A program that enables veterans to seek medical treatment from private providers is under siege as the Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to pay millions of dollars in reimbursement to physicians, according to TruNews.
VA launched the Choice Card program in response to reports of VA facilities across the nation manipulating data to conceal long delays in scheduling appointments for veterans. Under the Choice program, veterans are allowed to seek private medical care if VA is unable to secure care at a VA facility within one month.
Many physicians have yet to see payment for services provided to veterans through the Choice program. A survey of non-VA hospitals in Florida found VA owed more than $100 million in unpaid claims for services provided to veterans under the Choice Card program, according to the article.
As a result, some private providers are refusing care to veterans for fear of never seeing federal reimbursement.
Government contractor HealthNet is largely responsible for processing Choice Card payments for the VA. HealthNet spokesman Brad Kieffer said managing the VA's Choice program is a "team effort", and "we, as well as all stakeholders in the program, learned a great deal from this early experience."
Randy Noller, a VA spokesman, said in a prepared statement that the agency is "working with contractors to improve administrative processes, such as scanning documents to the veteran's record and uploading them to HealthNet, Colorado's VCP contractor."