The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation to allow
patients facing long waits for care at Veterans Affairs facilities to get
VA-paid treatment from local doctors.
Tuesday's 421-0 vote was Congress' latest response to the outcry
over backlogs and falsified data at the VA.
The bill is similar to a broader measure that the Senate plans
to debate soon.
The action comes with the VA reeling from growing evidence that
workers fabricated data on veterans' waits for medical appointments in an
effort to mask frequent, long delays.
A VA audit this week showed that more than 57,000 new patients
waited at least three months for initial appointments.
Republican Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida
