Rounds, Manchin to President Biden: Absence of rural representation on VA AIR Commission is concerning

UPDATE MARCH 16, 2022:

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, are leading the effort to make certain rural perspectives are taken into consideration by the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission. In a letter to President Biden, the Senators expressed their concerns that all those who have been nominated to serve on the AIR Commission are from heavily populated urban areas. Additionally, the Senators request that the AIR Commission take into consideration metrics that demonstrate the impact on Veterans in rural communities.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released its preliminary recommendations for the AIR commission to consider on Monday, March 14, 2022, which would significantly alter services provided to rural veterans across the United States. In 2019, Senators Rounds and Manchin introduced legislation which would have eliminated the AIR Commission.

“Rural communities have historically suffered the most from initiatives such as the AIR Commission. We are concerned that history will repeat itself,” began the lawmakers. “The last time there was a similar asset review, the CARES Commission in the early 2000s recommended closing or moving critical medical services in a number of states including West Virginia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Oklahoma, Washington, and Iowa. With the VA’s expressed purpose on expanding private care through the MISSION Act, we must prevent the closing of existing facilities or relocation of services in areas that have no viable alternative.”

“Veterans have put their lives on the line to protect this country. They deserve consistent, accessible, quality care when they return. That’s the promise we made to these brave men and women when they took their oath to serve, and that’s the promise we intend to keep,” said the lawmakers.

Background on the AIR Commission:

• In 2018, Congress passed the Asset and Infrastructure Review Act as part of the VA MISSION Act.
• Senators Rounds and Manchin introduced legislation in 2019 which would have eliminated the AIR Commission.
• The VA MISSION Act established a new process for the development, review, approval and implementation of a list of recommendations for the modernization and realignment of VHA medical facilities. The VA MISSION Act requires the VA Secretary to develop an initial list of recommendations, including the acquisition of new space, the modernization of existing space and the disposal of unneeded space. The Secretary was required to publish these recommendations in the Federal Register by January 31, 2022.
• The VA MISSION Act also established an AIR Commission, a panel comprised of nine members nominated by the president and approved by the Senate, which is meant to review the recommendations submitted by the VA Secretary.
• However, the panel does not yet exist as all of the nominees have yet to be submitted to the Senate for consideration and approval.
• Once it is stood up and receives the department’s recommendations, the Commission will conduct its own hearings and investigations, make its own recommendations and send the recommendations to the White House.
• The AIR Commission is required to submit a final list of recommendations to the president by January 31, 2023.
• The President is to notify the Commission and Congress if he approves or disapproves the list by February 15, 2023. If disapproved, the Commission may revise the recommendations and submit a new list by March 15, 2023.
• The President has until March 30, 2023, to approve the Commission’s initial or revised recommendations in their entirety and submit them to Congress, or the modernization and realignment process terminates.
• If the President approves the recommendations, Congress has 45 days from the date of approval to terminate the process by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. If Congress does not enact a joint resolution of disapproval, the VA is required to implement the recommendations.

The full letter is available below or here.

Dear President Biden:

We write to you today with regard to your role in considering the recommendations to be made by the Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission, as prescribed in Subtitle A of Title II of the VA MISSION Act. Specifically, we request that at least one of the nine commissioners appointed have a background working in or for rural health care systems. We also request you not act on recommendations from the Commission until verifying that they will not disadvantage rural communities with limited access to healthcare options.

Rural communities have historically suffered the most from initiatives such as the AIR Commission. We are concerned that history will repeat itself. The last time there was a similar asset review, the CARES Commission in the early 2000s recommended closing or moving critical medical services in a number of states including West Virginia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Oklahoma, Washington, and Iowa. With the VA’s expressed purpose on expanding private care through the MISSION Act, we must prevent the closing of existing facilities or relocation of services in areas that have no viable alternative.

Currently, there is no requirement for any of the nine-member AIR Commission appointees to have experience with rural health care systems. Additionally, none of the current nominees have any significant experience in rural health. A lack of representation for the over two million rural Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare places them at an acute disadvantage during the AIR process. With six established requirements for appointees, there are three remaining spots that we request be filled with at least one rural health expert.

Rural communities are home to a greater percentage of older Americans, with 17.5% of the rural population being 65 years and older, compared to 13.8% in urban areas. Rural communities also have higher rates of chronic illnesses. In addition to these challenges, health care staffing challenges in rural communities are particularly severe. Ensuring veterans in rural communities have access to care is vital.

In order to mitigate the risks to rural veterans and healthcare providers, the AIR Commission must consider the implications of moving or closing services at any rural VA facility. To do so, we request that you not implement any recommendation that hasn’t been vetted by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Rural Health Council within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Third party verification will make certain that no substantial burden is placed on rural communities. Additionally, any recommendations should utilize the Health Professional Shortage Area metric, which is maintained by HRSA, and the Medically Underserved Area/Population metric to demonstrate that moving or closing VA health services will not result in making it more difficult for veterans or the general public to access healthcare.

COVID-19 highlighted that neither the VA nor other government agencies can always predict the health trends that will impact veterans and the care they need. As our Vietnam and post-9/11 veterans age and experience illness related to military service, the VA must proactively anticipate their needs as well as the burdens that future conflicts may place on the existing healthcare system. We encourage the AIR Commission to adopt our bipartisan, commonsense proposals that will ensure we do not close critical VA facilities today that leave our veterans, their friends, their families, and their communities underserved and unprepared for tomorrow.

