Obama Backs 15 of 18 VA Commission Recommendations

President Barack Obama is backing 15 of the 18 recommendations made by the Commission on Care to improve service delivery at the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, he is resisting a bid to revise the way the VA's health care system is run. The recommendations are included in the commission's final report.

"We must...ensure that VA has the ability to operate this integrated health care system in a rational, efficient and dynamic way that best serves the interests of both veterans and taxpayers," Obama wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to Congress. "For that reason, I have concerns with the commission's proposed governance structure for the VA health care system."

VA Secretary Robert McDonald said in a statement that 12 of the 15 recommendations backed by the administration have been accomplished or are in progress via the MyVA initiative. McDonald also explained the agency's objection to a proposed board of directors for the Veterans Health Administration...