Sanders-led law hasn’t cured veterans health care issues - VTDigger

One of the major problems has always been, and probably will always be, sharing the information about benefits programs. How many here even know what the Choice Program does? How many know what requirements need to be met in order to utilize it? It's a great program that does give the veteran options in seeking care, especially when wait times are so high, but it still runs into a bit of oversight... HealthNet.

I had to go to specialist care outside of my VAMC, at the local university hospital (anyone not familiar with Ann Arbor VAMC, our medical staff are by and large from University of Michigan Health System, so I was just going down to the road to their home facility when they had specialists for my particular heart condition). My appointment was all set and booked... but guess what? I still had to get it cleared through HealthNet, and THEY wanted to book the appointment. Months later, rather than next week as the appointment was set for. I was like, no, I have an appointment already set, it's been requested for and approved by Cardiology here, and it falls completely under my SCD... all I need you to do is authorize the current appointment, scheduled on this date, at this time, with this doctor at this facility, as specialty care. Unless you find something better out there, which you shouldn't, because this facility still falls within a service contract with my servicing VAMC.

So sometimes, you still need to fight the red tape, even when things should be cut and dry. But it was approved, and my appointment moved forward.

The major problem is that they are still not addressing the wait times certain facilities and clinics are experiencing. All the audits do is assign blame to people, and not work to fix the underlying issues. We all should be well aware of that process... and it doesn't work any different here on the federal service side. So yeah, kind of understandable that people will cook the books to avoid the wrath of the IG, when the only things that will come from it are all personnel actions, rather than something constructive. Like expanding clinics or staffing.