Veterans have put their lives on the line to protect this country. They deserve consistent, accessible, quality care when they return. That’s the promise we made to these brave men and women when they took their oath to serve, and that’s the promise we intend to keep.

.

UPDATE MARCH 14, 2022:

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs has released its set of recommendations for the future of veteran care in the U.S., following years of research and analysis. For South Dakota, the Asset and Infrastructure Review report recommends building a new VA health system in Rapid City, while closing the Wagner clinic and the the Fort Meade hospital. The report released Monday (March 14, 2022) was issued as part of the 2018 Mission Act, which required an assessment of the current and future health care needs of U.S. veterans. The VA predicts that enrollment for veterans across South Dakota will decrease in the next 10 years.

MARCH 7, 2022:

South Dakota US Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, US Representative Dusty Johnson and Governor Kristi Noem all issued statements Friday (March 4, 2022) after the federal Department of Veterans Affairs informed the VA medical facilities in Hot Springs, Wagner, and Fort Meade that proposed recommendations as part of a multi-year nationwide review of VA health care infrastructure suggest they would be closing.

“For nearly a decade, I’ve fought tooth and nail to defend the Hot Springs VA and the surrounding communities,” said Thune. “I’ve stood side by side with veterans, health care professionals, and community leaders as we made our case to previous administrations about the significant benefits these facilities provide to America’s veterans throughout the multi-state area they serve. That’s why I’m extremely disappointed by the Biden administration’s proposal to close these facilities. I’m frustrated, and I’m angry, and I know these communities are too. Let me put this as plainly as I can: The VA is wrong, period. This is a massive mistake, and I will do everything within my power to show the administration, by working with the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, why it would be in everyone’s best interest, especially South Dakota’s veterans’, to immediately change course.”

“The concerns I warned against in 2018 when I voted against the VA MISSION Act have come to fruition,” said Rounds. “Veterans were told they could receive care in the community, and that’s proven not to be the case. The VA MISSION Act also included provisions to include this BRAC-style process, which we learned today will negatively impact much of rural SD. The VA MISSION Act was bad public policy then and it’s gotten no better with age. While the provisions of this BRAC will not be released publicly until March 14th – the threat has become clear to our local veterans. As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I’ll fight like hell to make sure veterans in South Dakota receive the care they’ve earned. I call upon all veterans organizations to help us defend these services in rural South Dakota.”

“Nearly two years ago to the day, former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie came to the Hot Springs VA and announced that the VA would remain open and there would be no reduction in services for veterans,” said Johnson. “In South Dakota, promises mean something. This is a betrayal to the Hot Springs community and its veterans. If the commission is going to move forward with reducing services, they should face the people of Hot Springs, Wagner, Fort Meade, and Sioux Falls and explain why they believe these services should be scaled back. We’ve worked together to fight harmful VA decisions in the past, and we are ready do so again.”

“The Biden Administration has betrayed the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our nation and our freedoms,” said Noem. “First, Democrats defunded the police. Now, they are defunding our veterans by recommending closures and downsizing of VA facilities across the country. These are their plans: they will turn the full-service VA hospitals in Fort Meade and Hot Springs into clinics; the Sioux Falls VA hospital will lose its emergency services; and the clinic in Wagner will completely close. Veterans in these areas will no longer have options and may have to drive hundreds of miles to obtain healthcare services. Tribal veterans, in particular, could lose their healthcare services entirely.”

The announcement was made on conference calls with VA employees at the affected facilities this afternoon. You can listen to the call with VA employees at Hot Springs and Fort Meade here. Prior to the conference calls, the VA sent employees a message that can be read here.

Background:

• In 2018, Congress passed the Asset and Infrastructure Review Act as part of the VA MISSION Act.
• The VA MISSION Act established a new process for the development, review, approval and implementation of a list of recommendations for the modernization and realignment of VHA medical facilities.
• The VA MISSION Act requires the VA secretary to develop an initial list of recommendations, including the acquisition of new space, the modernization of existing space and the disposal of unneeded space. The secretary was required to publish these recommendations in the Federal Register by January 31, 2022.
• In January, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced he had pushed this action to mid-March 2022. He said that this delay was due to staffing issues caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases.
• The VA MISSION Act also established an AIR Commission, a panel comprised of nine members nominated by the president and approved by the Senate, which is meant to review the recommendations submitted by the VA secretary.
• However, the panel does not yet exist as all of the nominees have yet to be submitted to the Senate for consideration and approval.
• Once it is stood up and receives the department’s recommendations, the commission will conduct its own hearings and investigations, make its own recommendations and send the recommendations to the White House.
• The AIR commission is required to submit a final list of recommendations to the president by January 31, 2023.
• The president is to notify the commission and Congress if he approves or disapproves the list by February 15, 2023.
• If disapproved, the commission may revise the recommendations and submit a new list by March 15, 2023.
• The president has until March 30, 2023, to approve the commission’s initial or revised recommendations in their entirety and submit them to Congress, or the modernization and realignment process terminates.
• If the president approves the recommendations, Congress has 45 days from the date of approval to terminate the process by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval. If Congress does not enact a joint resolution of disapproval, the VA is required to implement the recommendations.

The delegation’s decade-long fight to save the Hot Springs VA culminated in October 2020 when then-VA Secretary Robert Wilkie notified them that the VA had formally rescinded its earlier record of decision to realign the VA Black Hills Health Care System, which would have significantly reduced services at the Hot Springs VA medical center.

Click here for an op-ed Thune wrote about his involvement with helping to save the Hot Springs facility.