Trump transition floats more private options for veterans' health care - Politico (blog)

"We think we have to have kind of a ... public-private option," an official said. | Getty

Upping the ante on his calls to reform the veterans health care system, President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday convened a meeting to explore additional ways to enable veterans to obtain private medical treatment, a senior transition official told reporters.

Trump met with a group of private-sector health care executives, including Mayo Clinic chief executive John Noseworthy and Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, who is considered a top contender to be the next secretary of Veterans Affairs.

The group discussed "how would you implement a program that could get vets the ability to go to any hospital that they wanted to go to," the transition official said.

"We think we have to have kind of a ... public-private option," the official added. "It's one of the options on the table."

In certain cases, the VA currently farms out medical treatment to the private sector, including for veterans waiting for appointments in the government-run system and those who have to travel significant distances to VA hospitals and clinics.

But some Republicans have pushed for a completely open system, commonly known as choice, while Democrats have said the move would effectively amount to privatizing a system that was designed to focus on the unique needs of military veterans.

Veterans organizations are also wary that Trump, and his eventual pick for VA secretary, could privatize the VA. A slew of those groups have pushed Trump to keep on the current secretary, Robert McDonald, arguing that reform efforts are only just bearing fruit.