staff often lacked training. Melissa Emrey-Arras, director of education, workforce and income security issues at the Government Accountability Office, shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
July 25, 2017 -
The House will vote this week on a bill that would replenish the Veterans Choice Fund with an additional $2 billion. But to offset the costs, VA would continue to collect housing loan fees and would trim pensions for some veterans living in nursing facilities that are covered under Medicaid.
July 24, 2017 -
Slew of bills helping the Veterans Affairs Department shows how much Congress can get done within a limited scope.
July 20, 2017 -
Restoring veterans' trust and mending gaps between the department's headquarters and its employees in the field are top priorities for Tom Bowman, the president's nominee to be the deputy VA secretary.
July 19, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department spends too much money on bricks and mortar and not enough on its own doctors and nurses, former VA Secretary Anthony Principi told Congress. Some lawmakers are once again calling for a full review of VA capital assets, which span encompass more than 6,000 owned buildings and 1,500 leased facilities and span more than 170 million square feet.
July 14, 2017 -
Senators have two very different proposals to redesign the Veterans Choice Program. Both pieces of legislation represent very different ideologies and sides of a debate that Congress, the Veterans Affairs Department, veterans service organizations and federal employee groups have been having for the past three years.
July 11, 2017 -
According to the Veterans Affairs Department's new reports detailing all major disciplinary actions for its workers, VA is on track to fire fewer people in 2017 than it has during the past six fiscal years. Federal employment experts say the new adverse action reports lack some significant details about VA's efforts to improve accountability and transparency.
July 10, 2017 -
VA fired, demoted or gave long suspensions to 749 people since Jan. 20. But it doesn't say what they did.
July 10, 2017 -
A small group of senators says the Veterans Health Administration should have its own chief information officer, who would report to the department's undersecretary for health and would oversee all management and procurement decisions related to the health administration's IT systems. It's one of a few specific recommendations from the VA Commission on Care that are beginning to appear in new pieces of legislation.
July 05, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general said in its annual Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) report that the agency’s cybersecurity efforts remain troublesome and puts data and systems at risk.
June 23, 2017 -
The Veterans Affairs Department will immediately get rid of 71 vacant or nearly empty facilities. VA will eliminate another 71 buildings within the next six months. It's part of the department's long term effort to trim its inventory of outdated, underutilized or vacant buildings within the next two years.
June 21, 2017 -
It's been a busy couple of months for the Veterans Affairs Department. But VA Secretary David Shulkin said he wouldn't have it any other way. He's pushing the VA workforce to embrace risk and begin making bold, fundamental changes to the way it does business. He said he sees the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act as one bold change that will improve the department's employee morale and recruitment efforts.
June 20, 2017