Only 27,000 veterans have made appointments for private medical care since the Department of Veteran's Affairs Choice Card program rolled out at the start of November, Secretary Robert "Bob" McDonald said this week. It's such a tiny number compared with the 9 million people who use VA health care that McDonald has asked for "flexibility" to reallocate billions of dollars for other pressing matters, from hiring more claims officers to help wade through a vast veterans' benefits backlog to managing other patient medical needs.
