Sen. Isakson Writes To VA Secretary Over Hospital Wait Times
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, is calling on the Veteran Affairs Secretary to provide a plan that ensures vets can access care outside the VA system. The request is due to a national report released on Thursday by the Associated Press, which said veterans still have long waits for care at VA hospitals, including here in Georgia.
If veterans wait more than a month for an appointment or live further than 40 miles from a VA facility, they’re supposed to be able to get care at a non-VA hospital. That’s because of a bill that passed Congress last year. But on Friday, Isakson and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, wrote a letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald. It says wait times at VA facilities are still unacceptably long.
“I’m concerned until every veteran can get a timely appointment for whatever affliction they have, and any veteran who doesn’t have the available services they need from the VA can go to the private sector and get it there,” says Isakson.
As a result, Isakson and Blumenthal want McDonald to come up with a plan so veterans know what their options are outside the VA system.
“To make sure veterans understand what kind of choices they really have, how they go about that choice, and how they go about using the contractor rather than the VA to make the appointment,” says Isakson.
The senators called on McDonald to come up with the plan by May 20. Isakson chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
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