Veterans Care Agreements in President's Budget Proposal

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) was pleased to see the support for the establishment of Veterans Care Agreements in the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget. Specifically, the legislative proposal would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to purchase care in certain circumstances through agreements that are not subject to certain provisions of law governing Federal contracts.

The proposal would also permit VA to enter into similar agreements with State Veterans Homes. An agreement under the proposed legislation could be awarded without regard to competitive procedures and would not subject a provider to certain laws that are not applicable to providers and suppliers of health care services through the Medicare program.

AHCA has been advocating for policies which would grant the VA the legislative authority to enter into Provider Agreements for extended care services, including skilled nursing care centers. VA Provider Agreements would ensure that our centers are able to care for veterans in their communities and provide them access to quality health care. Our centers already meet very strict compliance guidelines under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Adding additional regulations on top of this is simply inefficient, redundant and takes staff time away from these veterans at the bedside.