Healthcare

Congress scrambling to keep key VA health program funded past August

By Pete Kasperowicz
Published July 19, 2017 4:01am ET
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Congress scrambling to keep key VA health program funded past August
In June, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin suggested that Congress could give the VA authority to move existing money around in order to fund the program past August.

Members of Congress are hoping to pass legislation in the next few weeks that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to boost funding for the Veterans Choice Program before funding is exhausted in August.

The Choice Program was created in 2014 legislation that responded to the VA waitlist scandal, which revealed thousands of veterans were unable to get timely healthcare appointments at the VA. The program gives veterans the option of finding care outside the VA system if the nearest VA clinic is too far away from where they live.

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