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Weeks after a veterans’ health initiative received $2.1 billion in emergency funding, the Trump administration says the private-sector Veterans Choice health care program may need additional money as early as December to avoid a disruption of care for hundreds of thousands of veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs said in a statement that it hoped to move quickly on a proposed long-term legislative fix that would give veterans even wider access to private doctors. The proposal, under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would seek money to keep Choice running for much of next year as VA implements wider changes. (Yen, 9/27)

Sen. John McCain is demanding a full accounting from the Department of Veterans Affairs on the financial status of its private-sector health care program. The Associated Press reported this week that the Veterans Choice program could run out of money by year’s end, despite receiving $2.1 billion in emergency funding last month. (Yen, 9/28)

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin implored senators Wednesday to change hiring laws so he can more quickly staff up the agency’s mental health department, as veteran suicide rates remain high. "We are going to need legislative changes,” Shulkin said at a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing. (Mejdrich, 9/27)

Amid criticism of what’s been called a slow federal response to Hurricane Maria destruction in Puerto Rico, the Pentagon said Wednesday that it will switch its efforts to land-based, long-term support. (Steele, 9/27)