Update on VA Scheduling Problems From Senator Mark Warner

Injuries incurred by service members are covered by the Veteran Administration. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wanted to give you a quick update on our efforts to fix the scheduling problems recently disclosed at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities across the country, including medical centers in Hampton and Richmond. 

The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to begin addressing demand for care. It ensures that vets who have to travel more than 40 miles to get to a VA hospital can access private health providers closer to home, and it gives the VA secretary more authority to fire senior managers for poor job performance. 

I’m also proud to report that this bipartisan Senate legislation includes my proposal to put together a team of private sector data and I-T experts to go in, at no cost to tax payers, to assess the scope of the VA’s scheduling problems and recommend technology and management steps to fix it. I’m also pushing the White House to support this commonsense, private sector approach, and those discussions are proceeding as well. 

Click here to watch a short video update from Senator Warner on the VA’s scheduling problems.

We already have a model for how this could work. Back in 2010, when we learned about the back office mess and data management challenges at the Army’s Arlington National Cemetery, I worked with the Army to allow a team of experts from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Northern Virginia Technology Council to recommend specific fixes for the Cemetery’s management issues. Thanks in part to the great pro bono work by members of NVTC, we upgraded Arlington Cemetery from an analog to a digital operation. In fact, you now can use a smartphone app to locate the grave of a loved one at Arlington. 

Every veteran who contacts the VA should be able to schedule an appointment in an efficient and timely way. I believe this private sector assistance makes sense, and this is something that can be completed quickly. 

I will keep you updated as we continue to push for effective solutions to address the deeper challenges at the VA. And if our office can ever be of help to you, please contact us. I encourage you to also sign-up for future newsletters like this one that discuss the specific issues of concern to you and your community. I promise never to share your email address, and I won’t clog your inbox with unwanted messages. 

Regards, 

Mark R. Warner

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Senator Mark R Warner, Saving Every Dollar

English: Mark Warner, member of the United States Senate from Virginia since 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is one thing in Washington that everyone should be able to agree on, and that is we must improve how our government works. I’m happy to report the President has signed our bipartisan Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act into law. This groundbreaking government reform legislation will allow Virginians to track exactly how their tax dollars are being spent by the federal government.

Because of the DATA Act, every federal agency must now display their financial data in the same format on a single easy-to-read website. The public should be able to see clearly how much each agency and program across government spends. With a national debt of $17 trillion (and growing every day), I know it’s more important than ever that we reduce unnecessary spending. 




And I’ve only just begun – I’m working on several other bills that will improve government efficiency. For example, I recently introduced another bipartisan bill that would eliminate duplication, wasteful and unnecessary reports that federal agencies produce. The Washington Post had a story about our legislation, and reported that Congress is still ordering up six reports about the Soviet Union, a country that dissolved in 1991, as well as about Spanish-American War veterans, the last of whom died in 1994. I think that’s ridiculous. My legislation would eliminate or modify more than 300 of the worst offenders that are wasting money and staff hours.    

None of these initiatives will fix all of our budget problems, but increasing transparency is critical to accountability. That’s what I learned over more than 20 years in business and as Virginia’s governor, when I was proud that Virginia was named the best managed state. The passage of the DATA Act proves that Washington still can come together on a bipartisan basis to pass commonsense reforms that put the taxpayers first. I promise to keep working in the Senate to continue to hold the federal government accountable for waste, fraud, and inefficiency, and give the taxpayers the transparency they deserve. 

Regards, 

Mark R. Warner

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Governor McAuliffe’s Statement on the Budget Impasse

Virginia General Assembly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the past two months, I have traveled across the Commonwealth and met with hardworking Virginians who are caught in the health care coverage gap. These are people who do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford health insurance on the federal exchange. These Virginians, as well as local business leaders, healthcare providers, and public safety officials have urged Virginia’s elected officials to put partisan politics aside and close the coverage gap. But as of today, our legislature is nearly five weeks past their deadline of passing a budget. As the body responsible for negotiating a budget, the General Assembly has failed to deliver on one of the primary duties they were elected to fulfill.

Virginia has long been known as a state where leaders work together in a bipartisan fashion to get things done for the citizens they serve. Members of both chambers of the General Assembly found compromise this year on reforming our SOLs, fixing our broken mental health system, and passing ethics reform. It is now time for the House and Senate to work together to do what their constituents are urging them to do - pass a budget that closes the coverage gap. More than 400,000 uninsured Virginians have waited long enough to get the quality healthcare they deserve, and our businesses have waited long enough to have the certainty they need to grow and lead in a 21st Century economy.

There have been a number of proposals offered that would close the coverage gap. The House and Senate know that I am open to a variety of options that could be used to expand healthcare coverage, including a private marketplace option. It is time for members of both chambers to come together and get this done.

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Governor McAuliffe Statement Following Senate Passage of His Budget Bill

English: VIrginia State Senate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Governor Terry McAuliffe released the following statement following the Virginia Senate’s vote to pass Senate Bill 5003, the budget bill the Governor introduced at the beginning of this special session:

“Today the Virginia Senate acted in bipartisan fashion to pass a balanced, responsible budget that funds a number of priorities that will make life better for the Virginia families we serve. When I introduced this bill, I asked members of the General Assembly to put politics aside, offer their ideas for compromise and pass a budget. That is what the Senate did, and the budget they passed offers Virginia state employees a two percent raise, funds payments to families that lose a loved one in the line of duty, and includes a market-based plan to use our federal tax dollars to close the health care coverage gap.

