The Honorable Senator Feinstein and the U.S. Senate!

Dear Mr. Slavinski:   Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding the quality of care veterans receive at the Veterans Affairs (VA) health facilities.  Your correspondence is important to me, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.    I share your outrage regarding the long appointment wait times for veterans at VA health facilities and what seems to be a culture of covering up these wait times and waitlists by VA employees.  I strongly believe that Congress and the federal government must do more to honor the sacrifices of veterans and their families, including ensuring that every veteran has access to the health care services they need.    I am deeply concerned that an audit released by the VA on June 9, 2014 indicates that more than 20,000 veterans in California are waiting over 30 days for a medical appointment.  Additionally, the audit shows that nearly 7,000 California veterans are on waiting lists to schedule their medical appointment.  It is unacceptable that veterans are forced to wait months for medical appointments, and I strongly believe Congress must act quickly and decisively to pass legislation to address this situation.    You may be interested to know that on April 30, 2014, I wrote a letter to the VA Acting Inspector General Richard Griffin calling for an expansion of the investigation into the Phoenix VA Health Care System to determine if similar problems were prevalent at other VA health care facilities.  Additionally, I sent a letter to VA Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson expressing my concerns about medical appointment wait times at California VA facilities, and urging him to take immediate action to ensure California's veterans can access the medical care they require and deserve.    I am pleased to have supported the "Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014," which passed the Senate on June 11, 2014 by a vote of 93 to 3.  This bill, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and John McCain (R-AZ), would improve veterans' access to VA medical services and is currently awaiting consideration by the House of Representatives.   The "Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014" would reform VA health care access by:   · Allowing for the immediate removal of Senior Executive Service officials due to poor job performance.    · Allowing the VA to quickly hire new physicians, nurses, and clinical staff.   · Requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate and rate VA hospitals on health care quality.   · Providing the VA with resources to lease 26 major medical facilities.  The proposal includes leases for four California facilities in Chico, Chula Vista, Redding, and San Diego.   · Allowing veterans to access care through non-VA providers if the VA cannot give a timely appointment or if a veteran lives more than 40 miles from the closest VA medical facility.    · Establishing Commissions on Access to Care and Capital Planning to explore long-term solutions to provide veterans with high quality and readily accessible medical care.    I commend my colleagues in the Senate for working together to get this bill passed.  I believe it is a big step toward fixing the systemic problems within the VA and provides the resources to have real accountability within the VA, from top to bottom.    Please know that I have carefully noted your concerns, and I will keep them in mind as I continue to review the Inspector General's on-going investigation of the VA health care system and as Congress works to find solutions to help improve health care access to our nation's veterans.    Once again, thank you for taking the time to write me.  I hope you will continue to keep in touch with me on issues of importance to you.  If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.  Best regards. Sincerely yours,   Dianne Feinstein          United States Senator Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the nation are available at my website, feinstein.senate.gov.  And please visit my YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more ways to communicate with me.