we're going to make the va the best it can be and the va is going to fill in the gaps, we just need to drive that point home. we'll hear from a panel of vso representatives and i got a notion they're going to talk about va care and talk about other ways we can fix it. number two, this is an authorization committee. i.t. funding you've got at $200 million in this budget. you should be asking this committee to plus that budget up. you need to do it so it represents the money that you're going to be dumping out for the d.o.d. electronic platform that we all support you doing by the way. and i think it's important that we're honest with ourselves. i'll tell you why, i happen to be on both committees. and i don't want to get nailed and say you know what? the authorization committee didn't do that. and the spend thrift appropriators are dumping money in. in this case we know the i.t. thing is going to cost some dough. so we need to act accordingly. the last thing is we're going to have carl blake from pva and leroy acosta from disabled va. and joe rowan from vva in a second. i want to thank

we've made decisions in modernizing the va. one of those was to replace our electronic medical record to share one with the department of defense and we started to modernize our facilities with new public/private partnerships and getting rid of vacant and underutilized properties. we've also reduced regulations. we made it easier for states to be able to build state nursing homes without the federal guidelines but to rely on their own and, most importantly, we've taken important steps to be able to reduce veteran suicides. we fixed the veterans crisis line. we've expanded mental health providers. and we've also expanded coverage to other than honorable veterans who have been discharged. i want to thank president trump for his leadership and determination to fix the va. the president knows that we have to do better for our veterans. and so it's actually a great honor today that the president will sign the veterans affairs accountability and whistleblower protection act. i had the pleasure today of introducing the biggest champion

but providers are increasingly frustrated with the va's ability to get them payments, to the point that some of them are actually leaving our network. and that's obviously working against us. it takes more than 30 days to process 20% of our clean claims at va, and that affects about 25,000 providers across the country. in addition, we have about $50 million in out-patient bill charges that are six months or older. as of april this year, only 65% of our claims are handled electronically. that's far below what you'd find in the private sector. and so we need private sector help in order to find new solutions to get that number well above 65%, so we can have faster adjudication of payments to our community providers. the third area is community care in general. though we made a lot of progress with our choice program, because we've had over 70 amendments or modifications to our original contract, we still have eight separate programs for paying community care. that just makes it too complex and it's confusing veterans and our employees alike. in terms of the complexity of this program, it

but i've been told that the va recently told the congressional budget office that va's plan is to, quote, very gradually, end quote, address the 470,000 legacy appeals if appeals reform is passed. is that the case and i heard your answer being yes, it's going to be very gradual and it would be 2026 before we got to it? >> yes. and let me just add because we share that frustration. i find it really difficult to tell people who have submitted into the appeals process they have six years to wait on average to get a response. so i've asked the question how much more would it take to get that backlog addressed? >> and the answer is? >> i'm not sure you want to know because i was astounded by how much if was. >> i want to know. >> around $800 million. >> senator sander, senator tester, senator boozman, senator moran, everything we do as a committee, senator manchin, will pale in comparison to the hake we're going to catch if it's going to take $800 million to handle those claims before 2026. the appeals -- we're going to clean up appeals prospectively in the future with what this budget propos

the va does a lot of good work. the fundamental question -- this is what the secretary is committed to -- is finding out that which works and focus on a result. not who gets credit. but how can we help the vets transition? and i'm confident the work we're doing here today is really going to make a big difference. that's why it's important that you all take what we're doing seriously and come up with recommendations and action plans that all of us can help implement. one thing we're doing -- we're going to do at the bush center is -- we're pretty good at this. that is helping people understand what it means to be a leader. so one of the real dangers in the presidential libraries is we can become pretty irrelevant quickly. we got four really good libraries in our part of the world. johnson, bush 41, bill clinton, brother with a different mother, and ours at smu. so margaret smelli inspellings with this idea that bill's library and i had limy lie blab. that is to have presidential leadership scholars. to bring people fr

besides of the va. if you could craft a situation where you can actually increase the medical school classes and then also the residencies which are huge problem, too. that would be a great deal better with relationship, va with the teaching hospitals, i think that could be done pickets going to take some work but actually could be a great legacy. >> right. we're focused on the residency spots. the medical schools have actually increased the number of medical school spots because they have tuition that pays for it. it's in there. the residency spots are capped by medicare. what you did in the choice program that senator sanders helped lead was expand those graduate medical education spot. that's what we need desperately. >> very much so. and again we need to do that with whatever takes pick in the future we'll get ourselves in trouble. 8.4 billion and mental health, 6% increase, that's great. mental health hasn't put so much in the va in the last years. when not at the point now where we are just writing

