WASHINGTON — House and Senate leaders have agreed to a compromise on legislation that would allocate $17 billion to improve the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system.
If it is approved by the full House and Senate this week, the agreement would end a lengthy standoff over the funding that at times looked to imperil any possible deal.
The bill, which is expected to be approved by a congressional conference and then voted on by both chambers before a recess begins on Friday, provides $10 billion to allow veterans facing long wait times at agency facilities to obtain private medical care.
That money would also pay for private care for veterans who live more than 40 miles away from a VA facility. It also attempts to streamline the appeals process for employees.
In addition, $5 billion would pay in part for the hiring of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff to drive down patient wait times and authorizes leases for 27 new VA facilities across the country.
The delays became a political scandal for the Obama administration this spring and led to the resignation of the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, in May.
“Funding for veterans’ needs must be considered a cost of war and appropriated as emergency spending,” Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said at a news conference Monday with Representative Jeff Miller, Republican of Florida, to outline the legislation.
“Planes and tanks and guns are a cost of war,” Sanders said. “So is taking care of the men and women who use those weapons and fight our battles.”
Earlier it had appeared that tension between Sanders and Miller might derail an agreement before Congress leaves Washington this week.
Most Senate Democrats boycotted a meeting called by Miller late last week to discuss his plan, causing tensions to flare. Miller’s plan called for about $10 billion in funding, while Sanders called for about $25 billion.
In the Republican-led House, some lawmakers aligned with the small-government Tea Party wing have opposed attempts to spend emergency money to fix the VA problems.
Miller, who has been meeting with members to build support for the bill, conceded that the support is not unanimous. But he said he was confident he could win enough Republican support despite the cost.
“There will be an education process that will have to take place,” Miller said. “Obviously, some of our members will need a little more educating than others.”
The bill authorizes the Veterans Affairs secretary to unilaterally fire any senior executive deemed incompetent. The firing would remain tentative for 21 days for due process.
The measure would also expand a scholarship program for veterans to include surviving spouses of military members who died in the line of duty and allow all veterans to qualify for in-state college tuition.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said President Obama welcomes the bipartisan deal. ‘‘There are much-needed reforms that need to be implemented,’’ Earnest said.
The White House is especially pleased that the bill includes emergency spending ‘‘to provide VA the additional resources necessary to deliver timely, high-quality care to veterans through a strengthened VA system,’’ Earnest said.
The VA, with a $160 billion budget, runs the nation’s largest integrated health care system. It provides care to nearly 9 million enrolled veterans.
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. 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 House and Senate are set to adjourn at the end of the week until early September, and lawmakers from both parties have said completing a bill on veterans’ care is a top priority.
The Senate is expected to vote this week to confirm former Procter & Gamble chief executive Robert McDonald as the new VA secretary, replacing Gibson.
The American Legion, the largest organization of wartime veterans, on Monday called the compromise legislation an important step in fixing the system but said more action will be needed.
‘‘This measure is a critical component in developing a long-term solution to problems that have dogged the VA for years,’’ said Daniel M. Dellinger, national commander of the American Legion.
‘‘We know that Senator Sanders and Representative Miller have labored diligently to reach bipartisan consensus,’’ he said. “But it would be a great mistake to see this legislation as a one-time fix for all the woes that have been hobbling VA's performance and credibility.’’
Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, also said the agreement was good news but several months late, the Associated Press reported.