Inhofe, Coburn Split On VA Reform Bill
Oklahoma’s senators split on veterans health care reform bill
by Chris Casteel, NewsOK.com
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim Inhofe hailed legislation overhauling veterans health care programs as an important step toward rooting out waste and abuse, while Sen. Tom Coburn was one of only three senators to oppose the bill.
The Senate approved the final version, 91-3, on Thursday night after passage in the House on Wednesday by a vote of 420-5. All five U.S. House members from Oklahoma supported the legislation. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill soon.
Coburn, R-Muskogee, was among the senators who crafted the final version, and he has praised elements of the bill, including the new flexibility for firing senior officials in the Veterans Affairs Department and the restrictions he put on acquiring space for a new outpatient clinic in Tulsa.
But he tried to block the legislation Thursday afternoon because of the amount of new money authorized primarily for new facilities and health care professionals to clear a backlog of cases.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Coburn said, “Since 2009, the VA budget has increased 58.7 percent. (There has been) a 40 percent increase in the number of providers, with a 17 percent increase in the number of veterans using those providers.