WASHINGTON, D.C. – Highlighting the important congressional responsibility for helping to reform the VA system, Senators Collins and King led a letter to Senate leadership urging them to bring the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill to the floor.  The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Senator Collins is a member, on May 22.  The bill includes funding for, and a direction to continue, the services provided through the Access Received Closer to Home (ARCH) pilot program. 

ARCH is a pilot program that provides VA-covered health care services through contractual arrangements with non-VA care providers. The program, which is set to expire later this year, improves access for eligible veterans-especially those in rural areas-by connecting them to health care services closer to home. 

“Like all Americans, we remain deeply troubled by the allegations of deception and mismanagement at numerous VA facilities, and we are committed to working together to ensure that our Veterans receive the care, benefits, and services that they have earned.  The Senate Committee-passed FY 2015 MILCON/VA Appropriations bill includes a number of important provisions to help meet this goal,” the Senators said.  “It is crucial that this legislation, including an extension of ARCH, be signed into law before the end of the current fiscal year.”

The text of the Senators’ letter is below:

July 16, 2014

The Honorable Harry Reid                                                            The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Majority Leader                                                                                Republican Leader

United States Senate                                                                     United States Senate

Washington, D.C.  20510                                                               Washington, D.C.  20510

The Honorable Barbara A. Mikulski                                          The Honorable Richard C. Shelby

Chairwoman                                                                                      Vice Chairman

Committee on Appropriations                                                   Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate                                                                     United States Senate

Washington, D.C.  20510                                                               Washington, D.C.  20510

Dear Senators Reid, McConnell, Mikulski, and Shelby:

We urge you to bring the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MILCON/VA) Appropriations bill to the floor as soon as possible so that it can be passed, reconciled with the House-passed bill, and signed into law by the President before the end of the fiscal year.  Given the acute need to improve the provision of care, services, and benefits for our Veterans, it is imperative that we avoid funding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under a continuing resolution (CR).  A CR, even one lasting only a short period of timeshort-term, could introduce harmful uncertainty into the VA budget process and delays in Veterans disability claims processing, major VA construction projects, and Departmental reforms needed to improve patient care, including updates to the VA medical scheduling system and VA-Department of Defense (DOD) medical record sharing systems.

Like all Americans, we remain deeply troubled by the allegations of deception and mismanagement at numerous VA facilities, and we are committed to working together to ensure that our Veterans receive the care, benefits, and services that they have earned.  The Senate Committee-passed FY 2015 MILCON/VA Appropriations bill includes a number of important provisions to help meet this goal.  For example, the bill would direct the VA’s Office of Inspector General to conduct a nationwide audit of access to care and provide an additional $5 million to help with the increased workload.  It would also fund the development of a fully interoperable joint VA-DOD electronic health record (HER) system to ease the transition from active-duty service, modernization of VA’s HER system to improve efficiencies, and critical infrastructure investments to ensure that VA facilities can deliver the best health care services.  A CR could jeopardize these and other important provisions. 

Another measure that could be put at risk under a CR is the Access Received Closer to Home (ARCH) pilot program, which provides VA-covered care through non-VA providers at rural sites in five states: Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Montana, and Virginia.  This program, due to expire at the end of this fiscal year, would be extended by the Committee-passed bill under existing authorities. We have heard from countless Veterans that ARCH has been an overwhelming success, helping to meet their primary and specialty care needs without the long travel day that can be required to reach the nearest VA Medical Center (VAMC).  Particularly for ailing and elderly Veterans, travel to VAMCs can be more expensive, more time-consuming, and less safe than a trip to the local ARCH location.  The ARCH program is also reducing the cost of mileage reimbursement for the VA.

As Congress continues to consider reform of the VA system to meet the needs of our Veterans, ARCH is a model to follow.  It would be devastating to Veterans accessing care through the ARCH program if it were not continued.  We strongly support Chairwoman Mikulski’s and Vice Chairman Shelby’s efforts to consider the appropriations bills under regular order and urge you to allow the full Senate to consider the FY 2015 MILCON/VA Appropriations bill as soon possible.  It is crucial that this legislation, including an extension of ARCH, be signed into law before the end of the current fiscal year.

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