Source: United States Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven
Senator Advancing Permanent Exemption from Duplicative Regulations to Ensure Better Access to Health Care, LTC Providers for Veterans
WASHINGTON – At a hearing of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee this week, Senator John Hoeven urged U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to help secure permanent regulatory relief enabling more health care facilities, including long-term care (LTC) providers, to serve veterans. Specifically, Hoeven is working to advance a permanent exemption from burdensome and duplicative mandates under the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), stressing that the OFCCP regulations:
- Come in addition to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) standards and reviews, resulting in increased costs and discouraging health care providers from contracting with the VA.
- Limit veterans’ ability to access care in their home communities, particularly from nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other LTC providers.
- Already have a permanent exemption in place for TRICARE providers.
“Too often, veterans are unable to access local long-term care providers because of costly federal rules that prevent the facilities from accepting VA reimbursement,” said Hoeven. “Our veterans have earned their VA benefits, and they shouldn’t be forced to travel long distances or move away from their home communities just to access the health care they need. That’s why we worked to put this moratorium from the duplicative mandates in place, and we continue pressing both the VA and DoL to provide a permanent exemption, which would best serve the interests of our veterans and the providers they rely on.”
Hoeven previously secured a moratorium on the OFCCP regulations in 2020, following his efforts with the VA and the DoL under the Trump administration. With the moratorium set to expire on May 7, Hoeven is working to ensure the exemption is extended until a permanent solution can be put in place, providing certainty to LTC and other health care providers that contract with the VA. To this end, Hoeven also recently wrote to Secretary McDonough and DoL Acting Secretary Julie Su, pressing for this issue to be addressed before the moratorium’s expiration.
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