journal"'s "washington live every day with news and policies that impact you. will takemorning, we a look at the future of health care and what changes congress is considering this year and the latest on the protests in iran plus the trump administration's response. c-span's "washington journal." live at 7:00 eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. joining us now is "stars and stripes" reporter nikki wentling. she is here to talk about veterans benefits in 2018. thanks for joining us. what are the biggest changes we can expect to see in veterans' benefits this coming year? guest: one of the major changes is with student veterans.

last year, congress passed a major expansion to the g.i. bill. expanded eligibility for who can use those benefits and how long they can use them. it boosts some payments. those go into effect in august. the v.a. is getting prepared to roll those out and inform students eligible. that is going to be one of the biggest changes. i don't think a lot of veterans will see disruption to benefits based on decisions made last year. there were some proposals to cut benefits. veterans'ans' -- but advocates found of the alarm and they were taken off the table. last year, congress passed legislation to modernize and streamline the process for veterans to get connected. on average, it can take five years for a veteran to get connected to compensation. this will be the first full year

that streamlined process is in effect, so we can compare and see if veterans are getting connected faster. that is going to something to watch out for in 2018. what ismind viewers of the veterans choice program. does it faced challenges with funding? 2014: it was created in after the v.a. wait time scandal. it allows veterans to go into the private sector to receive health care. since that was put in place, we have seen an increase in the number of veterans going into the private sector. lasttary shulkin announced month at 6.1 million appointments were made in the private sector. goingincreasing veterans to community doctors. in 2018, i think we will see a total overhaul.

congress started working 2017. secretarysultan -- shulkin and president trump wanted to see that happen before the end of the year, but that becausell continue there is some tension between democrats and republicans on this issue. i want to get back to the tension in a moment. since it has been implemented, have we seen any corresponding timesse in the long wait to get into care facilities that got so much attention? has this program made a dent? guest: last year, they put online where veterans can go and look at their local facility and see how many days it would take to get an appointment. the v.a. is saying for mental health, you can get a same-day appointment.

people like to say if you have been to one v.a. hospital, you have been to one. they are all different. more are facing bigger wait times than others. they are all different. while there are more veterans unity,into the comm some argue they need to boost v.a. resources. host: we are talking with nikki wentling of "stars and stripes." we are talking about veterans' benefits in 2018. we have special lines today. call that a veteran, line. all others, call the other. i want to get back to the tension. when i the sticking points -- what are the sticking points creating tension among lawmakers? guest: there is more agreement than you would think.

the term privatization of the v.a. makes a lot of lawmakers cringe, democrats or republicans. lawmakers are really involved in this issue. they want to increase choice for veterans. right now, there are arbitrary rules limiting which veterans can go into the private sector. democrats are cautious of putting too much funding into the private sector without also boosting v.a. resources because a lot of veterans like v.a. care . they don't want to go anyone -- anywhere else and do not want to see diminished care with veterans going into the private sector. while democrats are pushing for more funding for the v.a., republicans take the view that funding has gone up by $100 billion in the past 10 years. maybe it does not use the money correctly. bills are on the house and senate floor.

. they have differences. the chambers will have to work this out. and democrats and republicans will have to come some sort of agreement. veteran advocates like to see bipartisanship on the bills that come out of capitol hill. host: we have a veteran on the hill, thomas is calling from connecticut. caller: good morning. i want to ask about where you think progress will go in terms of access to benefits for veterans with less than honorable discharges from administrative separation. guest: i'm glad you asked. secretary shulkin has named suicide prevention is the number one priority. see that weocates can an opening access to the v.a. for those with other than honorable discharges. they call that "bad papers." ulkin allow them

to have access to mental health care. some advocates say they need to have access for preventative reasons. i think there is a lot of push behind that now and more concerning congress about it. i am not sure when that will be raised again. they have a choice overhaul to get through. there are bills in congress that have stalled. i'm interested to see where that conversation goes. shulkin sat down with c-span last year for a profile interview. let's look at a bit of that. [video clip] >> many problems we see in the v.a. across the country, the scale is bigger. but addressing the problems is a similar approach to what i did in the private sector. what about the affordable

care act and what congress is dealing with today? >> i understand the issues in the affordable care act and that broader issues in health care have to do with making sure we a way to provide access to health care. if you run a hospital organization, you understand when people need help, they will come to you regardless of whether they have insurance or not so providing access is important. doing it in a way that is affordable is also important. that is the debate we are seeing at the national level with health reform, the balance between access and affordability and the complexity of what is on the middle and how you administer a program like that. host: secretary shulkin is a medical doctor. how does he bring that experience to bear? guest: he still treats veterans via telehealth capabilities and oregon -- in oregon.

