In Their Own Words: Veterans Share Experiences with the VA (Part I)
Let’s review the past year at the VA: millions of dollars of undeserved bonuses, weeks and months of delays that prevented veterans from receiving quality care, and falsified documents to obscure these scandals from the public eye. The Veterans Affairs committee has worked hard to bring these atrocities to light and hold VA leadership accountable.
But in addition to the numbers — the dollar amounts, the time spent in a waiting room, the rate of employee retention — we should focus on the impact that these numbers have on real people: the veterans themselves. As a senior member on the Veterans’ Affairs committee, I receive hundreds of letters and emails from veterans all over the country. Their stories are powerful, and too often their stories don’t have happy endings.
This week, as we prepare to discuss serious reforms to the Veterans Administration, I invite you to read the experiences of veterans and their families. As you read their own words, I guarantee you’ll see the need for serious changes in the VA’s approach to healthcare and benefits for our brave men and women.
The following excerpts are from constituent letters received in my Washington, D.C. office.
Overwhelmed by Red Tape
“[The VA is] a bureaucratic friggin’ nightmare….Rescheduling is now an exercise in futility. Pushing a bowling ball up a ramp greased with bullshit. The boots on the ground are overwhelmed.”
Fed Up with Lack of Competent Doctors
“If you only knew the half of it. I cannot even find a doctor in Colorado Springs to help me, so I have to go to Denver, and there the VA has no one qualified in the VA, as they contract their doctors out or specialist. Even then I am having to go through Medicaid to the same office the VA gets their specialist from…
“I am not wanting to degrade in any way what our government does for us Veterans, compared to other countries it could be much worse, but the fraud and waste and confusion and just poor management is completely unacceptable. I could go on writing pages of just my last year’s experiences, but I am afraid that would be fruitless. I had to wait 6 months to get back into the VA in Colorado Springs after I lost my job due to medical reasons, and I’ve had a miserable time just trying to keep myself above water and alive.”
Still Waiting for Care
“I hereby officially report that I am a veteran — a retiree — and that my most recent attempt to see my primary care manager at the U.S. Air Force Academy mandated a wait of 42 days. The condition was bronchitis. In 42 days, it was either going to clear up on its own or kill me.”
Falsified Appointment Dates
“I have been following the recent articles regarding the falsifying of appointment dates by the local VA clinic. I would like to make you aware of a situation that my husband encountered while trying to make an appointment a few months ago.
“My husband had been have some respiratory issues and called the clinic off and on for about a month to a month and a half in an attempt to get an appointment with his general practitioner. Each time he called he was transferred to the nurse and each time told that he did not need to see the doctor, that the doctor would determine when he needed to be seen then advised to take either over the counter cold or allergy medicine — which had absolutely no effect on the respiratory issue.
“Furthermore, my husband was also advised that if he felt he needed to be seen right away to go to an emergency room and we MIGHT be reimbursed. This is not something we nor many other disabled veterans can afford to do on the hope we might be reimbursed. My husband chose to wait it out to see if he improved on his own, which he did not. Once he began to complain of lung pain the clinic said they would try to get him in the next day and would call with an appointment time. Instead of waiting and hoping he would get an appointment we choose to go the the VA Hospital. We learned that he had bronchitis, something that probably could have been avoided had they granted him an appointment the first time he called. Thankfully it wasn’t a more serious situation, but it is something that should be addressed in conjunction with the falsifying of appointment times”
Out of Luck without Private Insurance
“The newspaper and TV coverage doesn’t reveal whether my and others’ problem was addressed in the recent investigation. My understanding of the appointment review was to find out whether vets were being seen within 30 days of requested time. My problem is that I was due to be seen by my primary care physician int January of 2015. I called for an appointment in November of 2014 and was informed my primary care doctor was no longer seeing patients unless it was an emergency. Since my needs were not, I was unable to get an appointment at all. To this date I am still unable to get an appointment, but since I don’t have a scheduled appointment I am not outside the 30 day target. In addition my ability to see a civilian physician is not allowed since I don’t have an appointment too far ahead and I don’t live more than 40 miles from the clinic. Fortunately I have insurance that enables me to see a private physician at this time for my needs.
“How many more veterans are in the same situation I am and aren’t counted against the appointment parameters?”
Congressman Doug Lamborn represents Colorado’s fifth district, home to over 100,000 veterans. He also sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and is spearheading efforts to bring the VA into the 21st Century. This article is the first in a three-part series.
