PURSUING VETS’ VOTES — Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are trying to win over the millions of veterans in the U.S. ahead of the November election, Ben and Chelsea report. More than a quarter of the 16 million veterans in the U.S. receive their health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. In the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, Trump saw veterans’ health as a winning issue, but his record is complicated by controversial comments about veterans, which has angered many of them. “There has been no greater advocate for our brave military men and women than President Trump,” Anna Kelly, an RNC spokesperson, told Pulse. His platform calls for expanding the choice for veterans in private health care and using savings from ending “luxury housing and Taxpayer benefits for Illegal Immigrants” to care for homeless veterans. Here are some key veterans’ health issues: Benefits: The Biden administration signed legislation two years ago expanding benefits for veterans exposed to toxins. More than 1 million claims have been approved under the act, totaling $6.8 billion in benefits, though the implementation has been rocky at times. Health care choices: As president, Trump signed into law the MISSION Act, which allows veterans to use VA-funded health care outside of the VA system. “It’s less expensive for us, it works out much better and it’s immediate care,” Trump said in 2018 when signing the bill. Harris supported the bill when she was in the Senate but later signed a bipartisan letter criticizing the Trump administration’s implementation of the law and raising concerns it was pushing the VA toward privatization and increased costs. EHR: Under Trump, the VA began a major modernization effort of its electronic health records, signing a contract with Oracle Health, known at the time as Cerner. The Biden administration continued the modernization but paused it last year after major fumbles. The modernization is set to resume in fiscal 2025.
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