President Trump signed a new veterans bill into law Wednesday that will allow people who have served in the military to seek care at private sector medical facilities, fulfilling a promise he made early on in the 2016 election to provide veterans with greater access to healthcare.
“All during the campaign, I would go out and say, ‘Why can’t they just go see a doctor instead of standing in line for weeks and weeks and weeks?’” Trump recalled during a signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday.
Under the law, if a Veterans Affairs hospital is unable to “meet the needs of a veteran in a timely manner, that veteran will the have the right to go right outside to a private doctor,” the president declared, describing the legislation as “so simple and yet so complex.”
The so-called VA Mission Act passed Congress last month with broad support among lawmakers from both parties, and will now be implemented by the leadership team at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition to allowing veterans to receive care from private sector providers, the law expands access to the VA’s caregiver program, which until Wednesday was exclusively available to post-9/11 veterans.
“No matter when you served or where you fought, if at some point you were in that uniform, then you deserve our absolute best,” Trump said.
The law also includes new guidelines for identifying and addressing VA facilities that are in need of repair, and an initiative that aims to prevent opioid addiction among veterans by closely monitoring controlled substance prescriptions by VA providers.
“This is truly a historic moment,” Trump told attendees before signing the bill on Wednesday.
The president was joined by several lawmakers who played a key role in advancing the legislation, including Reps. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
