If you are a veteran, the Biden administration is not your friend. At least the Trump administration made some attempt to clean up the problems in the Veterans’ Administration (VA) health system. The Biden administration is working hard to make it worse.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Fox News<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n A long-standing arrangement between the Department of Veterans Affairs and\u00a0Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)<\/a>\u00a0to process claims for migrant medical care is drawing scrutiny from veterans’ advocates \u2014 who are concerned that it could affect the agency\u2019s mission of caring for veterans \u2014 amid an ongoing border crisis and existing complaints about the care delivered to veterans.<\/strong><\/p>\n “I\u2019d like to understand why the VA is involved,” Russ Duerstine, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America and a veteran of the United States Air Force, told Fox News Digital.<\/strong><\/p>\n When an illegal immigrant under ICE detention requires healthcare, they are typically treated on-site by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be transported to an independent private provider.<\/strong><\/p>\n In such cases, ICE contracts with the VA\u2019s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to process reimbursements to those providers. According to a report from July, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which ICE\u2019s Health Service Corps (IHSC) will reimburse providers at Medicare rates. That uses the VA-FSC\u2019s Healthcare Claims Processing System \u2014 a portal that allows providers to submit and view claims and access other resources.<\/strong><\/p>\n The article notes that although the VA plays a role, it does not provide or fund any health care services to individuals detained in [ICE] custody. At no time are any VA health care professionals or VA funds used for this purpose. So why then is the VA even involved?<\/p>\n The article also notes:<\/p>\n Darin Selnick, who served as veterans’ affairs adviser on the Domestic Policy Council during the Trump administration and also as a senior adviser to the VA secretary, said the arrangement was also a surprise to him and others he knew who served during the administration. He believes it would have been stopped if it was more widely known among officials.<\/strong><\/p>\n “In my position, we would have stopped this, because if the VA had the extra ability to do this, then they should have been doing it for the veterans and not for another agency,” he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n Duerstine, of Concerned Veterans for America, said he would like to see Veterans\u2019 Affairs committees in Congress take a deeper look into the VA\u2019s role.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you are a veteran, the Biden administration is not your friend. At least the Trump administration made some attempt to clean up the problems in the Veterans’ Administration (VA) health system. The Biden administration is working hard to make … Continue reading