it's veterans like michael that are the reason the va exists. why when i had the privilege of sitting in my office not too long ago with michael and sarah, talking about their experience that it was really heartbreaking for me to hear their story because the va had failed michael. he had to jump through one bureaucratic coupe after another just to try to get the services that he deserved and he had earned. in one situation, he had to wait 57 days just to get his prosthetic leg fixed. he had to wait three and a half years to be able to get the type of adaptions for his home that he needed to be able to live comfortably in his home. i'm pleased to say he's waiting no longer. unfortunately, michael's story isn't unique and that's the reason why we are so focused on fixing the va and reforming the va. the president and i are committed to fixing the va and tackling the challenges that have been within the va system for decades. millions of veterans like michael and their families are counting on us, so today we are here to celebrate an important step

he relies on the va for health care. l 24th, she sat down at her kitchen table and let us listen while she tried to make three medical appointments. the phone call itself took more than half an hour. >> he needs to see urology. yes, definitely sooner than july. >> reporter: the wait for urology, two months. surprisingly, an appointment for primary care could happen in just weeks. but when she tries to get an appointment for an eye docker, a specialties clinic, five months, abnormal, she says for her. >> one out of three is not bad. >> reporter: victor and kristie, the va wouldn't respond to direct questions on the unreeblt of the wait times, instead, we got information that the va is more transparent than ever about wait times. and david shulkin is saying veterans are seen on a same-day basis. the va secretary did acknowledge much more needs to be done. and that he's committed to being very open about fixing wait times at the va. victor, christi. >> drew, thank you so much. now, representative steve scalise has been relea

this legislation also gives the va secretary the authority to appoint new medical directors at va hospitals, something which was almost impossible to do in the past. these are going to be talented, talented people. i applaud chairman phil rowe and the members of congress here with us today, which we have many who fought so hard for this legislation. i want them appear when i sign. i just want to thank the members of congress. they have been really dedicated to getting this done. it was not easy for them either. [applause] very sincere gratitude as well to the veterans service organizations who have joined us for this tremendous occasion and for everything they do for the veterans and for so long, they have been fighting for this and other things. by the way, other things are happening. we've done a lot, this is a big one. i have a lot of good ones coming. i also want to express our appreciation for second show s. i have no doubt the va will be properly implemented. wright, david? it better be, david. we'll never have to use those words. will never have to use those words on our david. we wi

he relies on the va for health care. a kitchen table and let us listen while she tried to make three medical appointments. >> i think they have one person answering the phone over there or something. >> the phone call itself took more than half an hour. >> he needs to see urology. as soon as you've got. definitely sooner than july or june. >> the wait for yourology, two minutes. surprisingly, primary care could happen in six weeks and when she tries to get an appointment for an eye doctor. >> september? >> yeah. >> five months, about normal, she says, for her. >> one out of three is not bad. >> the va wouldn't respond to direct questions on the unreliability of the wait time calculations and instead, the v ascent us comments from the new secretary, david shillkin in which he cites va statistics which say, quote, 22% of veterans are seen on a same-day basis, unquote. the va secretary has acknowledged much more needs to be done and that he's committed to being very transparent on how long vets are waiting for care. drew gri

that veterans suffered during the va scandals that were exposed a few years ago. veterans were put on secret wait lists, given the wrong medication, given the bad treatments, and ignored in moments of crisis for them. many veterans died waiting for a simple doctor's appointment. what happened was a national disgrace, and yet, some of the employees involved in these scandals remained on the payrolls. out dated laws kept the government from holding those who failed our veterans accountable. today we are finally changing those laws, it wasn't easy, but we did have some fantastic help. to make sure that the scandal of what we suffered so recently never ever happens again. and that our veterans can get the care they so richly deserve. so you just heard from sergeant michael verardo. great. i didn't get to shake your hand, michael? huh? get up, michael. [ applause ] he gets up better than i do. thank you, michael. michael lost two limbs in defending our country, and yet, he had to wait 57 days to get his prosthetic leg repaired, it's long time, michael. and over three an

