As you are aware, the Congressional cost Budget Office’s (CBO) technical analysis scored proposed 2013 and 2014 major medical facility lease VA’s authorizations as the Department to budget upfront for the full “capital leases,” requiring cost of the lease,. This score precludes VA from procuring all of the requested 27 major medical facility leases serving more than 340,000 Veterans in 20 States. The Department is very concerned about the potential negative effects on Veterans utilizing VA health care. If the Department is unable to pursue these planned projects, six existing clinics may have to close, 14 will have constrained services to already facilities, and long-planned expansions to address health care Veterans’ needs will not move forward. Increased travel and wait times are likely to occur for Veterans, especially those located in rural areas, where access to care is limited. Mr. Chairman, we appreciate your continued work to resolve this situation. Please be assured you have a partner in VA, to make all efforts to minimize or avoid disrupting or degrading access to health care. Veterans’ V. FEDERAL AND LOCAL COLLABORATIONS In fulfilling model of quality and available care, we strive to coordinate with VA’s community providers to address gaps, and create an improved patient-centric network of care focused on wellness-based outcomes. Pursuant to President Obama’s to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Executive Order 13625, “Improve Access Service Members, and VA is working closely with the Department of Military Families,” Health and Human Services (HHS), to establish pilot projects with community-based providers. These providers include community mental health clinics, community health centers, substance abuse treatment facilities, and rural health clinics. The effectiveness of community-based providers in helping to meet the mental health needs of Veterans in a timely way is being evaluated. Both the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
As you are aware, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) technical cost analysis scored VA’s proposed 2013 and 2014 major medical facility lease authorizations as “capital leases,” requiring the Department to budget upfront for the full cost of the lease,. This score precludes VA from procuring all of the requested 27 major medical facility leases serving more than 340,000 Veterans in 20 States. The Department is very concerned about the potential negative effects on Veterans utilizing VA health care. If the Department is unable to pursue these planned projects, six existing clinics may have to close, 14 will have constrained services to already facilities, and long-planned expansions to address Veterans’ health care needs will not move forward. Increased travel and wait times are likely to occur for Veterans, especially those located in rural areas, where access to care is limited. Mr. Chairman, we appreciate your continued work to resolve this situation. Please be assured you have a partner in VA, to make all efforts to minimize or avoid disrupting or degrading Veterans’ access to health care. V. FEDERAL AND LOCAL COLLABORATIONS In fulfilling VA’s model of quality and available care, we strive to coordinate with community providers to address gaps, and create an improved patient-centric network of care focused on wellness-based outcomes. Pursuant to President Obama’s Executive Order 13625, “Improve Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families,” VA is working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to establish pilot projects with community-based providers. These providers include community mental health clinics, community health centers, substance abuse treatment facilities, and rural health clinics. The effectiveness of community-based providers in helping to meet the mental health needs of Veterans in a timely way is being evaluated. Both the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
HHRG-113-VR00-Wstate-PetzelMDR-20130627.docx