Affairs adviser for concerned veterans for america. Joseph violante, National Legislative director of disabled american veterans. Mr. Bill raush who is missing in action right now. Or awol. Political director for iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, and carlos fuentes, senior legislative associate for the veterans of foreign wars. Well start with you, mr. Butler. Chairman, Ranking Member blumenthal, and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of our national commander, michael ham, and the 2. 3 million members of the American Legion, we thank you for this opportunity to testify regarding the American Legions views of the progress of the veterans Choice Program. The American Legion supported the veterans access choice and accountability act of 2014 as a means of addressing emerging problems within the department of veterans affairs. Va wait times for appointment medical care had reached an unacceptable level nationwide as veterans struggle to receive access to Timely Heal
Disease and you dont have money to treat them and, frankly, i think its time to talk to the manufacturer of this drug and ask them if they are being very generous in providing these drugs, hepatitis c drugs, for free. Very generous. For whatever reasons they are doing that. But maybe at a time when their profits are soaring, maybe they might want to respect the veterans of this country who might die or become much sicker because they dont have access to this wonderful product. And as senator blumenthal mentioned, if they are not prepared to come to the table you think youve done well by getting the prices down by half, im not impressed. Paying 540 bucks per pill for people who defended our country. You sit down with them and say youre prepared to use 28 usc 1498 to break the patterns on these drugs unless they are prepared to come down significantly lower than they are right now. Its not a question of taking money. I know youve requested to take money out of the Choice Program. Maybe t
David then conversely say how terrible it is. What you you can have it both ways. In 2009 prior to the passage of the aca the rates paid to Medicare Advantage plans exceeding that traditional medicare but about 18 . The aca required changes to Medicare Advantage payment rate to better align with the costs associated with traditional medicare. These changes were estimated by the Congressional Budget Office disabled a 135 billion over 10 years. So you cant have it both ways. Every time we identified a way to save money, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say, this is so terrible, this is being cut, thats been cut, and then they claim that the aca is causing costs to rise. Cant have it both ways. According to the 2010 Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report to the congress, the 2009 medicare spent about 14 billion more than the fisheries beneficiaries enrolled in medicarMedicare Advantage plansn wouldve spent if they stayed in traditional medicare. I want to go along the lin
Health and other issues facing veterans is Tom Tarantino, a former army captain and current chief. Announcement last weekend a good sign for veterans waiting for their benefits claims to be processed . Guest it was an expected announcement. The backlog has been reduced by about 1 3, which is outstanding news. There is some light at the end of the tunnel. We have about 400,000 claims still in the inventory. They were going to halt the mandatory overtime. We expect it to resume after the holidays in february. We have 400,000 claims. If they want to make their goal, it is going to require overtime and other initiatives that have put into gear that have started this trend downward. Host 400,000 claims that is down from 600,000 claims in march. Talk about the impact of the government shutdown. How did that affect the claims . Guest it slowed it down. We averted a potential disaster. The processors were technically protected. The v. A. Could not accept any new claims but they could continue
They go back to a Public University first, private university, trade school, or they go directly into the workforce. Whether military. Com has reports on the flybynight for profit universities picking up veterans there has money been stories about them not finding jobs. Host ward carroll . Guest i cannot speak to the first issue. I have my own opinion about what pedigree does in terms of your ability to find a job. If you can get into harvard or private schools, that probably situates you for an advantage when it comes time to find a job. Those transitioning are no different than High Schoolers that are looking to have an advantage once they start looking for a job. In terms of the for Profit School issues. Been sussingom has out the bad actors. Of new g. I. Bill puts a lot to be usedthe pool by veterans to pursue a traditional education at a a look institution and you will go to college, or perhaps to an online forProfit School. What we have seen more and more is there were some forPr