Ga. Sen. Isakson Talks Candidly On Veterans’ Health Care, More

Basically, the new Choice Program allows eligible veterans who live more than 40 miles away from a VA health care facility or can’t get an appointment scheduled within 30 days to arrange an appointment with a Medicare-approved doctor, who can schedule an appointment earlier and is closer to the veteran’s location.

When it comes to general health, primary or diagnostic care or illness and disease among veterans, the number of appointments this year alone have increased by millions, Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said during an interview on “Closer Look.”

“The good news is veterans have a choice. The pressure on the VA has generated 7 million more appointments in the first eight months of this year, which demonstrates the pressure we’ve got to meet the demand we have in the Veterans Administration today,” Isakson said.

Isakson thinks the program is working better, as far as meeting the demand for veterans’ health care, but he acknowledged there are still some problems with the Choice Program that need addressing.

“Prompt pay to the doctors, in terms of doctors being satisfied with the program, in terms of there being the doctors available in rural communities that these guys really need to get, that’s still being worked on. We’re still working on that,” he said.

“We got plenty of challenges at the VA,” he added.

The Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. with more than 1,700 sites for veterans’ care, according to the agency’s website. The VA serves almost 9 million veterans a year.

Isakson discussed veterans’ health care, VA leadership, how he’s handling his recent Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and more on “Closer Look.”

WABE’s Rose Scott and Denis O’Hayer contributed to this report.