Congresswoman Chellie Pingree told a top VA official today that the independent contractor running the Veterans Choice program isn't meeting the needs of veterans and should be replaced. In a phone call with Dr. David Shulkin, Under Secretary for Health at the VA, Pingree said veterans are waiting too long for appointments, doctors are waiting too long for payments and that Health Net, the company administering the program in this part of the country, is to blame.
"Veterans don't always get through on the phone when they call Health Net and even when they do, the people who service our state aren't in Maine," Pingree told Shulkin. "And providers have been waiting too long for payments. I want to make sure patients have access to care and are not locked up in a bureaucracy."
Pingree talked to Shulkin in advance of his visit to Maine next week, when he will visit VA facilities in Augusta, Bangor and Caribou.
The Veterans Choice program was designed to shorten wait times for appointments with the VA, by giving veterans the option to visit a private doctor if they live 40 miles or more from a VA hospital or if they have waited 30 days or more for care.
There are two independent contractors that administer Veterans Choice across the country—Health Net and Tri-West. Pingree says that complaints about the operation of the Veterans Choice Program aren't unique to Maine, but the complaints seem far worse in states where Health Net administers it.
"We get calls regularly from veterans who just can't get an appointment or can't get through to someone from Health Net. I think they are a big part of the problem and it's time for the VA to find someone new to run this program," Pingree said. "You shouldn't have to call a Member of Congress to get a doctor's appointment or get a bill paid."
Pingree also told Shulkin that in the short term, Health Net should assign a staff person to VA Togus, so veterans can talk to someone face-to-face when they are having problems with the Choice program instead of having to try and get through to a call center. Shulkin agreed to consider the request and promised to look into the possibility of adding that staff person when he visits Maine next week.
