After hearing from veterans in Bend, Chavez-DeRemer presses VA secretary on timely, convenient health care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After hearing in Bend from veterans concerned about long wait times to access health care at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) is questioning Secretary Denis McDonough regarding the department’s position on allowing veterans to pursue community care.

Chavez-DeRemer’s letter sent Thursday relays concerns raised during her recent Veterans Policy Forum in Bend, where veterans in Central Oregon expressed frustration with a lack of convenient and reliable health care options.

Specifically, Chavez-DeRemer questioned VA leadership’s recent suggestion that they would steer veterans away from community care, which provides veterans in underserved areas with quick and convenient health care options. 

“It is imperative that veterans should have an informed say in their healthcare decisions, as well as the option to choose where they receive their care,” Chavez-DeRemer wrote. “The VA community care program is important for veterans across the country, but especially in rural districts like mine, where central Oregonians may have to drive more than three hours in unsafe conditions to seek VA care.”

“No matter the quality of one VA facility’s care, the veteran, not one administration or the other, should be empowered to access the care that best meets their needs, whether that is inside or outside VA,” Chavez-DeRemer continued. “Ensuring that veterans have access to the resources they have earned, has been, and will always be, a top priority of mine.”

To ensure transparency and accountability from the VA, Chavez-DeRemer requested responses to several areas of concern, including written guidance on the department’s policies to reduce community care referrals, procedures for ensuring prompt reimbursement for community providers, and steps the VA is taking to ensure rural veterans efficiently receive needed medications.