VA Secretary Collins pushed back on concerns on plans to change the agency

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins pushed back on concerns about upcoming plans to modernize the agency during a House Veterans Affairs hearing.

Kentucky Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey emphasized that the new plans to change the VA aren’t clear and more information is needed.

In January, Collins had a proposal to change the VA so community healthcare could be expanded and third party administrators could be more involved, according to the Stars and Stripes news outlet.

Concerns from Democrats on the committee expressed worries that this new plan would get rid of “redundant” office jobs and veterans wouldn’t get proper medical care.

“You are going to hear all kinds of scary stories saying this is bad for VA, but I want to emphasize again: We are simply acting on more than a decade of advice from people and organizations who study this for a living and have been calling for change,” Collins said. “Those calls went unheeded for years, but those days are over.”

Collins said that resources should go where they are needed, not to an “amorphous” administrative office.

Republican Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans said she supported cutting red tape and to have less bureaucracy.

“I saw buildings filled with people, but I did not know what they were doing,” she said. “But the physicians and nurses were overwhelmed — those were people we needed more of.”