The Choice program allows veterans to seek care outside of VA facilities depending on wait time and proximity. VA Secretary David Shulkin says that without additional funds, the program will run out of money by mid-August. Nevertheless, veterans protested the bill, which would have taken away significant funding for other core programs.
Brian Duffy, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, said that the government’s inability to cover both core and Choice programs, and the bill’s call to fund Choice, represents a step in the wrong direction for the VA.
“It would violate the campaign promise that President Trump told our convention a year ago — a promise that the VA system would remain a public system because it is a public trust,” Mr. Duffy said.
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