Dive Brief:
- The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have reached a tentative agreement on a plan to improve veterans' healthcare, Modern Healthcare said July 27. They scheduled a press conference for today to discuss negotiations on a compromise bill to reform the VA department's troubled healthcare delivery to millions of veterans nationwide.
- Only days prior to its five-week August break, Congress seemed to have reached an impasse over how much money to spend fixing the VA healthcare system, beset by widespread mismanagement and long wait times, and how to pay for it.
- On July 24, a feud began during congressional negotiations over how to address VA's problems. House and Senate negotiators criticized each other publicly. Rep. Jeff Miller (R., Fla.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), chairs of their chambers' respective VA panels, had said they hoped to overcome the impasse, but suggested it could be difficult given the impending August recess
Dive Insight:
According to Modern Healthcare, Sanders and Miller said in a joint statement July 27 that they had "made significant progress" toward agreement on legislation "to make VA more accountable and to help the department recruit more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals." Sanders proposed a bill last week for VA fixes totaling about $25 billion over three years, partially offset by $3.3 billion in savings from other areas of the VA; Miller proposed $10 billion in emergency VA funding.
It has been months since revelations surfaced about the VA's mismanagement and widespread delays for veterans' care, resulting in some deaths. Congress has promised to make major changes to address the scandal and overhaul the department. The latest developments are encouraging since at the end of last week the negotiations appeared to be on the verge of collapse.
NBC News had described the breakdown in negotiations as personal, saying Sanders became visibly angry as he detailed how Miller phoned him late at night to announce his own version of VA legislation and declare that he wanted to vote on it the next day. "That is not democracy. That is not negotiation," Sanders said. Sanders and Miller had criticized each other in public statements, and Miller hastily introduced his bill that was boycotted by Democrats, who called it a "stunt" aimed at pushing his plan through quickly.