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Isaac Arnsdorf @iarnsdorf
, 7 tweets, 4 min read Read on Twitter
NEW: Congress has pumped $19.4 billion since 2014 into private health care for veterans. Where has the money gone?
propublica.org/article/va-pri…
The Veterans Choice Program was supposed to give veterans a way around long waits in the VA. How did that work out? Wait times did not get better.
propublica.org/article/va-pri…
The winners have been 2 private firms that took almost $2 billion in fees. That’s ~24% of their total program expenses, which would exceed the federal cap on what most private insurance plans can spend on admin.
The contractors got so much money because the VA paid them $295+ every time it referred a veteran for private care. In some cases, the fee cost more than the doctor’s bill.
propublica.org/article/va-pri…
In addition to all those fees, both companies are now under federal investigation for overcharging the government.
propublica.org/article/va-pri…
Nevertheless, the VA recently expanded one of the companies’ contracts without competitive bidding. The fees are poised to grow as the administration plans to fulfill to Trump’s campaign promise to send more veterans to the private sector. propublica.org/article/trump-…
Look for VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to face questions about this at a hearing tomorrow.

Full story, with @JonZGreenberg @PolitiFact: propublica.org/article/va-pri…

More on how we did the math: propublica.org/article/how-we…
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NEW: I’ve got more documents showing how deeply involved the VA Shadow Rulers were in some of the agency’s most consequential issues. Here are some highlights...
propublica.org/article/va-sha…
The Mar-a-Lago trio reviewed a $10 billion government contract that the VA was negotiating to overhaul the agency’s electronic health records. Here’s my recent story on the turmoil in that program :
propublica.org/article/va-sha…
The VA had lots of other people review the contract too. But those people had relevant expertise.

One of these things is not like the others…
documentcloud.org/documents/5278…
Read 12 tweets
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NEW: The Trump administration is planning to announce in the State of the Union a plan to shift more veterans’ health care to the private sector.
propublica.org/article/trump-…
The administration’s plan could cost ~$13.9B to $32.1B over 5 years, and send as many as 55% of veterans to private doctors, up from about 38% now.
propublica.org/article/trump-…
Those estimates could be low, since the costs are hard to predict.
propublica.org/article/trump-…
Read 7 tweets

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VA Was “Taken Advantage Of” by Paying Billions in Fees, Secretary Says

Officials vowed to improve the department’s private care program, but lawmakers voiced concerns about higher costs & worse health care for veterans.

He f**king let it happen!!!
propublica.org/article/va-sec…
Why is this some big surprise?

He knew all along & veterans like myself have been screaming about this for years.

He's coming clean because of the ProPublica investigative reporting on the VA.

They keep thinking they can get away with treating us poorly and are finally caught.
Is it taking advantage of the VA when they keep expanding the program?

No!

It's the Department of Veterans Affairs administration taking advantage of us.

For what?

So TriWest Healthcare Alliance and Health Net can make billions off our care.
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GAO agrees to investigate Mar-a-Lago members' influence on VA stripes.com/gao-agrees-to-… #WHPDaily #IndivisibleTimes #AltGovDaily #AltGov #Indivisible #SVRAV
@ProPublica has this document repository about Mar-A-Lago members' influence on the VA documentcloud.org/public/search/… #WHPDaily #IndivisibleTimes #AltGovDaily #AltGov #Indivisible #SVRAV
Original Story: propublica.org/article/ike-pe…
Startpage Search on the VA's Shadow Rulers at Mar-A-Lago startpage.com/do/dsearch?que…
Read 10 tweets
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In Northern France in the town of Belleau, there's a cemetery with 2,288 uniform, alabaster headstones honoring the U.S. service members killed in a battle there in World War One. On a wall there are inscribed 1,060 additional names of the missing-in-action. (thread)
One of those killed was U.S. Navy LTJG Dr. Weedon E. Osborne, a dental officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor after rescuing countless wounded in battle and was killed while carrying a fellow wounded officer out of harm's way.
I'm not surprised that today Trump cancelled a trip to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France to honor service members killed in WWI and blamed it on the rain. I'm not surprised because as a military veteran, I have watched him continuously disrespect the military.
Read 17 tweets

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