KTVK: McCain Announces New Proposals for Veteran Care at Town Hall
0Sen. John McCain announced Monday his new action plan to help veterans get better health care and fix the problems plaguing the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The proposal adds and expands on the reforms put into place due to a couple of laws passed including the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014.
McCain highlighted the VA Choice Card, which allows veterans the option of receiving care outside the VA system. But that's only if the wait for VA care is estimated to take longer than a month or if the VA facility is more than a 40-mile drive from a patient's home. McCain said he wanted to eliminate those restrictions.
"The VA does a magnificent job with PTSD, with traumatic brain injury," McCain said. "But there are many other areas of medical care that it can be done as well or better by a private health care provider."
Arizona's senior senator also said he wants more of the VA Medical Center, including the VA pharmacy, to be open nights and weekends.
"Why should our veterans be restricted to just working hours when any pharmacy in the Valley is open 24 hours and on weekends," McCain said.