{"id":1053574,"date":"2025-06-16T15:28:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1053574"},"modified":"2025-06-16T15:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:28:18","slug":"trumps-extremely-disturbing-and-unethical-new-rule-allows-the-va-to-deny-veterans-medical-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-extremely-disturbing-and-unethical-new-rule-allows-the-va-to-deny-veterans-medical-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s \u201cExtremely Disturbing and Unethical\u201d New Rule Allows the VA to Deny Veterans Medical Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In his ongoing campaign of revenge and retribution, Donald Trump is attacking veterans\u2019 access to quality health care. In new guidelines following one of Trump\u2019s executive orders, Trump\u2019s Department of Veteran Affairs is allowing VA doctors to <\/em>refuse<\/em><\/a> to treat veterans based on their political or marital status. The Trump administration\u2019s mass firings and funding cuts have already devastated veterans and servicemembers across the country, exacerbating <\/em>staff shortages<\/em><\/a> and slashing <\/em>cancer trials<\/em><\/a>. Instead of protecting veterans\u2019 hard-earned benefits, Trump is using our military as <\/em>pawns<\/em><\/a> in his reckless political games. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: Donald Trump imposed an executive order that led to new guidelines allowing Veterans Affairs doctors to refuse to treat veterans based on their political or marital status.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian<\/a>: \u201c\u2018Extremely disturbing and unethical\u2019: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoctors at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order by Donald Trump. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity<\/strong>, documents reviewed by the Guardian show. The changes also affect chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, optometrists, podiatrists, licensed clinical social workers and speech therapists. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn interviews, veterans said the impact of the new policy would probably fall hardest on female veterans, LGBTQ+ veterans and those who live in rural areas where there are fewer doctors overall.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is threatening veterans\u2019 health care and hard-earned benefits through mass firings and funding cuts, and will inflict even more damage with his billionaire-first budget.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal News Network<\/a>: \u201cVA employees who work on the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) say<\/strong> the hiring freeze has affected the hiring of support staff<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cVeterans Crisis Line operators say they feel battered by Trump, DOGE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ProPublica<\/a>: \u201cEarlier this year, doctors at Veterans Affairs hospitals in Pennsylvania sounded an alarm. Sweeping cuts imposed by the Trump administration, they told higher-ups in an email, were causing \u2018severe and immediate impacts,\u2019 including to \u2018life-saving cancer trials.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe email said more than 1,000 veterans would lose access to treatment for diseases ranging from metastatic head and neck cancers, to kidney disease, to traumatic brain injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of Trump\u2019s chaotic funding cuts, veterans have struggled to access care through the VA. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Examiner<\/a>: \u201cVA layoffs spark concerns about veterans\u2019 care: \u2018This could be life or death\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe employee explained many of the calls they already receive from distressed veterans have to do with roadblocks regarding receiving their benefits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018A lot of these calls \u2014 they are calling because of their claims not going through, their claim getting denied. They just got bumped down from 50% to 10% or being worried about their SNAP benefits being cut or reduced,\u2019 the person explained.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cThe cramped conditions are the result of President Trump\u2019s decision to rescind remote work arrangements for federal employees, reversing a policy that at the V.A. long predated the pandemic. <\/strong>Since Mr. Trump\u2019s order, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been scrambling to find adequate office space for tens of thousands of health care employees, even those who see most or all of their patients virtually, while maintaining the legal requirement of confidentiality. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA social worker who treats homeless veterans in California said she was placed with a dozen other staff members in a windowless mailroom that was so crowded with undelivered packages that she had to move boxes to reach her cubicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has said it plans to eliminate 80,000 V.A. jobs, or roughly one-sixth of the total work force\u2026\u201d  <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his ongoing campaign of revenge and retribution, Donald Trump is attacking veterans\u2019 access to quality health care. In new guidelines following one of Trump\u2019s executive orders, Trump\u2019s Department of Veteran Affairs is allowing VA doctors to refuse to treat veterans based on their political or marital status. The Trump administration\u2019s mass firings and funding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1053574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s \u201cExtremely Disturbing and Unethical\u201d New Rule Allows the VA to Deny Veterans Medical Treatment - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-extremely-disturbing-and-unethical-new-rule-allows-the-va-to-deny-veterans-medical-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-16T19:28:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-16T19:28:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-extremely-disturbing-and-unethical-new-rule-allows-the-va-to-deny-veterans-medical-treatment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-extremely-disturbing-and-unethical-new-rule-allows-the-va-to-deny-veterans-medical-treatment\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s \u201cExtremely Disturbing and Unethical\u201d New Rule Allows the VA to Deny Veterans Medical Treatment - 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