Sullivan receives commitments from VA Secretary nominee on key priorities for Alaska Veterans

Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), received commitments from former Representative Doug Collins (R-Ga.), President Trump’s nominee to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), regarding critical priorities for Alaska veterans.

Specifically, Congressman Collins committed to coming to Alaska, working to re-establish a VA call center in Alaska, resolving the backlog of thousands of veterans nationwide seeking care, and working with Alaska Native health organizations to better serve veterans in rural areas of the state.

Senator Sullivan has been working since he first took office in 2015 to return VA call centers to the state after they were outsourced to contractor-operated call centers in the Lower 48 following the passage and implementation of the Choice Act in 2014. When it was initially implemented, veterans from around the state had difficulties making appointments and often found their appointments cancelled due to lack of funding.

“We need to bring a call center back to my state with people who understand what the state's all about and to help bring down this very big backlog,” Senator Sullivan stated during the committee hearing, part of the nominee’s confirmation process. “So can I get your commitment on that, Congressman, to help our veterans?”

“It is really disturbing to me that there are 5000 Alaskan veterans…waiting for health benefits,” Representative Collins said. “This is not a benefit backlog. This is a health care backlog. That means there's 5000 souls that are there not getting help.” The congressman said he was surprised at the numbers, telling the senator that it was something worth looking into if he is approved.

“Sometimes, things get lost in bureaucracy and you think it looks good but then after the actual real world application, you have to go back and make changes. I'm willing to commit to you to look at that and see if we can make it better so that they understand that Ketchikan’s an island and they can't drive to Anchorage.”

The VA vowed to address the problems back in 2015, launching the Alaska Pilot Program will attempt to fix Alaska’s problem, in part, by putting the scheduling of appointments back into the hands of Alaskans. However, despite the agreed-upon deadlines for the Alaska Pilot Program, by December of that year, the VA admitted that they had not met their deadline. According to the VA, no staff had been hired nor had they even created job descriptions.

Senator Sullivan also pressed for a commitment to continue fostering the relationship between the VA and Alaska Native health organizations to extend the reach of care into very rural parts of Alaska and partner to get Alaska Native veterans.

“It’s really worth it to expand and extend VA health care for Native Alaskans, non-Native Alaskans in the most rural parts of our state.”

“I’m willing to commit to do that also in any other district across this country where we can partner to make sure our veterans are getting health care that they need, and especially in a unique situation like that,” Representative Collins told him.

The Senator also extended an invitation to Representative Collins to visit Alaska.