Push to privatize Veterans Affairs gaining traction

Published December 20, 2015

President sending wrong signal by sticking with Shinseki?

Congressional lawmakers and President Obama are turning to privatization to help veterans who are stuck on long waiting lists at medical facilities run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A day after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told a hometown newspaper he favored the idea of privatizing the VA, Secretary Eric Shinseki announced a plan to help veterans on wait lists obtain care at private facilities.

“Each of our facilities is either enhancing their clinic capacity to help Veterans get care sooner, or where we cannot increase capacity, increasing the care we acquire in the community through non-VA care,” Shinseki said in a statement.

The move comes as Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have begun drafting legislation that would allow at least some privatization of care.