NewsBytes March 18, 2022
In this issue:
VA Announces Plan to Reorganize
VHA and VBA Director Nominees Announced
VA Proposes No Mental Health Care Co-pay
Ukrainian President Addresses Congress
VA Announces Plan to Reorganize
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a reorganization plan called AIR-Assets and Infrastructure Report, which would close three medical centers located in Northampton, Mass., Brooklyn, N.Y. and Chillicothe, Ohio, as well as several other VA facilities. The VA claims the reorganization is needed to reflect the changing needs of modern health care and to close aging offices and centers that are no longer near where large numbers of veterans live. The plan also provides for construction of dozens of new health care and community living facilities. The VA claims the reorganization will put nearly 200,000 more veterans within a 30-minute drive of mental health care.
The plan also calls for 35 VA Medical Centers in 21 states to be closed or completely rebuilt, while 14 new VA hospitals and 140 new multi-specialty outpatient clinics would be added to the system. Seven of the 17 sites listed for closure are in the Northeast. VA officials claim this reflects the fact that more of the veteran’s population has moved out of that region to resettle in the Midwest and Southwest. Many lawmakers in areas with facilities slated to be closed are resisting the move. The FRA will closely monitor the impact of closures and support retention of VA facilities that have sizeable veteran populations.
VHA and VBA Director Nominees Announced
President Joe Biden has nominated Dr. Shereef Elnahal to serve as Undersecretary of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), a position that has gone without a Senate-confirmed director for five years. Elnahal served as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety and Value at the VA from 2016 through 2018, during which time he co-founded the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, a program that continues to foster the spread of innovation and best practices that improve veteran.
Elnahal is a physician leader who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospital in Newark, N.J. since 2019. Prior to this role, he served as New Jersey’s 21st Health Commissioner, appointed by Governor Phil Murphy and confirmed unanimously by the New Jersey Senate. He was the first Muslim member of New Jersey’s Cabinet in state history.
Ray Jefferson was also nominated by the president for Under Secretary of Benefits at the VA. He is a graduate of West Point, in 2009, and served as Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training at the Department of Labor. More recently, Jefferson has led the Jefferson Group, which is a leadership development consultancy company. Both positions require Senate confirmation.
VA Proposes No Mental Health Care Co-pay
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has proposed a new regulation to help veterans who are seeking mental health care. The draft regulation eliminates co-pay fees for veterans seeking mental health care. This includes outpatient mental health care and medications. The VA claims that this regulation would reduce the financial burden on veterans who sometime must pay multiple co-pays. The VA will also reduce co-payments for prescriptions for veterans who are considered to be at a high risk of suicide.
Ukrainian President Addresses Joint Session of Congress
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke through Zoom to a joint session of Congress (the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate) for 15 minutes this week. He pressed lawmakers for help as his country battles Russia, which launched an invasion of the Ukraine three weeks ago. He reminded Congress of the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States in making a comparison to the bombing of Ukrainian cities. Zelensky has asked lawmakers for several things that the U.S. could do to help the Ukraine, including blocking the purchase of Russian oil, providing planes to Ukraine and implementing a no-fly zone. His speech comes after Congress approved and President Biden signed into law $13.6 billion aid to Ukraine within the FY2022 government funding package. Within hours after the Zelensky speech, President Biden announced $800 million in additional new assistance for Ukraine.
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