he does have a bigger perspective on health care in general. he is not a veteran but he is a physician. he pays special tension to the clinical practice at the v.a. that created some worry among advocates about whether he would pay as much attention to the benefits side. right now, i think he has a good perspective of health care in general and how the reform debate might affect the v.a. by pushing war veterans into the system -- more veterans into the system, which is another concern. host: bill is calling from babylon, new york, another veteran. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm a veteran and have been attending the v.a. hospital in manhattan. i never had a problem. they always took good care of me there.

guest: a lot of veterans would agree with you. whenever the large organizations go before a congressional committee, they always say their membership says over and over again they like their v.a. care. but there are veterans who have had negative experiences or live in numeral areas so they need access to private providers. that is something a lot of people are saying. host: you wrote about how the tax reform bill could have an impact on some veterans issues.

host: talk about how this interplays with other debates. guest: it did affect conversations on the choice program which have been mostly bipartisan before. we had democrats at the committee saying the tax bill would create a deficit and would there be enough veteran to send veterans into the private sector. they were upset about that. they did pass the bill out of committee but without democratic support, which i think leadership wanted to see on the bill. there are parts of the tax bill that causes concern for veterans. some of those were taken out before final passage. there was an incentive for employers to hire veterans that was going to be stripped, but that was not.

it introduced a new way of measuring inflation which created some sensitivity with military retirement pay and veteran compensation pay. if that was implemented in the future, it could lead to long-term cuts. right now, those are just fears rather than it being in legislation. from a veteran is calling nebraska. care over thea. last 20 years has improved. shulkin does not understand is the benefit side of it. the benefitreduce for veterans receiving total disability, individual unemployability. that is for veterans unable to work a full-time job because of

the combination of their disabilities. he viewed it as unemployment benefits, thinking of it as they just cannot work -- or thinking of it as they just do not want to work or like regular unemployment benefits the average citizen would get. different.pletely this is for veterans unable to work. it is not that they do not want to work. they cannot work a full-time job. he wanted to cut thousands of veterans and say we are going to to what your general rating,s, the combined and you can make up for that with your social security. there was going to affect the veterans -- it was going to

affect the veterans turning 65 eligible for social security but they have not been able to work for the last 20, 30, 40 years. host: is this affecting you personally? caller: me? no. but it has affected people i know. ,y fellow veterans that i know it would have put them in the poor house because he was going to cut a benefit thinking social security was going to make up for it when they have not been working to pay into the system. host: nikki, address those issues. guest: you are right. that was part of president trump's budget blueprint last summer, but it would be cut for veterans when they reach social security age. that had been proposed in previous years.

i think some veteran advocates who were for david shoko coming into the role -- david shulkin coming into the role thought he had a learning curve. and informed him in congress what it was about. they backed off almost immediately. secretary shulkin put in writing he would not consider cutting this benefit. concern ina lot of the veteran community. , go ahead.eran i was wondering about what is referred to as the forever bill. applyrstand it does not to older veterans, mainly vietnam veterans. is that correct? that is the expansion of education benefits. forever g.i.the

bill because it takes out a time limit veterans have to use their education benefits. veterans,plies to new people transitioning out of service will not have this limitation on when they can use benefits. they can use it throughout their lifetime. he is correct. it does not apply retroactively to older veterans. who did not use their benefits will not be able to because of this new bill. a lot of it is for newer veterans. host: frank is calling from fort lauderdale, florida, also a veteran. you are on with nikki wentling. caller: i want to ask nikki about the choice program. heard before was enhanced, the local radiation

clinic around here, 21st century oncology, accused to take veterans as radiation payments -- patience to get treatment for cancer. it was not enhanced that much. instances certain where somebody would have to go through radiation and chemotherapy at the same time because of their disease any course of treatment. how is this being dealt with now? the v.a. at the time could not recognize the chemo, but you had to do both at the same time and you could not just ride down to the miami facility. the reason the v.a. initially did this is because the radiation machines were very expensive and they can only have one in miami. they did not have one in broward county. it was a smaller clinic. pick up.a. going to