this is the start of the process. va has unique needs different than the department of defenses and for that reason while the va is adopting the identical needs additional capabilities to maximize interoperability with the health care providers. one third of the care goes outside into the community and critical to have the same interoperability. we'll have the va clinicians, very involved this system. many ways, the department of veterans affairs is actually well ahead of the department of defense in clinical i.t. innovation and we are not going to discard all of the thing that is we have done in the past. and in fact, that's how we are going to help d.o.d. get better. this is a system that's going to strengthen, care for veterans and active service me believes. we're going to be embarking upon something that's never been done before, this's an integrated product w. the d.o.d. platform and require an integration of other vendors to create a system for veterans so that they can get care both in the community as well as th

let me just tell you, this is the start of the process. va has unique needs that are different than the department of defense and for that reason ba, while adopting an identically charged dod, we need additional capabilities to maximize interoperability with our community providers. you know, one third of our healthcare goes outside the va into the community and that is critical that we can have the same interoperability with our community providers. we are going to have our va clinicians very involved in how we develop the system and how we implemented because in many ways the department of veterans affairs is actually well ahead of the department of defense and clinical it innovations. we are not going to discard all of the things that we have done in the past and, in fact, we are going to help dod get better. this is a system that will strengthen care for veterans and are active servicemembers. we are going to be embarking upon something that has never been done before that is an integrated product, using the dod platform that is going to

in just a short time, we've already achieved transformative change at the va. we're just getting started. we have so many people that have been so helpful right here in the room and tom and all my friends. it's been fantastic. the enthusiasm for the veterans' administration and for making it right for our great veterans has been incredible and i want to thank all of them. one of my greatest joys during the presidential campaign was the time i spent going all across the country with our nation's really and truly incredible veterans. in their courage, their dignity and their selfless sacrifice, they represent the very best of us. our veterans have fulfilled their duty to this nation, and now we must fulfill our duty to them. so to every veteran who is here with us today, i just want to say two very simple words, thank you. thank you. [ applause ] you are the warriors and hero whose have won our freedom, and we will never forget what you have done for all of us. ever. as you all know all too well, for many years the government failed to keep its promises to our vet

>> it is still in the va processes. the icn is generated by all of the information that the mvi collects. so using that icn as a means to identify a veteran as their information traverses the system or, you know, a machine talking to a machine, that has happened to a large extent already and it's primarily the ssn use when there is a human to human interface between a clinician and a patient. >> do they still have the social security numbers around their wrist bands? >> yes, sir, we do. >> there is an effort on a pilot level, right now we are seeking to eliminate the full ssn with the goal of being a complete elimination and there is a bar code. >> do you have a timetable for that? >> sir, i would have to take that and provide that for the record because i am not aware of the project status. >> thank you, mr. oswalt. your testimony was very interesting and exciting, you said by 2018 you will eliminate the social security number from the card. you're moving at lightning speed for the government. thank you for your efforts

what are some of the other ways that the va can help with therapy? e are a number of therapies out there that have some evidence that support their use in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include intrusive symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and arousal symptoms, as well as some negative cognitions. and a lot of times, the powerful avoidance symptoms that veterans experience keep them from actually being able to process their traumatic experience because they don't want to think about it. and so they try to push it down, and by pushing it down, in fact, it kind of does the opposite. it actually allows those symptoms to kind of hang on to them even more so. so there are therapies that we have that directly go after those experiences through the retelling of the story of the traumatic event. and by doing that, it actually desensitizes veterans to their experience, which then allows them to live a fuller life. it's not easy, and it's not a panacea, you know? there really isn't a treatment that makes ev

this is going to be able to have the va fire someone immediately, kind of like what would happen in the of when you have somebody that is bona fide nonperformer. this va secretary and the president have turned this organization around. they have made a lot of progress, and by context have given me some pretty positive feedback about wait times going down, access to doctors going up, veterans able to pick their own doctors. they are making some progress here. they are beginning to turn this thing in favor of the veterans. this probably is still a ways away from getting where they totally wanted to be, but they turned this and this is a good news for our bats. >> sandra: the president said one of the biggest changes to our history of the va, huge legislation that he signed there today. as you point out, this allows the firing of those people that need to be fired and also protects whistleblowers because that's so important. >> it is important. it got a white house, obviously not quite in the white house, but it's a whistleblower line to the va in the white house. that doesn't exist for an

