Marco Rubio calls for improving veteran care

Marco Rubio called for improving the Veterans Administration through accountability, transparency and expanded health care choices Thursday, saying benefits should “follow” the veteran similar to how tuition benefits in the GI Bill follow students.

Current VA services would continue, Rubio said, but veterans need choices when it comes to health care.

“Veterans facing health problems of all kinds, including mental health issues, need to have the option to seek care from private providers in a way that also preserves traditional VA services,” he said at a West Des Moines event.

VA employees who are corrupt or negligent must be fired, and the system should publicly report metrics such as timeliness and cost-effectiveness of patient care, which would give insight into where it should improve, Rubio said.

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The focus on veterans’ issues may help differentiate Rubio from Republican front-runner Donald Trump, as well as Texas senator Ted Cruz, who secured a coveted endorsement Thursday by Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, political watchers said.

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“Right now, the conversation in Iowa is about Ted Cruz and Donald Trump,” said Chris Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa. “If (Rubio's) talking about immigration, it turns into a conversation about what Donald Trump is saying. Veterans benefits may be a safer or calmer issue to discuss.”

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Rubio is sitting in fourth place in Iowa, according to a rolling average of polls, behind Trump, Cruz, and Ben Carson. In order to snag one of the coveted three tickets out of Iowa — meaning, if he wants to place in the top three on caucus night, Feb. 1 — he will need to differentiate himself from the field, Larimer said.

But some fear that Rubio’s proposals might chip away at and ultimately undermine the current VA system.

Danny Homan, the vice chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said Rubio’s plan “would dismantle” a system that has developed specialized care for the often complex health needs of veterans.

The expertise gained by the VA system allowed doctors and other health experts to see and understand the relationship between Agent Orange and certain cancers, for example, which may not have otherwise been spotted.

John Derner, the American Legion’s Iowa adjutant, said reforms are needed but warned of taking them too far.

“It makes more sense to fix the VA Health System,” said Derner, explaining that a new choice option allows veterans to seek a different provider if wait times are longer than a month.

But veteran Shawn Christensen said he wants more private health care options. After sustaining a back injury while training with the Army in Texas, it took Christensen more than four years to win approval to see a specialist in Des Moines.

“You can’t imagine the red tape,” said his 75-year-old mother, Maxine Christensen.

And while many agreed that additional accountability is needed, veteran Daniel Gannon, who sits on the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs, said the state’s VA hospitals do an “outstanding” job.

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“I think they do a very good job of holding people accountable,” said Gannon, explaining that Iowa’s hospitals regularly report operating statistics, such as wait times, to the commission. But he added: “I think nationwide, we do have issues. And that needs to be fixed.”

At the event, Rubio introduced his older brother, Mario, who served in the Army Green Berets before the Florida senator was born.

Marco Rubio introduces his brother Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio introduces his brother Mario Rubio, an army veteran, while speaking at a town hall for military families and veterans on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

The candidate detailed his brother's struggle to receive orthodontic care through the VA after he was hit in the mouth during jump school, bending his front teeth backwards. Despite being seen by a dentist at Fort Benning at the time, the Army did not record the visit – making follow-up care difficult.

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Rubio recounted how his brother has been through the same experience as other veterans: Filing a benefits claim and waiting for a hearing, a process that can take up to three years.

“He’s often met with the same charm and efficiency at the VA that the rest of us find at the DMV,” Rubio quipped.

PHOTOS: RUBIO IN IOWA CITY

ABOUT THE EVENTS:

SETTING: An event room in West Des Moines, the Maintenance Shop in the Iowa State student union in Ames, and the Mediacom Outdoor Club in Iowa City.

CROWD: More than 100 in West Des Moines at an event held by the Concerned Veterans for America, and more than 200 in Ames, including mostly students, plus an overflow room of 50 people.

REACTION: The West Des Moines audience was friendly and gave Rubio a standing ovation as he concluded his remarks about veterans.

WHAT’S NEXT: Rubio will return to Iowa on Wednesday, his first campaign stop after the next GOP debate.