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Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush wants to privatize more veterans care, make it easier to fire federal employees found responsible for poor treatment and overhaul the Pentagon to prioritize an increase in the number of active troops. The former Florida governor announced those and other veterans policy ideas Monday to open a two-day swing in the early voting state of South Carolina, where he visited a Veterans Affairs medical facility in Charleston and held a town hall-style meeting with veterans in Columbia. (Barrow, 8/17)

Bush’s VA reform plan, to be unveiled later Monday in advance of an appearance with Concerned Veterans for America in South Carolina on Monday night, includes expanding “choice” options for care outside the department without cutting funding for VA hospitals and medical staff. Instead, he promises that extra funds can be found through “cutting excess administrators (not caregivers)” and eliminating “billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse.” That includes more competitive bidding for department contracts and firing poorly performing employees. (Shane, 8/17)

The Republican presidential candidate unveiled a new veterans health-care plan on Monday at the start of a two-day visit to South Carolina, the place with the highest percentage of active-duty and retired military personnel among the first four early primary states. ... Bush said that revamping the VA and veterans health care overall would be "a top priority" if he's elected president. His ideas mirror those advanced last year by many Republican lawmakers, who responded with outrage to revelations of widespread mistakes and delayed care for veterans seeking medical treatment or referrals. (O'Keefe, 8/17)

Jeb Bush laid out his plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs and improve health care access for veterans during a campaign swing through South Carolina on Monday. (Frasier, 8/17)