The Senate acted Wednesday to help thousands of military veterans enduring long wait times for VA medical care, as the FBI revealed it has opened a criminal investigation into a Veterans Affairs Department reeling from allegations of falsified records and inappropriate scheduling practices.
The Senate bill, approved 93-3, makes it easier for veterans who have encountered delays getting initial visits to receive VA-paid treatment from local doctors instead.
The measure closely resembles a bill approved unanimously Tuesday in the House, prompting optimism among lawmakers from both parties that a compromise version could be on its way soon to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The White House said Wednesday that Obama supports the Senate bill.
The Senate bill would authorize about $35 billion over three years to pay for outside care for veterans, as well as hire hundreds of doctors and nurses and lease 26 new health facilities in 17 states and Puerto Rico.
The Veterans Affairs Department released an audit this week showing that more than 57,000 veterans have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments. Another 64,000 veterans who asked for appointments over the past decade never got them.
“The cost of war does not end when the last shots are fired and the last missiles are launched,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. “The cost of war continues until the last veteran receives the care and the benefits that he or she is entitled to and has earned on the battlefield.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who drafted the bill with Sanders, called the bill “a beginning — not an end — to the efforts that must be taken” to address the crisis affecting veterans’ health care.
Support for the bill was not unanimous. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and other Republicans complained that the measure was a “blank check” to spend billions of dollars with little or no way to rein it in.
“Make no mistake: This is an emergency,” McCain retorted.
In addition to Sessions, Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin voted no.
The Senate vote came as the FBI revealed it has opened a criminal investigation into the VA. FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that the investigation was being led by the FBI’s field office in Phoenix, which he described as the “primary locus of the original allegations” being investigated by the VA’s Office of Inspector General.
“We’re working with the VA IG to follow it wherever the facts take us,” Comey told the House Judiciary Committee.
The inspector general said in a report last month that 1,700 veterans seeking treatment at the Phoenix VA hospital were at risk of being “lost or forgotten.” The VA has confirmed that at least 35 veterans died while awaiting treatment in Phoenix, although officials say they do not know whether the deaths were related to long waiting times for appointments.
The Justice Department had said that federal prosecutors were reviewing documents from the inspector general to determine whether to launch a full-fledged investigation. The involvement of the FBI represents an escalation into concerns of possible criminal conduct by VA employees, though it remains unclear whether investigators will find any basis for prosecution.
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