>> we do, but its use as a primary identifier is still in the va processes. the icn is generated by the all special the information that is collected, so using that icn as a means to identify a veteran as their information traverses the system or a machine talking to machine, that has happened to a large extent already. is primarily the ssn use is when there is a human to human interface between a clinician in a patient. >> do you still have their social security numbers are in their little wristbands? >> yes, sir, we do and there's an effort underway to believe on a pilot level right now we are seeking to eliminate the full ssn with the goal of the complete elimination and there is also a barcode-- >> any timetable for that? >> sir, i would have to take that and provide that for the record because i'm not aware of the projects status. >> thank you, mr. oswald. ms. jackson, your testimony was interesting and you said by 2018 you will illuminate the social security number from the medicare number. you are moving at lightning speed for the federal government. th

major step towards reforming the va, will show you a ceremony at the white house.president side, but after this, stay with us. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from club. "blue monday" by new order. cheers. ] ♪ how does it feel the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. it's travel, better connected. the travel rewards credit card from bank of america. when heartburn hits fight back fast with new tums chewy bites. fast relief in every bite. crunchy outside. chewy inside. tum tum tum tum new tums chewy bites. >> martha: a very moving ceremony as they president trump send the va accountability act, an all important step towards writing the wrongs the past when some veterans died waiting for care. it gives the va secretary more power to punish at employees and extends protection for whistleblowers. a veteran who lost two limbs discussed what happened when he returned from war. >> on april 24th 2010, i stepped on an improvised explosive device that

. >> what i think a wait time showed us is at the va can't sit alone. work with the private sector. currently right now, we are about one-third of all veterans are getting care outside of the va. i'm looking to build an integrated system to make one system work for veterans. >> heather: joining me now is johnny joey jones and he's also a former bomb technician. thanks for joining me today. >> thanks for having me. speak to you during your last tour in afghanistan, you lost both of your legs above the knee. you know how the va works or doesn't work. can you share with us a recent personal experience? >> i worked for the house veterans affairs committee after my recovery, i've seen it from both sides. the nonprofit side as a patient, and someone trying to fix the problem. to bring to light, those boots on the ground, i recently had to do an intake screening at my local va south of atlanta and georgia and all the same problems that were there when i worked in 2010 seemed evident at the small clinic. things like communication, accountability, and culture. t

let me just tell you, this is the start of the process. vafferent from the department of defense, and for that reason the va while adopting this needs additional capabilities to maximize with our community providers. one-third of our health care goes outside the va into the community. this is critical that we can have the same interoperability with our community providers. we are going to have our clinicians very involved and how we develop the system and how we implement it. in many ways, the department of veteran affairs is actually well ahead of the department of defense and clinical i.t. innovation. we are not going to discard all the things that we've done in the past and in fact that is how we are going to help dod get better. it is a system that will strengthen care for veterans and our active service members. we are going to be embarking upon something that has never been done before. that is an integrated product, using the dod platform but it is going to require this integration with other vendors to create a system for veterans so

this is what we saw in the washington dc va several weeks ago. we have taken immediate steps to begin to start fixing these inventory systems and we are executing on those plans. currently 75% of the i.t. budget is just maintenance and sustaining infrastructure, because our legacy systems are old and at risk of failing. that would cripple our operations. howard scheduling -- our scheduling and financial systems are outdated. that contributes to the excess weight times. both systems are in the process of being replaced, but it will take years to complete. we have a system called valeria. the va loan electronic reporting interface. without funding for a new system, va will have to revert to a paper-based manual system for loans that would reduce the number of veterans we serve from 90,000 per year to only 12,000 per year. we can't afford to let that happen. veterans could be at risk of foreclosure or homelessness. for loans that would reduce the that's a risk we have identified. we have to modernize all i.t. systems to make them commercially viable

this after years of stories that highlight ked chaos in the va tt found dozens of veterans who died or times across the country. this brings us to our shameful treatment of veterans going all the way back to world war ii when the u.s. military tested highly toxic and sometimes lethal mustard gas on thousands of american troops. what's more shameful, most of the veterans who were used in those secret experiments have been denied the basic treatment and care they deserve, this for some seven decades. but as our jake tapper found out, a new bill could change that. >> the squad is sent into a gas chamber and gas is released. >> reporter: exposed to toxic chemicals is a new experience to a massive generation. more than seven decades after world war ii, hundreds of surviving veterans that participated in secret mustard gas sprermexperiments and other training suffer huge health issues. 98-year-old harold cannot prove that it has contribute to his health problems. he has continual scarring and respiratory trouble, but without concrete proof, there is little help from the va. according to that

