Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
VA Secretary: Wide-Scale Firings, Dismantling Agency Not The Way To Fix System
The Associated Press: Trump's Pick To Head VA Rejects Radical Change To Fix Agency
President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, David Shulkin, promises to meet the health care needs of millions of veterans and is rejecting a dismantling of the beleaguered agency or wide-scale firings as a way to do it. During the campaign, Trump described the VA as "the most corrupt" and "probably the most incompetently run" of all federal agencies. But as nominee David Shulkin, the VA's top health official, prepared for a Senate hearing Wednesday, the 57-year-old physician was suggesting more modest changes. (Yen, 2/1)
In other news —
KQED: Talking Is Easy For Therapists, Except When It’s About Guns. Veterans Want To Teach Them How.
[Jay] Zimmerman is a peer counselor at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. He also travels to conferences all over the country, sharing his story with therapists and with other vets. He tries to set an example that it’s okay to ask for help. Even today, if he’s not doing well, he disassembles his guns and stores them separately from ammunition, so he can’t make any rash decisions. If things get really bad, Zimmerman has a special arrangement with a few friends. (Dembosky, 2/1)
