CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Last week, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) launched a bipartisan inquiry into delays veterans are facing between referral dates and scheduled medical appointments at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) community care locations nationwide. The inquiry – led by U.S. Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) – urges the VA to fully implement U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recommendations to improve program timeliness and efficiency. Since 2018, multiple GAO reports have recommended that the VA ensure timely veteran medical care by establishing and analyzing feasible, discrete time standards. Of the six relevant GAO recommendations, the VA has only fully implemented two.
“We receive frequent communications from our veteran constituents regarding lengthy wait times in both scheduling and receiving health care through community care providers,” the senators wrote. “Eligible veterans have earned timely, quality health care; These delays must be urgently addressed.”
Joining Senators Capito, Scott, and Ossoff in sending the inquiry were U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)
BACKGROUND:
Senator Capito has consistently advocated on behalf of West Virginia’s veterans, their families, and the care and services they deserve. Senator Capito is a cosponsor of the CARE Act of 2023 and the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act, bills that would improve the VA’s caregiver programs. Additionally, Senator Capito is a cosponsor of the VA CAREERS Act of 2023, legislation to increase staffing at VA facilities, especially for high-demand clinicians.
