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Honoring nation’s promise to veterans

By Staff | Nov 12, 2015

Veterans Day is an important time to reflect on the tremen­dous sacrifices that generations of military men and women have made for New Hampshire and our nation. It’s also a time to recommit ourselves to ensuring that our nation fulfills its promise to care of those who served and sacrificed so much for us. Part of that commitment is making sure veterans have access to the health care and benefits they have rightfully earned. Coming from a military family, that com­mitment is deeply personal to me – and while we’ve made prog­ress toward that goal, we have much more work to do.

Last year, I worked with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen to include language in the bipartisan VA re­form bill that allows New Hamp­shire veterans to receive care from non-VA providers, such as through the Veterans Choice Card Program. We worked to make this program fit the needs of New Hampshire and included a provision that expanded eligi­bility for our veterans.

The Choice Card Program is a major step toward addressing a long-standing inequity for New Hampshire veterans. But the implementation of the program has been rocky, with veterans receiving inaccurate or confus­ing information about how to use the program to access care. In response to these concerns, we have pushed the VA to do better and make sure we get this right for our veterans. We have held public forums in Manchester and Berlin to give our veterans the opportunity to address their concerns directly with VA of­ficials and care provider groups, including Health Net Federal Services, the contractor tasked with managing eligibility re­quirements and making appoint­ments for our veterans.

We have more work to do in order to make sure the VA implements the Choice Card program as Congress intended, and we will continue our efforts to make sure vet­erans can receive quality, timely care closer to home.

It is critical that we remain vigilant and moni­tor the VA’s progress in implementing not only the Choice Card Program, but all programs run by the depart­ment. Last year’s waitlist scandal revealed serious problems at the VA that led to some veterans becoming more ill and even dy­ing when they were not able to receive timely care. But despite the obvious need for rigorous oversight at the department, the agency remained without a permanent Inspector General for 21 months. The Inspector General is charged with identify­ing mismanagement and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, and nominating a qualified individual for this critical post should have been a priority for the adminis­tration.

I spoke out about this issue at Senate hearings and in letters to the president. Finally, last month, the White House an­nounced its nominee – after this position had been vacant for more than 640 days. While this step was long overdue, put­ting in place a permanent IG is a necessary step to restoring trust and accountability at the agency. We must ensure that the VA is always looking out for veterans’ needs, not its own bureaucratic interests. To that end, I have cosponsored legisla­tion to give the VA secretary greater authority to hold VA employees who engage in mis­conduct fully accountable for their actions.

While we cannot undo the tragedies that we witnessed at the VA over the past year, we must continue to work together to make sure the department improves services for veterans going forward. I’m pleased to report that there is progress on that front. Earlier this year the president signed into law a bill that I was proud to cosponsor, the Clay Hunt Suicide Preven­tion for American Veterans Act. Named for Clay Hunt, a Marine Corps veteran who sadly took his own life at the age of 28, the bill requires third-party evaluations of existing suicide prevention programs within the Department of Defense and the VA, in order to identify programs that need improve­ment or need to be consolidated. It also requires the establish­ment of a website with informa­tion about mental health care services available to veterans, and implements other reforms designed to help care for our veterans here at home.

This Veterans Day, let us renew our nation’s promise to support the courageous men and women who have put their lives on the line to defend our freedom. As your Senator, I will continue to fight every single day to make sure that our veter­ans receive the care and support they have rightfully earned and deserve.

Kelly Ayotte, of Nashua, represents New Hamp­shire in the United States Senate, where she is a member of the Armed Services Committee.

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