Like Cress, two of the area’s members of Congress — Hudson and Sen. Thom Tillis, both Republicans — believe the Choice Program provides relief to veterans seeking health care. However, both men have proposed changes to the program.
 
Last year, Tillis proposed changes that would allow veterans to visit a private clinic without pre-authorization — the process that frustrated the Greenes and delayed Cress from receiving care. In an interview last week, Tillis said the Choice Program was well-intentioned, but it still involves “the bureaucracy of the VA.”
 
“Originally, the whole idea was that Choice was going to get you to a physician sooner,” Tillis said. “If you went through the process, the good news is that you would go to a physician you wanted to go to. The bad news is the appointment was actually further out than the appointment you may have gotten.”
 
In some cases, veterans referred to the Choice Program are waiting long periods of time for care that can’t be provided by the VA.
 
Hudson says bureaucracy causes problems for veterans and wastes resources.
 
“As I’ve said before, the only way we’re going to get veterans the quality and timely care they deserve is to break that bureaucratic stronghold,” Hudson said in an emailed statement. “The first step to do that is allowing veterans the option of seeking private care in their own communities and having the VA pay for it.”
 
As for solutions to problems with the Choice Program, Tillis said he may reintroduce the measure to remove pre-authorization for veterans in the Choice Program — something Hudson also pushed for in the U.S. House. Regardless of the exact solution, Tillis said improving the Choice Program should be “a priority item.”

Read the article here.