Washington, DC– Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell released the following statement after voting for H.R. 3230, the Veterans’ Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - the bipartisan legislation to improve accountability and access to quality care at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The legislation allocates funds to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs and would strengthen the VA by recruiting more doctors, nurses, and medical providers.  It allows veterans to access care from private doctors if they have been on waiting lists for more than a month or don’t live near a VA facility and provides additional funding for veterans benefits

“Today, I voted in favor of the Veterans’ Access, Choice and Accountability Act that will address the dire situation currently facing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bipartisan bill improves access to quality health care for our nations’ veterans by allowing veterans to receive care from private doctors. It also increases accountability by making it easier to terminate underperforming senior officials,” said Rep. Sewell. “Congress will provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with much needed resources to support efforts to improve our veterans’ access to quality healthcare.  This is an important step in the right direction and we in Congress must continue to aggressively monitor the VA’s progress. No veteran who has put his or her life at risk for the security of our nation should be denied timely and quality care by the VA. We have a duty to ensure that our nation’s VA system works for our nation’s veterans.  Our veterans deserve immediate solutions at underperforming facilities like the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System in Montgomery and Tuskegee, Alabama and I will accept nothing less.”

###

For more information about the legislation, please visit: http://veterans.house.gov/the-veterans-access-choice-and-accountability-act-of-2014-highlights#overlay-context=content/the-veterans-access-choice-and-accountability-act-of-2014-highlights