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Politics

Marco Rubio's VA Reform Gains Steam as David Shulkin Backs It

May 15, 2017 - 8:15am
Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio and David Shulkin
Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio and David Shulkin

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s, R-Fla., push to reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is gaining momentum in Washington, D.C., including the support of the Trump administration.  

Last week, Rubio, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., unveiled the “Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act" which would “reform the VA by allowing the secretary to dismiss bad employees, and ensure appropriate due process protections for whistleblowers.” If the legislation was passed, the VA secretary would have more power to remove or demote under-performing and incompetent employees while giving whistleblowers more protection, including creating the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection in the VA. The bill would also ensure more accountability in the VA medical system, giving the VA secretary the ability to “directly appoint individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) if they have demonstrated ability in the medical profession, health care administration, or health care fiscal management."

At a Senate Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Thursday, VA Sec. David Shulkin praised the proposal. 

“In your view, what is the appropriate approach?” Rubio asked about his proposal and giving the VA secretary more authority to fire underpeforming employees. “Is it to leave as is or to lower the standard on misconduct, but raise it on performance? And second, if in fact your belief is that they should both be the substantial evidence model, if you have any examples as to how the current standard, for example, on misconduct, has been an impediment to accountability and being able to function in your new role.

“Senator Rubio, first of all, thank you for recognizing that the vast amount of our employees are doing terrific and heroic work and are serving this country’s veterans and we should be proud of them, of the work that they’re doing,” Shulkin answered. “We’re talking here about a very, very small number of employees who have deviated and drifted away from the ethical and the responsibilities that they took on to serve our country’s veterans and no longer should have the privilege of serving in our system.

“In those cases, I wish it wasn’t true,” Shulkin said. “I wish today I could tell you I have the tools to do the right thing, to be able to remove those employees. I do not. So unfortunately, I need a new set of tools if I’m going to be held accountable for turning this system around and doing what we all want to do to serve veterans. So I thank you for introducing this bill, I think it’s necessary.

“In response to your questions which are highly legal and technical. I only went to medical school, not to law school,” the VA secretary continued. “I can tell you that I need substantial evidence in both of those cases, in performance and misconduct. That if we move towards a different standard than substantial, it will be harder for me to do the right thing and to serve the system the way that it needs to be led.

“This [legislation] allows due process,” Shulkin added. “I believe it’s very important that our employees have due process. The right to pre-decisional appeals, the right to be represented by the union or their attorneys, but in the cases that frankly we need to make the changes in management or other changes, today I just don’t have that ability to do it.”

On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who is co-sponsoring the bill, continues to go to bat for it. 

“This bill will help the VA provide better care to our veterans by removing the bad actors and protecting the good ones,” Nelson said on Thursday. “The brave men and women who have served our country deserve nothing but the best, and this bill is another small step in ensuring that they receive the care they deserve.”

Conservative group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) also has championed the VA reform proposal. On Thursday, CVA Policy Director Dan Caldwell weighed in on the legislation. 

“After years of scandal, there is still hardly any accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Caldwell said. :The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will give Secretary Shulkin the authority he needs to hold department employees responsible for their actions, something he has repeatedly said is necessary in order for him to fix the toxic culture there. If passed into law, this bill will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to terminate, demote, or suspend employees who engage in misconduct or perform poorly. Taken together, these new measures will disincentivize bad behavior within the VA and further protect those who bravely expose wrongdoing.

“This is not a partisan issue, this is not a partisan bill, and there is absolutely no excuse for Congress not to expedite moving this bill forward,” Caldwell added."Veterans across the country are watching and demanding action. We strongly urge the Senate to take up the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 immediately.”

Caldwell also wrote an op-ed in support of the legislation which ran in The Hill on Friday. 


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Comments

My husband is a viet nam vet. I was told by the national client services reponse team to not call any more--and if I keep calling people are going to lose their jobs at this office and we may have to get a lawyer for my husband to get his health care benefits. Does this sound like Dr. Schulkin has changed anything for the better? Looking for doctors in the community . In past years doctors in the community either wouldn't accept him or they did nothing because VA was telling them what to give and not to give. I think all should be fired start fresh and just maybe not so many vets will die and actually have a chance to enjoy some form of life of which they fought for. DO YOU THINK????