“Now it is the responsibility of the House of Delegates to take this budget bill up, make their amendments and pass it so that legislators from both chambers can get to work negotiating a final product in a conference committee. As House leaders have said repeatedly over the past few weeks, Virginians are awaiting a budget. It is now up to the House of Delegates to put politics aside and act on the bill that is before them so that we can get Virginians the budget they deserve.”

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Representatives from Across the Commonwealth Urge the General Assembly to Close the Coverage Gap

Terry McAuliffe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Senate Finance committee had a special hearing on Tuesday to listen to the input from citizens and groups around the Commonwealth on the budget that was put forward by Governor Terry McAuliffe. Listed below is a compilation of quotes from a few of the individuals and groups that will recap the impact that closing the coverage gap will have across the state.

“I know that with an issue like healthcare or Medicaid, it’s easy to get lost in the politics of the issue and lose sight of what this is really about. This isn’t about politics AND it isn’t a partisan issue. This is about the real lives of real people who live in our community and who are struggling to deal with hardship and adversity that most people would be hard pressed to even imagine, let alone deal with in their own lives.” – Lori Piper | former business executive

“The faith community is deeply connected to people in need of health care. They are involved in faith based hospital systems, clinics and other charitable health services. People of faith help low income families when they are struggling with unforeseen illness or when illness has devastated their already limited financial resources. People of faith believe that life is precious and sacred and that individuals are called to care for one another. Healthcare access is a moral imperative. To deny access to those least among is to ignore our moral obligation. Please work toward closing the coverage gap without delay.” – Robin Gahan | Director of Programs for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

“Medicaid expansion is the right thing to do.  It will improve our population’s health, support our state’s economy, and reduce the impact on our healthcare system of caring for the uninsured.  Too many have suffered for too long without access to health insurance.  Now is the time to remedy this.” – Mark Ryan, MD and Kate Tulenko, MD | National Physicians Alliance Board of Directors Members

"To oppose the expansion of Medicaid, regardless of the facts, is to deny hard-working Virginians like me the opportunity to have health care to have a better life. Without access to quality, affordable care, I am at risk of a life of disability and dependency, when I could be living a life of independence and productivity." - Roslyn Gadley | home care provider from Alexandria, VA

"Medicaid Expansion would literally be a life-saver for me and for tens of thousands of other home care workers. We work hard caring for seniors and people with disabilities, and we love what we do. But we can't afford health insurance for ourselves and our families... As a cancer survivor, I call on the General Assembly to work with the Governor to expand Medicaid so that every Virginian can lead a long, healthy, and successful life." - Thomasine Wilson | home care provider from Richmond, VA

“It is important that you meet and understand the needs of the real people this issue affects.  That is why Governor McAuliffe has been traveling throughout the Commonwealth visiting the places these folks live.  He wanted to hear firsthand the impact of not providing coverage, either through the expansion of Medicaid or the Marketplace plan the Senate is proposing. Every day that we fail to address this issue it is costing the Commonwealth not only in terms of financial loss, but more importantly the loss of health and peace of mind for the people you took an oath to serve.  I hope we can count on you to lay politics aside and do the right thing.  Now is the time.” – Kay Crane | CEO of Piedmont Access to Health Services, Inc. (PATHS)

“So many of the people I have come into contact with as a Certified Application Counselor have been thrilled to have affordable insurance for once in their life. I cannot tell you how disheartening it is to tell someone they fall into the coverage gap and there is nothing that can be done until Virginia extends coverage to them. Please set aside politics and do the right thing for hundreds of thousands of Virginians.  Close the coverage gap!” – Robin Tyler | Certified Application Counselor with Central Virginia Health Services

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Governor McAuliffe Signs Caboose Budget Bill

English: Photo of the Virginia State Capitol before renovations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe released the following statement today after signing House Bill 5001, the Caboose Budget Bill, which funds state government through the remainder of this fiscal year:

“Today I signed a budget bill that funds state government for the remainder of the year, and proves that Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly are capable of working together to get things done for the Virginians who sent them to Richmond.

“This budget is the product of earnest negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly, with whom I was pleased to work to ensure that a final product came to my desk that I could sign.

“This budget is a compromise – it is not perfect. Today I signed it over reservations that I have expressed to Republicans and Democrats in the legislature about spending over $300 million on a new General Assembly building at a time when some legislators continue to refuse to use our own tax dollars to close the health care coverage gap.

“As negotiations on the next biennial budget move forward, I hope those legislators will recognize the message their actions send to 400,000 Virginians who need access to health care, not a new building for 140 state legislators.

“The bill I signed today is proof that the General Assembly is capable of negotiating and passing a budget that reflects the varied values and political views of its members and their constituents. There is no reason that the House and Senate cannot bring that same approach to the biennial budget I introduced last week. The sooner the General Assembly puts politics aside and negotiates a way forward, the sooner we can end this gridlock, close the health care coverage gap and give Virginians the budget they deserve.”

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