WASHINGTON, D.C.–A new bill that would hold the Veterans Administration big wigs more accountable has been unveiled in DC and people who are served by the VA in Mississippi are set to benefit if it passes.
One of the bill’s authors is Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
“This bill is a focus bill,” he said. “It’s about maintaining the VA and making it better. But it’s also about honoring the sacrifice of the veterans who have served this country.”
Mississippi Cong. Gregg Harper spoke to News Mississippi after his primary win Tuesday about his fight for veteran health care. He visited Mississippi’s facilities along side Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) three weeks ago, before Sec. Eric Shinseki resigned.
“Shinseki resigning is a band aid. It doesn’t solve the problem. The problems are much deeper,” he said, and that’s a sentiment that’s been echoed by Sen. Roger Wicker and countless other lawmakers who are dealing with a high volume of serious complaints about the way veterans are being cared for through the federal system.
One way the bill would help solve the wait problem is to offer veterans more options to see a private doctor on the VA’s dime, if the wait is more than 30 days to get an appointment.
