(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) are leading a group of bipartisan Senators to demand the VA take action to hold Health Net, the contractor that helps run the Veterans Choice Program, accountable for its “frustrating and completely avoidable” customer service problems and late payments to community providers.

Following years of Health Net’s poor performance and empty promises to improve its customer service, the Senators wrote to VA Secretary David Shulkin to urge him to take immediate action to guarantee that Health Net meets its contractual requirements and fulfills its responsibility to our nation’s veterans.

“Our home state providers deserve better than the miserable customer service provided to them by Health Net, who appears to be devoting even less attention to the Choice Program as its expiration nears,” the Senators wrote. “Moving forward, we expect VA to take immediate action to address our concerns so that the provider experience is improved. And if Health Net continues to underperform, we urge VA to immediately enforce penalties, including the potential discontinuation of any payments, until Health Net starts meeting all of its contractual obligations and most importantly, its responsibilities to America’s veterans.”

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) also signed the letter to Secretary Shulkin.

The full text of the Senators’ letter is available online HERE.