mark. >> the va bill. no. get to that. real simple. i haven't been watching the hearings like you have not, but director comey twice accused the president of the united states of lying this morning. do you have any comment -- >> i think there will be a he said/he said thing on this and i won't comment. >> you have been in the oval office. any sense those were being taped. >> i have no idea about that. i thought you had your hand up, juan. >> i'm with the cnf news. >> your him inda, president trump's budget calls for prohibiting any funding in the labor and hhs, including title 10 money from going to planned parenthood. are you clear in making sure the bill points all funding including title 10 funding dish. >> two great progresses on the issue and the best place is because we don't want to have to good over a 6-0 vote threshold, is to reconcile this. this is in our reconciliation package so it's more important for us to deliver the result than to just have the issue and to deliver the result to stop fungible money going to finance abort

so you know a thing or two about the va. and the senate is passing the va accountability act. ry? >> well, it allows the military to actually fire workers at the va who are not doing their job. it's controversial in washington, d.c. because the union has such a grip in that town. what it does is shorten the process and gives the difference to the secretary. so like these employees that are fired can't be resurrected. we always do these stories. a year later, they got their job back. they got their job back. brian: or they get their pay and their pension. >> or they get their pay and their pension. this bill stops that. plus it gives additional protection to whistle-blowers. and the union hates it because it could set a precedent across government. a government job is internal life. you have it forever. so if you're a government worker, you could be fired. my former organization concerned veterans for america helped the beginning on this. the house affairs committee jeff miller. but president obama was never going to sign it. so we had to work it and work it and work it for year

. >> reporter: he has a 2015 medical document from a neurosurgeon at the va hospital. she wrote he was exposed to agent orp, pcb's and possibly radiation. the doctor responded to our inquiries about her diagnosis to only say she no longer worked at the va hospital. the va benefits office told him he doesn't think his health problems came from his service. after world war 2, military men were sent to witness the greatest most destructive weapons of the time, atomic bombs. >> you close your eyes like this, you could face the bomb blast but you weren't supposed to see it. >> reporter: he served on a navy fleet in 1946. he says he was one of the lucky ones not commanded to go into the blast zone. >> they were on a ship out maybe ten miles away from the actual blast during the bomb drop, but they were sent back in the next day when this radiation was everywhere on the ship, in every crack. and then there was the guys that were sent in to wash down the ships to try to get rid of some of the radiation to make it safer for nor guys to go in. that was very poorly handled. >> rep

he said this is what the va needs right now. >> some of the things at the va are dated. he new. >> the deal will give the va access to the university's labs and technology. in return the school's researchers and students will receive valuable experience working with vets at the hospital and on the campus in newark. >>> drivers in new jersey will soon celebrate their birthdays by getting their license renewed. yesterday governor chris christie signed a law that changes drivers license expiration dates from the last day of the month every four years to the driver's birthday. christie suggested the change is a way to ease wait times at the state's motor vehicle offices. the new law takes effect next year and will aemploy to cards issued or renewed after that date. >>> joe biden is looking forward to spending the summer in his new beach house in delaware. his first beach house in delaware, i should say. the former vice president and his wife recently purchased a home. biden tells us he and jill have dreamed of buying a place at the beach where they could bring their whole fam

this is the start of the process. va different than the department of defense's. for that reason va while it is adopting identical vhr to dod, needs capabilities to maximize inneroperability with our community providers. 1/3 of our health care goes outside of the va into the community this is critical we can have the same inneroperability with our community providers. we'll have our va clinicians involved how we develop the system and implement it. in many ways the department of veteran affairs is actually well ahead of the department of defense in clinical i tee innovation. we'll not discard all the things we have done in the past. that is you how we will help dod get better this system will strengthen care for veterans and our active servicemembers. we'll be embarking upon something that has never been done before. that is an integrated product, using the dod platform but it will require this integration with other vendors to create a system for veterans so they can get care both in the community as well as the departm

a lot of our problems and, you know, medicine, i applaud this president for what he's doing with the va. my husband has a doctor he lost my husband's records in about 2009. if he put them on microfish the way he should have since the 1980s he wouldn't have lost my husband's records and my husband -- >> pat, we have to leave it. thanks. >> pat, no one is saying we should tell you how to spend your money how to buy food. this is the government's -- this is the taxpayer money that we're spending. you make a very good point on the va. what the va announced the other day was a really important thing. they're going to expedite the procurement of medical records for the veterans served by the veterans administration simply using the same vendor that the department of defense is using for the very same purpose and doesn't make sense to go out and go through a whole new expensive procurement to acquire the same capacity in the va that we're getting now in the department of defense. so that was an example where the trump administration i think is really done a good thing for taxpayers and most im