this kind of thing where they have to do chemo also? of that am not aware specific region, but the v.a. did have community care programs before the choice program. thechoice program enhanced choice veterans had to go into the private sector. more facilities opened up. now what they are doing on the hill is trying to open that up even further so veterans can choose to stay in the v.a. they could get chemotherapy there or choose to go into the private market. the bills now would make that a decision between the v.a. doctor so they mightn have more flexibility making those choices. host: we are joined by nikki reporter a veteran -- from "stars and stripes." she is here talking about

benefits for veterans in 2018. again, a special line for veterans. other.ers can call the program talking about marijuana -- we capped off the program talking about marijuana and jeff sessions. you wrote about that. he wrote that veterans who have advocated for greater access to one of our concerned about decreased access to the joint following jeff sessions' decision enforcing federal laws in states where it is legal. talk more about that and how it affects veterans. guest: veterans have led the charge on capitol hill this past year. they're pushing for research into medical marijuana. they see this is something that

could ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, help veterans get off opioids prescribed by the v.a. they see this as a solution to some of those problems. when the attorney general made this decision and created this uncertainty in the legal marijuana market, it frustrated a lot of veterans who have been pushing for this. they told me they wanted to go back to capitol hill and keep up the fight for more research. they are not these fringe groups. the american legion has pushed for medical marijuana and been appealing to the v.a. secretary and president trump directly. not all veterans feel this way, but a lot of them do. pete is calling in from leesburg, virginia, also a veteran. caller: thank you for your time. i'm a veteran. 15 family members have been

veterans since world war ii. my son is a marine. i will try to keep it from being colorful. forar as combat veterans, my wife and i it was more of an adventure. , the combatand age veterans should get everything he needs and then some. combatrentiate between veterans and pogues. you're in the navy and pulling money once, to save the defense side, you should not get the same benefits as a combat veteran in a war zone. you have to differentiate somehow to save money. this government, before they spend time on an immigrant or refugee, our refugees should get every benefit they deserve.

not one bit should go to anyone else but an american citizen and veteran. guest: i don't the guy want to get in the middle of the battle versus -- of combat veterans versus other veterans. veterans want to keep their benefits and get connected to benefits. sometimes it is easier for others. sometimes it takes years for some and days for others. i don't know if that has to do with whether they are a combat veteran or not. good point. host: secretary shulkin is the first be a secretary not to be a veteran, but he enjoys the confidence of the president according to a tweet by the president. host: how is the secretary perceived within the v.a.? are the folks expressing the same confidence? guest: president trump loves to say secretary shulkin was

confirmed by the senate 100-0. you got a lot of support from veteran advocates who wanted to see him in the role because he led the veterans health care system before under president obama's administration and they thought his learning curve would be less than someone totally new to this. people within the v.a. knew secretary shulkin before he was secretary. his transition was maybe more seamless than others. host: bill is a veteran from chicago calling. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm a veteran but did not see combat. america has [indiscernible] homeless veterans. do with taxing we money is give tax cuts to corporations and the rich. that is insane.

veterans should be first. if we areust be first going to really honor veterans. america deserves a tax cut that veterans care is not taken care of. guest: i'm glad you brought up veterans homelessness funding because the veteran community is paying close attention to that. late last year, there was a proposal to reallocate funding for housing vouchers for veterans. advocates sounded the alarm's about that. secretary shulkin reversed the decision. homelessness funding is something people are paying close attention to. host: also, suicide. you wrote about that. what might we expect this year? guest: the v.a. and defense

department have poured resources into suicide prevention studies. we may see some results this year. there is a program trying to predict which veterans and service members might be at risk for suicidal thoughts. they are trying to put more money into that prediction. hopefully, we will see outcomes of that. there's a couple that are veterans and psychologists. they have their own studies and methods for suicide prevention therapy. they are trying to push that. they think if it could be widespread, it could drive down the rate of veteran suicide which we all know is tragically high. host: john is calling from silver spring, maryland. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. veterans usually, they give them lip service. they say they will do something

for them but they do not. veterans are mentally sick. sometimes when you go to the war, you will have a lot of things you have to recover in a long time. i don't understand. they have been closing a lot of bases. why they don't build condominiums for veterans and , have food, there whatever they need at the time, and take care of them rather than basis just being closed. the government leaves that land. they do not go back to the bases they closed. guest: that is an idea i've heard before. when walter reed moved, a lot of people wanted to see got as something for homeless veterans.

i do not know why that has not gotten traction, but it is an idea that comes up. host: nikki wentling >> on sunday morning, we will take a look at the future of health care. and the latest on the protests in iran and the trump administration's response. c-span's "washington journal." live at 7:00 sunday morning. join the discussion. " continues. aust: