VA: Moving toward being just a payer?
From ModernHealthcare:
The Veterans Affairs Department on Friday proposed to pay third-party payers the same amount for veterans' medical services regardless if it was in a VA facility or not.
The proposed rule involves healthcare services provided to veterans for disabilities that are unrelated to their military service.
The Trump administration would also require third-party payers—such as veterans' employer-sponsored health plans—to request a refund for military-related care within 18 months and bar them from disputing the VA's methodology for determining payment rates. Read more at ModernHealthcare.
2020 Veterans’ Issues Watch
- Beto O’Rourke releases a plan to combat opioid and substance abuse for vulnerable populations (like veterans who live in rural areas). Read more from NH Labor News.
Trump Administration’s VA fails to protect whistleblowers
The Los Angeles Times reports on the VA Inspector General’s findings:
A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office created by the Trump administration to boost accountability and strengthen whistleblower protections within the VA has failed to do so, a report by the agency’s inspector general concluded.
The 100-page report released Thursday determined that leadership shortcomings, misinterpretations of its own investigative authority and a lack of clear policy and procedures ultimately created an office that was “alienating to the very individuals it was meant to protect.” Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times.
A toxic, chaotic, and subversive culture at the VA?
Stars and Stripes reports on former VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin’s new book:
If we don't figure out a way to stop them, they are fully capable of destroying the VA," Shulkin wrote of the rivals.
In the more than 350 pages of the book, Shulkin details his relationship with the “Mar-a-Lago trio,” three members of President Donald Trump’s club in West Palm Beach who exerted influence over the VA. He also gives his account of a European trip that became a national scandal during his tenure, and he hits back at rivals, including a group that he refers to as “politicals” who worked to undermine him.
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Since being dismissed, Shulkin has spoken out about a power struggle inside the agency and an effort by political operatives to privatize the VA. The book expands on those tensions. Read more at Stars and Stripes.
Related: Shulkin discusses the Mar-a-Lago 3 (via ProPublica)
Big Stories, Short Links
- KTUU / Anchorage: VA Healthcare ID card to ease the process of getting on-base for care
- HIT Infrastructure: Joint VA study leads to standards to create a cybersecurity baseline for medical device manufacturers
- The Chicago Crusader: Exploring the radical redesign of VA’s “Whole Health” System
- Healthcaredive: Cerner gobbles up a smaller tech firm, expanding its hold on veterans healthcare information tech
Coming up on Capitol Hill
House Committee on Veterans Affairs
- 10/30 at 10 a.m. ET: Subcommittee on Health Oversight HEaring: Native Veterans’ Access to Healthcare
- 10/30 at 2 p.m. ET: Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee: Preparing for Blue Water Claims - VA Status Update on Implementation
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