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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.
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.
The House will pass the VA Accountability First and Whistleblower Protection Act, clearing the way for the President to sign the bill later this week. Some lawmakers and veterans service organizations see the bill's passage as a major win after years of debate over new accountability legislation. But federal employee groups say the bill would do more harm than good.
The Veterans Affairs Department may get a big budget boost in fiscal 2018 under the president's proposal. Most of the additional funding will go toward health care, both in and outside the department. But the budget proposal does suggest cuts, and lawmakers said they're concerned by possible spending reductions to VA information technology and medical research.
Some members of Congress are encouraged by a new solution to overhaul the outdated and lengthy appeals process for veterans. Members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee introduced new legislation Tuesday that would create three paths for veterans to move more quickly through the appeals process. VA has roughly 470,000 claims pending as of April 1.
The Veterans Affairs Department soft-launched a new online tool that lets veterans search for VA medical facilities and their average wait times within a specific mile radius. VA said it's a significant step in showing accountability and transparency efforts three years after wait time scandals in Phoenix shook up the agency's leadership and organization.
If the 114th Congress was about dissecting the Veterans Affairs Department's challenges, then the 115th Congress will act quickly to solve them, leadership on the House Veterans Affairs Committee said.
Some advocates of the House Veterans Affairs Committee's new employee accountability bill say it's different enough from previous attempts to tackle this issue and should assuage past concerns. But others fear the legislation revives familiar worries.
An extension and then redesign of the Veterans Choice Program, along with new employee accountability legislation, are top priorities for new Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. He said he's working with Congress on new legislation to support those initiatives.
The Government Accountability Office had some hard truths for the Veterans Affairs Department, which has failed to produce more modern, interoperable IT systems after years of failed pilots and heated congressional hearings. GAO says VA should drop its plans to modernize VistA and find a commercial option instead.
Veterans service organizations and the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents roughly 230,000 employees at the Veterans Affairs Department, say the President-elect's nominee to lead the agency is a pleasant surprise. Dr. David Shulkin, the current VA undersecretary for health, should give the agency some continuity during the transition, they said.
A new omnibus veterans package cleared the House Tuesday afternoon, but it doesn't address three controversial issues that both veterans affairs committees and the VA Secretary himself have spent the past year debating. That leaves a fix for the outdated veterans appeals process, an alternative or solution to the Veterans Choice Program and new accountability procedures to the 115th Congress and next administration.
The Veterans Affairs Department's relocation scandal sheds light on a federal employee house-selling program that may be costing taxpayers.
The rule, aimed at preventing fraud in the VA service-disabled veteran-owned small business program, requires that veterans control 100 percent of company decisions, even if they maintain just partial ownership. VA is taking suggestions for changing its rules.