The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today held a hearing on a Department of Veterans Affairs’ proposal to consolidate its purchased care programs and business processes into a new Veterans Choice Program, with the goal of making it easier for veterans to access care and non-VA health care providers to participate. According to the plan, possible enhancements include establishing a single set of eligibility criteria for all community care based on a veteran’s geographic access/distance to a VA primary care provider, wait-time for care, and availability of services at VA. Other proposals include expanding access to non-VA emergency/urgent care; streamlining referral and authorization rules to minimize care delays and administrative burden for non-VA hospitals; developing a tiered provider network based on quality and performance criteria; and moving toward value-based payment. The plan also calls for enabling non-VA community providers to easily exchange health information with VA through electronic means, and implementing a claims solution to auto-adjudicate a high percentage of claims and pay community providers promptly and correctly. Some of the proposals would require legislative changes.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA May 12 responded to the Office of Management and Budget's April 11 request for information on regulatory relief, making 100 suggestions to the Trump…
Headline
The Trump administration May 5 issued two executive orders on pharmaceutical manufacturing and life-sciences research. The first executive order, "…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released a notice seeking public comment on the collection of information request regarding the State…
Headline
Reps. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., today introduced legislation that would repeal a Medicare rule that requires physicians at a Critical…
Headline
In an op-ed yesterday in The Hill, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack explains why hospitals and health systems are working with government and other…
Perspective
The convening of the 118th Congress this week is a reminder of Washington’s highly-charged political environment. The once-in-a-century floor tussle over the…