A bipartisan bill unveiled Thursday in Congress aims to fix a troubled attempt to streamline access to health care for military veterans.

The Veterans Choice Program was created in 2014 to serve veterans facing long waits to see doctors. To ease the backlogged Veterans Affairs system, the program brought in third-party administrators to schedule medical appointments for veterans. It also allowed veterans to visit private clinics when a VA clinic was out of reach.

But Montana veterans have said the change further limited their access to medical care. And VA officials have said the $10 billion Congress allocated has been held out of reach when veterans return to VA offices after opting out of Veterans Choice.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., announced a bipartisan reform bill on Thursday that intends to give some of the flexibility and funding lost due to Veterans Choice back to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The Choice program is broken,” Tester said during a conference call on Thursday. “This will not fix all of Choice’s problems … but this is a giant step — and I mean giant — step forward.”

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said provisions he crafted for earlier legislation are among the reforms proposed for Veterans Choice.

“One of the top concerns I hear from veterans as I travel the state are issues with the Choice Act,” Daines said Thursday in a news release. “I’m proud to secure the reforms that our Montana veterans deserve and have long been asking for.”

In Montana, there are 5,000 unscheduled appointments through the program, according to Tester’s office. More than half the veterans on that list have waited more than three months to see doctors.

Tester said since Veterans Choice was rolled out, his staff’s workload related to veterans’ issues has grown by 20 percent.

He said work on the bill began in February after his office held 28 meetings across the state to get veterans’ opinions of the program.

He heard stories like that of former Marine Carey Dill of Kalispell, who waited nearly five months to see an allergist for throat problems. Dill said when he finally got an appointment, he realized he was booked to see a skin allergist.

Former Army Pvt. Glen Hook of Kalispell said it took roughly five months to update his glasses. When the glasses arrived, he said they were the wrong prescription.

Robert Smith, a former Marine living in Columbia Falls, has a bulging disk in neck. Smith said he received the injury on active duty in 1986 and, while it always caused pain, his migraines didn’t start until last year.

Smith said he has waited since February to get an appointment with a specialist. For now, he relies on pain pills to manage the migraines.

On top of waiting to see a doctor, Smith said he keeps getting calls from providers asking for payment on appointments booked through Veterans Choice.

“The lag in communication, well it’s a big time frame to be waiting for answers on your health care — health care that’s been promised to me for life,” Smith said.

Tester said providers have opted out of Veterans Choice after waiting months to receive reimbursement from Health Net, a California-based company responsible for administering Veterans Choice for Montanans. He said Health Net’s delay in payments has further limited veterans’ options for health care.

“The way timely care is supposed to work certainly isn’t waiting months just to hear back from Health Net,” Tester said in an interview earlier this week. “Veterans should be hearing back within a few days, and if [Health Net] can’t do that, they should get out of the business.”

According to Health Net officials, the company has connected with more than 365,000 health-care providers throughout the United States. They did not release how many providers the company had secured in Montana.

This month, Montana became one of five Veterans Affairs locations that kicked off a pilot program that allows veterans to return to the VA for services if Health Net doesn’t schedule an appointment within seven days.

Tester said the new legislation stretches elements of that pilot program across the nation.

The bill would allow VA offices the nation to work with private clinics to schedule appointments. It would also give the VA the ability to tap into Choice dollars to cater to veterans who opt out of the program.

The new bill would require the VA to pay interest if health-care providers don't receive reimbursement through the Choice program within 30 days.   

He said he expected the bill to reach the Senate floor early in May.

“I think it’s going to pass the Senate, but I can make no prediction on the House,” Tester said. He said he hopes the nonpartisan momentum the bill currently has will carry it into law.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.