give the va access to the university's labs and technology.in return the school's researchers and students will receive valuable experience . >>> celebrating birthdays by getting their license renewed. governor chris christie changes the date from the last day of the month to the driver's birthday. governor christie suggested the change is a way to ease wait times at the state's motor vehicle offices. it will apply to cards issued or renewed after that. 5:38 right now on this saturday. coming up taking dinner to new heights. >>> plus, a warning the shore, serving as a lesson to others before they dive in this weekend. right now, our grill masters are introducing fire to steak. a beautiful char coats the outside, locking all the flavors and juices inside. a miracle happening right before your eyes. now, come eat the miracle. you can't fake steak. longhorn steakhouse. tonight's special, grill master favorites. try our new hickory salt-crusted filet, our grilled hawaiian salmon, or our outlaw ribeye. for lunch, try our steakhouse burger, or any s

the d.c. va medical is one of america's largest and busiest. it just had a major house cleaning. were rushed in. they are days into the job and now the new leaders face new questions. monday, may 15th, the sister of a veteran from northeast, d.c., said her brother went for treatment on irving street but never returned home. she said the family was worried and called them to see it they could search. called the next day and the next night. just before evening on tuesday, more t searching in the parking lot herself. according to this d.c. police report, she found him, slumped over, unconscious in his car in the parking lot at the medical center. speaking to us off-camera inside her home, the veteran's sister called the failure to find her brother before he died, unacceptable. >> we're still in the process of investigating the timeline that you speak of. >> reporter: larry connell is the new acting director. >> i met with the veteran's sister that evening, expressed our condolences on that and reached out to her to see if she needed anything. >> reporter: we've learned investigators

people in the va wouldn't work where they do much worse than not and you couldn't fire them. you couldn't get rid of them. they were hanging around, receiving money. they weren't taking care of our veterans. i was taking care of our veterans appointment voted for me overwhelmingly. i just had my own heart, a very strong obligation. we had a pass. tom cotton and some of the other people were so involved that they worked so hard and so long and now is a tough one to get through. now they do have accountability. pete: by would've though that makes so much common sense, why would it be hard to get back? >> they have a very difficult fight. you have unions. the unions don't see anything like that where you can fire someone right away if they are not doing a good job. it's called accountability. a lot of forces you can imagine and you know them better than anyone. you are one of the reasons -- i used to watch you on fox talking about the veterans with such heart. you are one of the factors i will tell you when we started speaking about it. we've done a lot for the veterans, but she

. >> the trump plan will make the va great again. the executive, all of these executives let veterans down. you are fired. rob: donald trump will make a move toward that promise, details on the va accountability bill. heather: 20 veterans a day taking their lives, the white house calling the statistic unacceptable and working hard to put our heroes who fought for our freedom overseas first here at home. commander in chief at the va accountability office making it easier to fire corrupt employees who work for the payment of veterans affairs, rocking the agency in 2014, reportedly died waiting for appointments sparking nationwide outrage. the disciplinary process, the new law cut the 30 day advance notice to ten. the appeals process fired to pay back the relocation expenses. secretary of veterans affairs, huge steps in the right direction. >> allows us to make sure somebody is in the wrong place, i have the authority to remove them and that will make a big difference to the thousands of employees who come to work for the right reasons a

thanks to years of research and effort, the va introduced a revolutionary new prosthetic. va secretary david shulkin and luc recipient and army veteran. you served in vietnam. silver star for valor. four purple hearts. tell us more about your service. >> i was in the infantry in the u.s. army and 67 and '68. i got hit. i tent about a year in the hospital after that. it was a bouncing betty landmine, flies out of ground, explodes waste high. blew this arm off. almost lost my legs. pete: thank you for your service. you're why the va exists. you're happy because you have a piece of technology at the va facility. tell me about the luc arm. >> i control it by my feet. when i move my feet they send signals up to 10 computers. i can rotate the foot. rotate the hand. can close the pincher. rotate my left foot use this to manipulate the wrist. i can take a switch and i can take this, move my elbow which these last two functions are not available in anything else. pete: what is it like to have the ability to do this? >> it's great, fors first time in 49 areas i have the ability to g