I have been trying to get an eye exam & glasses beginning February 2 2017, I finally received them May 14 2017 only to discover they made them the wrong prescription, now they tell me that the new glasses will be here in four weeks. I said do you want the frames so the new lens's can be fitted ? Their answer ? No will make up a new set ,talk about waste. So I walk around with blurry vision for another 4 weeks

More smoke and mirrors. The Congress never fixes anything. If they were serious the VA hospital system would go away and be replaced by voucher system. I am a Vietnam combat vet who has seen many promises unkempt and will see many more.

Thank you, Senator Rubio, for supporting our President's agenda by working to improve the VA.

Whose responsibility is this, those served, 'Sacrifice', through their hired representatives, 'Sacrifice'!! * Sof VA David Shulkin March 30, 2017: "This is fundamentally a system that has not kept up with modernazation like the private sector" * Who says 'money' isn't the problem? It is when totally falling behind thus causing costs to correct much more then double what they would have originally been, which originally would have 'saved' on upgrade maitinance going forward and not fixes causing even more costly problems!!! And keep in mind those such as trumper, now especially, and the past decade plus and still going: 2 Aug 2015 - 'I fight like hell to pay as little as possible': Donald Trump says he avoids all the tax he can. For Wars-'0' For Continued Blowback From Policies-'0' For Veterans Of-'0' !! ALL Borrowed From Other Countries With Interest, Still Are!! * “Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.” 27 March 2013 * Two Huge Tax Cuts, and more after those for them, not, 'job creators': Made Wealth off Defense War Investments, like the government funded private for profit merc army and intelligence arm -$$$ Making Wealth off Continued Blowback From the Policies-$$$ Wants To Make Wealth off All Privatized VA-$$$ More corporate profits, health care industry, off wars especially: * The VA is the people served 'Responsibility' to 'Sacrifice' and Not for Corporate Profits, especially off Wars!! * * DeJa-Vu: “With no shared sacrifices being asked of civilians, especially the wealthy, after Sept. 11", Decades and War From, All Over Again!! * Still Unpaid For!! Especially By The trumper Like!! "If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too — not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013 The decades long, wars from especially, conservative and corporate dems ideology: Like our long time Vietnam and since Veterans, Conservative, Nemesis, one of their experts(?), used to shape their policies, and very highly compensated: * * Sally Satel Still Selling Care for PTSD Veterans is Waste of Money * * There are plenty of others, Like AO: * * Alvin L. Young - 'Dr. Orange': The Scientist Who Insists Agent Orange Isn't Hurting America's Veterans * *, they've got a ready stable full of go to {experts?}, and plenty of purposefully unfunded ignored and denied issues!! Keeping My Oath: USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71 - Independent**

Until the VA administration is reformed there is no hope for the veterans. We see a few bad employees at the spokane and seattle VA. But what see more than anything, is poor management. This will not change until the heads at the top roll. All these bills talk about getting rid of bad employees, but bad leadership is more of a problem than a few bad employees. This includes the VISN or regional offices, these are the people continue make excuses for the poor management below them. We continue to fight against the problems at the vA in spokane, but still vets are suffering because the failure of management.

As a whistleblower I am glad to see that those of us who bravely report are protected but how can DR. shulkin protect us from everyday minor harrassment that is ongoing which ends up building an enormous amount of stress on the whistleblower. Upper management isn't always blatant with their retaliation. For instance in my case it is as minor as direct supervisor giving me information to perform my duties but leaving one simple word out that results in a very different action made by me which ends up resulting in an email to make me look incompetent. As a first line supervisor it's a struggle to prove that I am still being retaliated against because it is done in such a way that it isn't noticeable. My direct supervisor who is acting AO right now is out alot and if over the week or so she is out there are emails she receives about issues she waits until after she and I meet to go over issues while she was out to check her email and to me she should review emails before we meet in case there is anything in the emails she feels needs to be discussed. If she has an email with me on it then she has been informed but if I don't bring it up in the meeting then she claims I didn't inform her. It's all BS. Everyday it's something else. It's like she's looking for ways to prove I'm incompetent. I believe she was strategically placed in the position for the sole purpose of rendering me incompetent.

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