AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree called Thursday on President Barack Obama’s administration to fire the contractor managing a troubled veterans health care program in Maine.
Pingree’s complaint centers on the Veterans Choice Program, which was passed by Congress in 2014 after a national wait-time scandal. But the new program has not eliminated waits, particularly in Maine, where fewer than half of the 4,300 veterans requesting care between July 2015 and January got appointments.
That data on waiting times — presented to representatives of Maine’s congressional delegation and veterans service organizations in January — prompted angry reactions from the delegation, with U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King calling it “disturbing and unacceptable.”
But Pingree, a Democrat from Maine’s 1st District, took that a step further on Thursday, when she said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs should replace Health Net, the California company that is one of the $10 billion program’s two contractors.
Much of the blame for problems in Maine fell squarely on Health Net at the January meeting at the VA Maine Healthcare System in Togus, with VA employees and advocates saying it has green-lit services for veterans that VA doctors haven’t recommended and that providers haven’t been paid or have dropped out of the program because of administrative burden.
Advocates also expressed dismay that the company has no Maine-based employees. January was the first time that many of them had met the company’s New Hampshire-based employee handling provider relations.
Pingree’s call for Health Net’s removal came in a release after talking with David Shulkin, the VA’s undersecretary for health, who is scheduled to visit department facilities in Togus, Bangor and Caribou next week. She said Shulkin agreed to consider her request for Health Net to add a Maine-based employee.
“We get calls regularly from veterans who just can’t get an appointment or can’t get through to someone from Health Net,” she said in a statement. “I think they are a big part of the problem and it’s time for the VA to find someone new to run this program.”
The program is aimed at veterans waiting long periods for care, allowing patients to be treated by private doctors if they live 40 miles or more from a VA facility or if they have waited 30 days for care, are getting services not offered by the VA or require frequent appointments.
In a statement, Billy Maynard, CEO of Health Net’s federal services subsidiary, said the company has “made many improvements to veterans’ experiences,” with appointments having more than doubled since July and “similar progress” on provider payments.
“I pledge to the veterans of Maine that Health Net Federal Services will do everything possible within the bounds of the contract we are obligated to fulfill to facilitate and expedite the care you have earned and deserve,” he said.