The crass political decision to “eliminate” waiting lists by moving them inside the VA system brought a new problem to light. Why was the wait inside the system so long? For years a common complaint among veterans’ groups was that the VA wasn’t properly funded. Now it became apparent that underfunding at the VA had reached a critical level.
Today the “inside” waiting lists are longer than ever. The current VA healthcare budget does not even keep up with the rate of inflation. And, thousands of troops returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan who need immediate medical attention add to the backlog.
How Long?
Every VA facility is experiencing budget problems that force veterans to wait for healthcare inside the system. One of the most stunning examples of budget problems is the VA hospital in Portland, Oregon. The Portland hospital continues to enroll veterans in the VA system even though they know they cannot care for them.
One VA employee told me that some enrollment clerks tell newly-enrolled veterans that they may have to “wait a while” to see a doctor. And others just “welcome” veterans to the VA and send them down the hall to get their ID card. He added, “Why give them bad news. They’ll figure it out soon enough.”
At Portland, necessary surgeries have been postponed, some indefinitely. The hospital has had to raid its equipment and maintenance funds to keep up with minimal healthcare demands. Last year Portland needed $13 million for equipment and only received $2 million. Veterans seeking outpatient psychiatric care are on long waiting lists. Only 120 beds in the 400-bed facility are operational because of staff shortages caused by underfunding. And, according to a report prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the hospital is now short at least 150 staff members from housekeepers to nurses, physicians, and social workers.
How long are the waits and how many veterans are on the waiting lists? That information approaches the “classified” level at the Portland VA hospital. The office that handles the waiting lists is in a small, locked (unusual for the VA) office on the ninth floor. A knock on the door will bring an employee who opens the door only a couple of inches to identify the person seeking entry. If that person isn’t “cleared” to be in the room, they are turned away.
Requests for information from VA Public Affairs specialists are routinely ignored, especially if the information might cast the VA in a bad light or be politically harmful to the current administration. In some cases the VA gives out old statistical data or incomplete information. The only way to get reliable information is through Freedom of Information Act requests. These requests can take months to process and by the time the information is received the data requested may be useless.
And, the one piece of information you will NEVER get from the VA is how many veterans have died while waiting for healthcare.
Deadly Wait
For veterans, the wait can be deadly. One VA employee who used to work in the “waiting list” office told me the worst part of the job was calling to inform a veteran that they had reached the top of the list only to find out they had died. What started as a political game to hide the waiting list problem has turned into a life-and-death struggle for many veterans.
There can be an end to all of this. It’s been floating around Congress for a number of years. VA healthcare is part of the discretionary budget that must be hammered-out every year. Both the House and Senate have versions of bills that would make VA healthcare part of the mandatory budget. But they sit in dusty “In” and “Out” boxes and never get anywhere.
Democrats have authored and pushed for passage of legislation that would make VA healthcare part of the mandatory budget. Republicans have opposed it. You can take that information anywhere you like. Me? I’m taking it with me to the polls this November.
Larry Scott served four years in the U.S. Army with overseas tours as a Broadcast Journalist in Korea and the Azores and a stateside tour as a Broadcast Journalism Instructor at the Defense Information School (DINFOS). He was awarded DOD's First Place Thomas Jefferson Award for Excellence in Journalism. After the Army, Larry was a news anchor on WNBC Radio in New York City. He receives VA compensation for a service-connected disability. Larry is a regular on the Thom Hartmann show on Air America Radio. Today, Larry resides in Southwest Washington and operates the website VA Watchdog dot Org.
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
