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Congress near deal on fixes to VA system

Key lawmakers set compromise

WASHINGTON — The chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees have reached a tentative agreement on a plan to fix a veterans’ health program scandalized by long patient wait times and falsified records covering up delays.

Representative Jeff Miller, Republican of Florida, and Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, scheduled a news conference Monday to talk about a compromise plan to improve veterans’ care.

Miller chairs the House veterans panel and Sanders chairs the Senate panel.

A spokesman for Sanders said Sunday the men have reached a tentative agreement. The deal requires a vote by a conference committee of House and Senate negotiators and votes in the full House and Senate.

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Miller and Sanders have been working on the agreement during the weekend. The Veterans Affairs Department has been rocked by reports of patients dying while awaiting treatment and mounting evidence that workers falsified or omitted appointment schedules to mask frequent, long delays.

The resulting election-year firestorm forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign in late May.

The plan set to be announced Monday is intended to ‘‘make VA more accountable and to help the department recruit more doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals,’’ Miller and Sanders said.

Few details of the agreement were released, but it is expected to authorize billions in emergency spending to lease 27 new clinics and make it easier for veterans who can’t get prompt appointments with VA doctors to get outside care.

Louis Celli, legislative director for the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans group, said the deal would provide crucial help to veterans who have been waiting months or even years for VA health care.

‘‘There is an emergency need to get veterans off the waiting lists. That’s what this is all about,’’ Celli said Sunday.

An updated audit by the VA this month showed that about 10 percent of veterans seeking medical care at VA hospitals and clinics still have to wait at least 30 days for an appointment.

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About 46,000 veterans have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments, the report said, and an additional 7,000 veterans who asked for appointments over the past decade never got them.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson has said the VA is making improvements but added veterans in many communities still are waiting too long to receive needed care.

The VA provides health care to nearly 9 million enrolled veterans.

Sanders proposed a bill last week that would cost about $25 billion over three years. Miller countered with a plan to approve $10 billion in emergency spending, with a promise of more spending in future years under the normal congressional budget process.

Miller’s bill would keep most of the provisions in a Senate-passed bill and would authorize about $100 million for the Veterans Affairs Department to address shortfalls in the current budget year.

Both bills cost significantly less than bills approved last month by the House and Senate.

The Senate is expected to vote this week to confirm former Procter & Gamble chief executive Robert McDonald as the new VA secretary, replacing Gibson.