Rounds Questions VA Deputy Secretary Gibson on Health Care Accessibility for Vets

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today questioned Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on ways to improve access to health care for veterans. During a hearing on the Veterans’ Choice Act “40-mile rule” that was recently changed to provide more flexibility for veterans, Rounds took the opportunity to ask about other ways to streamline contracting for veteran services:

“We have a duty to make sure our veterans receive timely, quality care, and it shouldn’t matter whether they receive that care through a VA provider or elsewhere,” said Rounds. “We want the VA to be successful in providing health care for our vets. If that means finding a legislative fix to modify the statutory guidelines allowing the VA to streamline its contracting process, we should pursue it. I will continue to work with members of the Veterans’ Affairs committee and the VA to streamline the contracting system.”  

Deputy Secretary Gibson announced that he will report back to the Committee regarding VA contracting processes.