Wichita Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.), ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, addressed the Senate floor regarding decisions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that he believes are limiting veterans' access to care.

“For veterans – particularly those in rural states like yours and mine – the ability to get care closer to home can be life-changing and life-saving,” said Sen. Moran. “Unfortunately, recently, VA leaders have been taking alarming actions to limit the choices the MISSION Act affords veterans in Kansas and across the country. It is unfathomable that the VA would consider leaving veterans with fewer options to seek the care they need.”

Sen. Moran highlighted a case involving a veteran from Manhattan, Kansas, who was receiving chemotherapy treatments for cancer from a community care provider. With two treatments remaining, the VA canceled his community care and instead requested him to drive an hour away to Topeka for his final treatments at a VA hospital.

“It defies my understanding how the VA expects to limit choices for veterans in the community – in other words, forcing them into a VA direct care system – while, at the same time, working to reduce the staff in that direct care system that are actually available to care for those veterans,” continued Sen. Moran. “These actions could cost some veterans their lives and drive other veterans away from the VA healthcare benefits that they’ve earned and deserve.”

Click HERE to Watch Sen. Moran’s Full Remarks