BISMARCK, N.D. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp released the following statement today after the president signed into law a bipartisan bill she helped introduce and pass earlier this year to extend and reform the VA Choice Program and make sure veterans can get care closer to home.

“It’s our duty to stand up for our veterans and make sure they get the health care they deserve,” said Heitkamp. “The bill the president signed into law today—which I helped introduce and pass—extends the Choice Program so veterans can get care closer to home, while making needed reforms to cut down on costs and confusion for veterans in North Dakota and around the country. But the job isn’t done. Until the Choice Program works for veterans across our state, I’ll keep pushing for reforms to guarantee veterans don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to life-saving cancer treatments, check-ups, or other medical care they need.”

Heitkamp helped introduce the bill with U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana as a compromise to extend the program and address some of the concerns with the program through provisions to improve care coordination and to make VA the primary payer. The bill reduces out-of-pocket costs and confusion for veterans, and improves medical record sharing. The Choice Program was set to expire on August 7.

Heitkamp has long worked to reform the Choice Program, which aims to allow veterans who have difficulty obtaining a timely appointment with the VA, or live more than 40 miles from a VA health care facility, to seek care from local providers. In August, Heitkamp held a roundtable to discuss fixes to the program and heard from North Dakota veterans and health providers about serious challenges in the program.

To improve the program, Heitkamp successfully pushed for the Fargo VA to directly take over scheduling for area veterans last year. That has helped in some cases, but Heitkamp continues to push to reform the program so veterans can access care near home more smoothly. 

The Choice Program was created in 2014 when Congress passed a bipartisan bill to reform the VA and improve access to care, and since then Heitkamp has pushed to make sure it’s implemented properly.

In March 2016, Heitkamp helped introduce a bill to reform the Choice Program by giving the VA flexibility to improve care for North Dakota veterans by streamlining and consolidating community care programs, while eliminating bureaucratic obstacles preventing veterans from accessing care.