I hope you're all enjoying the first signs of summer in New Hampshire. I'm writing to give you a quick update on the work I've been doing on behalf of Granite State veterans over the last couple of weeks.
This week, I heard from VA officials during a House Veterans' Affairs Oversight and Investigations (O&I) Subcommittee Hearing on the VA's use of opioid prescription drugs in treating chronic pain. I'm deeply troubled by recent reports that the VA may be over-prescribing opioid medication to veterans with chronic pain issues, and failing to properly monitor the usage of these extremely potent and highly addictive drugs.
In addition to chronic pain, many of our veterans are also dealing with mental health issues like PTSD, and over-prescribing opioids to these veterans could prove to be potentially life-threatening and increase the risk of suicide among those at-risk. This is absolutely unacceptable, and I'm fighting to ensure that every VA center across the country is looking into alternative methods to treat chronic pain, so veterans can have a choice in their managed-care options.
I'm also continuing to work to protect and improve the Veterans Choice Card program to ensure better access to high quality health care for New Hampshire veterans. I would like to hear from you about whether you've used your card, what your experience has been so far, and whether you have any suggestions or thoughts about ways to continue to improve the program. Hearing your feedback will help me work to make this program better for all veterans.
During two other House VA Subcommittee hearings, I questioned VA officials about a lack of efficiency in the procurement process for non-VA care. It is the VA's duty to ensure that our veterans can access the highest quality of care at all times, and that includes non-VA care that has been procured through the VA. The VA cannot live up to this goal if VA officials are failing to properly pay for the services they've purchased, or if they are purchasing care and materials without first looking into the most cost-effective and high quality options. This recklessness needs to stop immediately, and I urged the VA to take action to fix this flawed system so our veterans can rely on the VA to provide the services they need.
Thank you to all our veterans and their families for their dedicated service and for helping to make the Granite State a wonderful place to live!
