Another Bait and Switch on VA Care
Over the past week, veterans’ advocates from across the political spectrum—including Common Defense, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)—have roundly denounced a new bill Republicans are trying to ram through Congress next week. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, a 553-page package of over 60 bills hammered out in secret with no Democratic input, was introduced with great fanfare on June 10 by Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) and House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-IL). It is touted as improving veterans’ economic opportunities and access to health care.
In fact, with the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, Republicans are reprising the role they played during the lead-up to the PACT Act, the long-overdue bill providing needed care and benefits for veterans who’d suffered from toxic exposures. In cynical fashion, they are now championing a bill they originally opposed, disguising their effort to fulfill the Project 2025 intention to dismantle the VA health care system and reduce veterans’ benefits. This bill is a “poison pill,” DAV National Commander Coleman Nee proclaimed. “A grateful nation should never try to balance its budget on the backs of the men and women who sacrificed so much for our freedom.”
Senior policy analyists Russell Lemle and Suzanne Gordon unravel the bait and switch ruining veterans healthcare for The American Prospect.