{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-questions-va-secretary-mcdonough-on-implementation-of-mission-act", "Rounds Questions VA Secretary McDonough on Implementation of MISSION Act", "2021-12-04", "2021", "2021-12", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "Mike Rounds", "R000605", "www.rounds.senate.gov", "rounds", "https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) released the following statement after a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) hearing on Wednesday where he questioned VA Secretary Denis McDonough on claims the VA\u2019s Care In The Community administrators are purposely limiting a Veteran\u2019s ability to seek care from a local healthcare provider.\n\n\u201cThe Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is changing its existing referral process by implementing the Referral Coordination Initiative (RCI). According to the VHA\u2019s RCI guidebook, this initiative \u201cshifts the referral responsibility from providers to Referral Coordination Teams (RCTs) which include clinical and administrative staff.\u201d said Rounds.\n\nA recent USA Today news investigation published on November 1, 2021, shows a disturbing trend of VA administrators overruling decisions made between veterans and their providers to seek care in the community. The article states: \u201cA review of thousands of pages of department manuals and medical records, along with interviews with dozens of patients, advocates and providers, shows that VA administrators are overruling doctors\u2019 judgments and preventing them from sending their patients outside the VA health care system.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think it goes back down to dollars and cents,\u201d said Rounds. \u201cI have concerns that these examples are not isolated and that they could be the result of the implementation of the RCI in a way that diminishes a veteran\u2019s ability to receive care from a local healthcare provider.\u201d\n\nTo watch the full exchange, please visit: https://youtu.be/x9P6szNOJHE\n\nIf you or a family member are being restricted by the VA from using the Care in the Community Benefit you\u2019ve earned, please contact one of our local offices. We can be reached toll free at 844-875-5268 or by sending an email through our website rounds.senate.gov.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:37:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-questions-va-secretary-mcdonough-on-implementation-of-mission-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5387150924652815, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}