PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2018-03-09 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Did President Trump Sign an Executive Order Giving Veterans Free Care at Any Hospital? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • In March 2018, a Facebook post deriding Trump haters and touting one of the president's accomplishments — an executive order that grants veterans free health care at any hospital in the United States — started going viral: There are a number of problems with this Facebook post, starting with the claim that President Donald Trump signed an executive order today (5 March 2018). A list of Presidential actions (including executive orders) available on the White House's web site shows that no executive order at all, whether for veteran's health care or anything else, was signed on this date. The language in this post seems to be referring to the Veterans Choice Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in August 2014. President Trump signed a bill to extend this program a few months before it was set to expire in August 2017: This was not an executive order; furthermore, the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 did not accomplish all of the things set out in this Facebook post, such as grant free health care at any hospital. The Veterans Choice Program expanded the availability of medical services for eligible Veterans with community providers, but it did not grant veterans the opportunity to receive completely free health care at any hospital of their choosing. A fact sheet provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs laid out the criteria for veterans to seek health care outside established providers: The VA elaborated on the criteria that veterans must meet in order to seek treatment at outside providers. Even then, the choice of hospitals is limited to the facilities that have agreed to participate in the program. Furthermore, this bill does not include a provision stating that it covered all of the health care provided at these facilities. Some veterans may be eligible for free health care services, but most are required to pay for a portion of their treatment: The future of the program is uncertain, however. Critics of the program say that it's too expensive, and that it could eventually lead to downsizing. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url