Big Sky Times

In response to ongoing administrative challenges within the office of Veterans Affairs (VA) which have Montana military veterans searching for healthcare facilities to provide the care they need, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said the VA must “redouble its efforts” to assist veterans statewide and nationally.

“Montana veterans face unique challenges D.C. bureaucrats don’t understand, and I’m focused on ensuring they get the health care and benefits they have earned during their service, including life-saving mental health care,” Tester told Big Sky Times. 

“Veterans across Montana need VA to redouble its efforts to provide the best and most timely health care possible – whether it’s at VA or in our communities. It’s what I demand of VA, and what veterans deserve – regardless of where they live.”

Tester’s legislative colleague, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), recently joined 19 other senators in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, asking that the department correct recent policy initiatives that are making access to care more difficult for veterans.

The letter asked the VA to cease recent changes that appear to be in compliance with recommendations made by the Red Team, a panel commissioned in January by Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Undersecretary for Health, to “assess the trends and drivers of increasing community care spending” in the department.

The Red Team came to the conclusion that community care, which is a referral process to expand potential services and care to veterans, was “a potential existential threat” to VA’s direct care system, however the senators’ letter argues community care is a “vital lifeline” for veterans and the VA.

The community care system was created in 2018 with the enactment of the MISSION Act, which expanded VA care options to allow veterans to seek care that was available to them within their community from local providers as well as VA care. “For countless veterans, the convenience, accessibility, and control that community care offers is life-saving,” the senators wrote in the letter. “In the years since the MISSION Act was enacted, the VA healthcare system has seen significant increases in enrollment, utilization, and reliance, as well as improvements in key measures of quality and veteran trust.”

Sen. Daines’ letter was also signed by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), along with Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

Tester is the Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and currently running for re-election to a potential fourth term in office in the U.S. Senate against the Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, a retired Navy SEAL and founder of Bridger Aerospace. Before election to the Montana Senate in 1998 and the U.S. Senate in 2006, Tester worked as a music educator, butcher and farmer.