According to FOX News, the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committee will announce a tentative deal today on legislation meant to improve veterans’ health care and tackle the litany of scandalous problems at the VA.
The plan is expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics, hire more doctors and nurses and make it easier for veterans who can’t get prompt appointments with VA doctors to obtain outside care. At the heart of the department’s problems have been long wait times and falsified records covering up the delays.Though talks appeared to be imperiled late last week, Fox News confirms a tentative deal was struck over the weekend between Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. They plan to unveil details at a 1:30 p.m. ET press conference.
The announcement could quell concerns that Congress would start a five-week summer recess without a legislative solution amid widespread national outrage over problems within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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The Veterans Affairs Administration has been under months of scrutiny since news leaked of “fixed calendars” resulting in deaths of possibly hundreds of veterans on “secret waiting lists.”