VA Referrals to Private Doctors

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• In government, we often talk about the importance of building public-private partnerships. In San Jose, they aren’t just talking about building partnerships – they’re actually doing it. We talk to the woman making it happen, Lea King.

You can find all of our programs online: DorobekINSIDER.com and GovLoop Insights at http://insights.govloop.com.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. Government Executive: EPA Partially Adopts OMB’s Guidance on Cost of Regulations- “Amid ongoing criticism from many Republicans and business groups, the Environmental Protection Agency should more closely follow budget office guidance as it attempts to gauge the costs of rules it issues to protect air and water, Congress’ watchdog agency found. The Government Accountability Office reviewed seven of EPA’s regulatory impact analyses and found that while the agency adhered to Office of Management and Budget protocols to assure public communication during the rulemaking process it “generally did not use them as the primary basis for final regulatory decisions.”

2. Federal News Radio: VA referrals to private doctors on rise- “The Department of Veterans Affairs is significantly increasing its referrals of veterans to private doctors following a scandal over lengthy patient waiting times at many VA hospitals and clinics and falsified appointment records, VA Secretary Robert McDonald said Wednesday. McDonald spoke to a few hundred people at the American Veterans national convention. He is scheduled to visit the city’s VA hospital on Thursday.”

3. Defense One: Snowden Says the NSA Shut Down Syria’s Internet- “The National Security Agency inadvertently brought Syria’s Internet to a screeching halt nationwide in 2012 after a failed attempt to hack into the war-torn country’s communications data, according to a new claim by Edward Snowden. The fugitive leaker, in a sprawling new interview with Wired, said that NSA agents tried to exploit a core router of a major Internet service provider in order to tap into Syria’s emails. But the plot backfired, bringing the country’s Internet down for days amid an escalating civil war.”

4. Federal News Radio: Report: White House didn’t OK immigrant releases- “More than 2,000 immigrants facing deportation in 2013 were released strictly for budget reasons by immigration agency officials who kept the homeland security secretary in the dark about the plan, according to a federal watchdog’s report. This lack of communication led the Obama administration to wrongly deny for weeks that 2,228 immigrants facing deportation had been released, according to the report Tuesday from the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general. It also said officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not adequately plan for the increase in immigrant arrests at the Mexican border and did not track available funds or spending accurately.”

5. FCW: The story behind DOT’s cyber makeover- “Richard McKinney says that when he came to the Transportation Department as CIO in May 2013, the agency’s reputation for cybersecurity was dismal — marked by insufficient staff, inconsistent tools and siloed visibility. “If you’re not doing well in cybersecurity, that’s like the canary in the coal mine,” McKinney told attendees at the Aug. 13 Federal Forum in Washington, D.C. “It’s indicative of other things. It’s indicative of infrastructure and governance. I don’t know anyone who is doing IT very well and screwing up in cyber.”

6. Government Executive: Transparency Groups Want to Oust CIA Chief As White House Backs Him- “In the latest twist in the feud between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee over a report on torture, an alliance of 20 transparency advocacy groups has called for the firing of Director of Central Intelligence John Brennan. The White House on Wednesday restated its previous assertions of full confidence in the director, who recently apologized to senators for having assured them—erroneously, according to a CIA inspector general’s report—that CIA staff did not hack into senate staff computers on loan from the intelligence agency containing raw material on the agency’s controversial use of “enhanced interrogation” of terrorism suspects during the George W. Bush administration.”

7. NPR: Government Watchdogs Complain Of Closed Doors Set Up By White House- “Not all the watchdogs in Washington work outside the government. Some are paid officials of the government. Lately, some of these inside watchdogs have started to bark. And it’s not a bark of joy. Inspectors general, as they’re called, are supposed to uncover government fraud. But they say all too often, they’re getting stonewalled instead. The IGs want better access to information from the Obama administration—and they’re winning support from members of Congress.”