TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VA: “President Donald Trump will sign into law this afternoon a sweeping measure to revamp the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health-care system, changing the way veterans get care in the private sector and empowering the VA secretary to make major administrative changes. But the VA secretary who helped craft the bill was recently fired by Mr. Trump, and the president hasn’t formally nominated a replacement, prompting some lawmakers and veterans’ advocates to say there are no guarantees about the future course of the department. They also question how the new law will be interpreted and wonder if the department will move toward privatization. The VA Mission Act, which Congress passed with bipartisan support just before Memorial Day, was designed to overhaul the way veterans get private-sector care, close or consolidate underused facilities and provide new incentives to hire doctors, among other changes. One of the central purposes of the law is to replace emergency legislation called the Choice Act, which was passed after a VA wait-time scandal sparked demand to change the department and give veterans more choice for their health care.”
-Ben Kesling, “Trump Launches Revamp of Veterans’ Health Care. Can a Rudderless VA Carry It Out?,” The Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2018 8:00 am