the va has 532 forms, the majority of which are not acceptable by modern browsers.ices still use paper forms including 90% of health care applications and 86% of claims. our veterans deserve better and that is what we are going to deliver. civilian agencies maintain over 1.6 million email addresses beyond credit servers which are made by over 30 different contracts paying on average $20 per user per month. agencies that have migrated to cloud-based email have seen these costs are reduced to as little as $3 per user. our goal here is that simple. we are here to improve the day-to-day lives of the average citizen. that is a core promise and we are keeping it. together we will unleash the creativity of the private sector to provide citizen services in a way that has never happened before. we will foster a new set of start-ups focused on government technology and be the global leader in the field, making government more transparent and responsive. we are encouraged by the enthusiasm and collective desire to succeed and we have already begun to see many improvements. two

the most awarded luxury suv of the century. >> he says the va is still in critical condition. more details. >> it's no secret in washington the department of veteran affairs has bee in a state of disrepair for a very long time. now the trump administration has released its first state of the va report with secretary david shulkin offering bleak assessment of the department and saying there'sa lot of work who do and starts with decreasing patient wait times. >> the first area is access and of course as you know we started with our wait time issue in 2014. the crisis that began recently va. >> amopping most alarming nipding 14 va healthcare center long wait times in at least 30 locations nationwide and out of date facilities often understaffed and shulkin said he will not ask for additional funding. we had enough money to do its job. >> problem in va will not necessarily be solved through additional money it will be through management, practices, focuses changes. >> whether it comes for increase in total va funding and some veterans groups are applauding the president and sores

they might know someone who has been to the va. >> look at the wait times and quality of care at the va. manage look at the va and saying you know what they need? 300 million more people. what could go wrong. people who like single payer don't know anything about it. when i was a kid i loved 10cds for a penny until i got 10cds for a penny. but it's ridiculous. if you know about single payer you couldn't possibly be for it. kennedy: this pew research poll is laughable because it says a majority of respondents feel the republicans cut too much money, they don't spend enough. >> it's a very strange thing. government healthcare for all sounds wonderful. but it also means no competition and no choice which means no winners. the poll speaks to ways going on with this healthcare debate it's so complicated nobody knows what the best course of action is. we are not just talking about democrats versus republicans. we are talking about republicans versus republicans. is it better to pass a bad -- kennedy: it doesn't even lower costs. >> you need a bill that lowers costs to health coverage and im

it comes after scandals within the va were exposed a few years ago. >> veterans who were put on secret wait lists, given the wrong medication, given the bad treatments, and ignored in moments of crisis for them. many veterans died waiting for a simple doctor's appointment. what happened was a national disgrace >> the president calls the law one of the biggest reforms in the va's history. >>> former president barack obama getting back on the campaign trail. but not for himself. he's going to be backing democratic ralph northam in the govern's race in virginia. state that democrats have lost general elections in -- during some of the previous elections. >> president obama has not campaigned for congressional elections this year, ralph will fade he did gillespie, a long time republican party leader in november. >> wow. pretty popular still and he's still talking quite a bit. even though out of office >> it's interesting because he early on, the challenger tom perriello was in his ads, so it's interesting to see him coming in to back rather northam wil may signal how much the democrats wan

we have been strongly pushing for the passage of the va accountability act to ensure employees of the va can be held accountable if they fail our great veterans. the senate and the house is voting tomorrow. tomorrow we have a big vote, david, and i think we will be in good shape. that is something that is going to be great for our veterans. hear from secretary cost about a major announcement later this week expanding apprenticeships and getting people back to work. ofhave the lowest numbers unemployment in many, many years . at the same time, i have always argued with that number, because it does not take into account millions and millions of people that have given up looking for jobs. we will be doing something about that, and we will be getting those people back to work. it is starting in ohio, pennsylvania, north carolina, south carolina, florida. you see the numbers. i call them the forgotten men and women, but they will not be forgotten for much longer, believe me. there are millions of jobs that do not require a four-year debt that massive often comes with those four-year degree

