A stark reminder of the true cost of mismanagement

CPL(P) Bret Farritor — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:27:41 -0400

1/3 of veterans on pending VA medical care list already dead

A recent internal VA Dept. report states that about one-third of the veterans waiting to receive medical care from the agency have already died.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jul 15 at 2015 11:29 AM

SCPO David Lockwood — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:29:40 -0400

This is shocking and must be fixed immediately!

Response by CPO Joseph Grant made Jul 15 at 2015 11:32 AM

CPO Joseph Grant — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:32:03 -0400

Dear Lord, I knew it was bad but not horrific. This, whether intentional or not, is criminal. Our administration is bending over backwards to care for the illegals and deliberate non-producers. Meanwhile, the veterans who have guaranteed the existence of this country are left to die.

Response by GySgt Moses Lozano made Jul 15 at 2015 11:37 AM

GySgt Moses Lozano — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:37:12 -0400

The time has passed for the government to step up and fire all VA officials who process these medical care lists and to put somebody in charge who will really clean house not just say they will!

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Jul 15 at 2015 12:32 PM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:32:47 -0400

This is a duplicate thread - there is another one on this report too... Can they please be combined?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 15 at 2015 12:35 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:35:36 -0400

This is a classic example of making numbers lie. The fact that personnel inside the VA are willing to come forward and dispute the spin that the VA's leadership are putting on it is significant. As the details come out and get reported in more mainstream/widely recognized media, the public outcry to Congress should be a crescendo.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jul 15 at 2015 1:15 PM

PO1 John Miller — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 13:15:57 -0400

"A VA spokeswoman told the Huffington Post that the department can’t subtract dead applicants from the list and that some may never have completed an application but remain on the back log. “More than 80 percent of veterans who come to the department “have either Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare or some other private insurance,” she said."

It sounds to me like the VA is trying to play the Blame Game instead of fixing the f--king problem.

Response by CPL(P) Bret Farritor made Jul 15 at 2015 2:33 PM

CPL(P) Bret Farritor — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 14:33:44 -0400

OK - Obviously, super bad news. I wish (we all do) it was not the case. Yes, I would posit this is a collection of all of the above. I would hope it is more an 'administrative' issue in terms of bad data management, etc. but one could safely assume there was at least one case where 'but for' and one is too many. I am trying to run this current conversation on two sites today; here and on Rally Point.com and what I keep hammering is first - The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is in practice three distinct 'Administrations' operating under one umbrella with poor communication between them. The VBA or 'Benefits' is responsible for making Rating Decisions, Home Loans, GI Bill, essentially the $ side of the house. The VHA or 'Health' is responsible for delivery of care. This is the 'face' of the VA as it is Medical Centers, RX care, BH, etc. and finally, the little known NCA or 'National Cemetary' which is fairly self-explanatory. Note - The Army runs Arlington NC NOT the NCA. For an efficient delivery system all three need to talk to and work well together and they simply do not. You throw in the total failure of a cooperative atmosphere in practice with the DoD (AKA the agency that 'creates' the 'customers' of the VA in the first place) and it is a recipe for disaster - one all the more so in these austere budget cutting times. Answers? Sir, I simply do not have them. Ideas? I have a lot of thoughts but these would require leadership, political and administrative, legislative (money) support, overhauling the 'system' as it currently exists and a restructuring I (as a public servant) simply do not see happening anytime soon.

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Jul 15 at 2015 5:33 PM

CPT Pedro Meza — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 17:33:42 -0400

So just because its on the internet It's True!