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Kansas Senator Moran Vows To Defend VA Health System

Zach Gibson
/
Getty Images/NPR.org

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is a frequent critic of the health care system run by the Veteran’s Administration. But at a recent town-hall meeting, the Kansas Republican made it clear he doesn’t want to replace it.

Moran is a strong supporter of the Choice Program, which gives veterans who live more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility the option of seeing private providers closer to home.

But he says he is opposed to efforts by some in the Trump administration to do away with the VA health care system.

“There ought to be more choices for veterans, more community care," Moran says. "But I don’t think it all means replacing the VA, and certainly, at this point, we don’t have the evidence that that is a workable solution anyways.”

Moran says veterans tell him that they prefer having their own health care system, and that, by necessity, VA hospitals are often better equipped to provide the kind specific care that wounded veterans need.

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Jim McLean is managing director of KMUW's Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and KCUR covering health, education and politics in Kansas. Follow him on Twitter @jmcleanks.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.