we've also been pushing for the passage of the va county building act to ensure employees of the va can be held accountable. if they fail, our great veterans, it's pass the senate and the house is voting tomorrow. so tomorrow we have a big boat coming up, david, and i think we'll be in good shape but that something that is going to be great for our veterans. we are also going to hear from secretary about a major announcement that i'll be making later this week, expanding apprenticeships and getting our people back to work. while we have the lowest number in terms of unemployment in many, many years, at the same time i've always argued with that number because it doesn't take into account millions and millions of people that if given up looking for jobs. and we are going to be doing something about that and we'll get those people back to work. it's already starting in a while, it's starting in pennsylvania. a north carolina, south carolina, florida here you see the numbers and they are starting. i called them the forgotten men and women but they will not be forgotten much longer, believe

in terms of the complexity of this program, it results in va rejecting one out of five community care claims. the rules are so complex and people are so confused, 20% of our claims are rejected, much higher than what you would find in the private sector. we need congress to help us fix those eight programs and put them into a single program. in terms of our choice program, we still today only have three department of defense facilities that participate in the choice network. we need to get the department of defense and va to make all their facilities and our facilities open to veterans and active service members. we certainly have to work with congress and our veterans service organizations to redesign this choice program. it will expire at the end of the year and we need new legislation, this congress, to make sure veterans don't go back to waiting longer than they need to wait to get care in the community, so we need to pass legislation this year. the next area is quality. quality of care in the v.a. we shared with you our star rating systems. we now publish that on our websites. we

so when i went back home, i was basically unemployable but i still had access to the va. t saved my life. but most of the vets who end up in my situation are given oth discharges and denied health care. >> reporter: the va estimates that more than 500,000 veterans currently have an other than honorable discharge status, often the result of crime or misconduct. in most cases, it acts as something of a scarlet letter, preventing the veteran from receiving important federal benefits, including health care. >> there's no court proceedings, there's no guilty verdict. someone can be denied a lifetime of health care and benefits for, you know, essentially a misinterpretation of ptsd symptoms. >> reporter: goldsmith is the founder of high ground veterans advoca advocacy, a non-profit organization aimed to improve the lives of these service members. earlier this year an unexpected announcement seemed to boost its efforts. >> we are going to start providing mental health care for those that are other than honorably discharged for urgent mental health. >> reporter: starting next mont

many of our investigators work with the va investigators, many va investigators work with us. specific programs, we focused on over at recent times include programs in suicide prevention and in ptsd research. suicide prevention, we played an integral part in helping the va develop research to identify those veterans who are at highest risk of suicide. so that we can help them get into treatment and reduce the suicide rates among veterans. that's an ongoing program now that's being implemented throughout the veterans administration that will hopefully help save lives in the near future. we also are engaged in research programs, as i mentioned, particularly around ptsd, but in general around the mental health of veterans. one resource that the veterans administration has constructed, the million veterans program, is an area of active interest which we're engaged with them in trying to help our extramural investigators that we fund to use that data to better the health of veterans and really all americans. >> thank you, doctor. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator moran

however, there's a big difference between the eligible for va health care and being enrolled in va. oftentimes that's not even a choice that you can make. according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office, as many as 7 million of our veterans are eligible for va care but are not enrolled, preventing them from receiving tax credits would amount to a massive tax hike that would force them to pay thousands of dollars extra each year. that's not just mean. it's unacceptable. there's been ample reporting indicating that congressional republicans knew exactly whate they were doing. they could've included a fix to this but purposefully did not because that would've made their bill in eligible to be considered under the senate budget reconciliation process which only requires 51 votes. that's because this huge block of the veterans tax credit language you need to be considered in committees of jurisdiction. and that would entail holding public hearings and markups in committees which would been revealed to the american peoplen what exactly is in the republican bill. apparently, the co

. >>> gruesome discovery in the va hospital parking lot. investigation sparked by a news 4 iteam report on the death of a d.c. veteran. >>> "news 4 today" begins with breaking news. >> and that breaking news is about a power outage in the district right in the neighborhood near union station. >> we're following these developments out of capitol hill this morning. >> molette green is at the live desk with more. molette? >> reporter: yeah, we're talking about 1500 customers, residents and businesses included in that, without power in the dark this morning in the area of second and i street. of course, that area surrounding union station. tepco on the sceneor the problem, but looks for a while for that to be the case for a while longer. we've been following this since about 4:30 this morning. back to you, un. >> molette, thank you. >>> a busy friday morning. thanks for joining us early before your weekend. >> we want to get straight to your weather and traffic. news 4's weather team working for you. >> we begin with storm team 4 chuck bell live