Charleston, Virginia (AP) – A group of U.S. senators has agreed to effectively dissolve a commission tasked by the Department of Veterans to shut down, lay off and make other significant changes to medical facilities across the country, Senator Joe Manchin said Monday.
The West Virginia Democrat, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he had bipartisan support to avoid filling vacancies in the VA Assets and Infrastructure Review Commission and to end the committee’s work in the next Act. for a national defense permit.
The commission recommended the closure or downsizing of several older facilities, a proposal that Manchin worried would significantly change the services provided to rural veterans across the country. But other groups welcomed the commission’s work, saying there was a need to modernize and improve VA’s health offerings.
Manchin said in a statement that without the approval of the Senate of the AIR Commission and its nominees, no commission will be set up and the process outlined in the 2018 VA Mission Act “will not move forward.” The law required veterans to make recommendations for their medical facilities and the provision of health care, whether by expanding facilities, relocating, closing, or changing services.
For example, the recommendations would reduce three of VA’s four medical centers in West Virginia and close four outpatient clinics in New Mexico.
The group of senators said in a statement that the VA’s recommendations given to the commission did not reflect compliance with the nation’s obligations to its veterans.
The recommendations would put veterans at a disadvantage in both rural and urban areas, which is why we declare that this process does not have our support and will not continue, “the statement said. “The Commission is not needed for our continuation, we insist on investing in VA’s health infrastructure and together we remain committed to providing the department with the resources and tools it needs to continue to provide quality care and services to veterans in the facilities of 21 century – now and in the future.
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Manchin was joined in the letter by Democrat Senators John Tester of Montana, Martin Henry and Ben Ray Luhan of New Mexico, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Sherod Brown of Ohio and Patti Murray of Washington, and Republicans Shelley Moore Capindo of the West. and John Tun of South Dakota, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Steve Danes of Montana.
The Concerned Veterans for America group said the senators’ decision would only hurt veterans.
“To say that this is disappointing is an understatement,” senior group adviser Darin Selnik said in a statement. “Simply put, this decision is short-sighted and will harm veterans by trapping them in a broken and outdated system that was not designed to meet their needs. The AIR Commission was the best chance to modernize VA’s healthcare system to meet the needs of the veterans it serves.
The VA issued preliminary recommendations in March, prompting a bipartisan group of senators led by Manchin to initially ask President Joe Biden to make sure the rural outlook was taken into account by the AIR Commission.
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