A $15 Billion Cure Can’t Fix Veterans’ Care at U.S. Agency
Leaders of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs asked Congress for more than $15 billion to end long wait times for medical care for tens of thousands of vets. They got the money, but little has changed.
The agency has been slow to spend the funds, and instead of speedier care for the former soldiers the holdups have persisted. The centerpiece of the legislation Congress passed last year -- a $10 billion program to allow veterans to seek care outside the VA system -- has been so underused that the agency wants to divert some of the money to other purposes.
That request is a “non-starter,” said Representative Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“I’m disappointed that VA has left the vast majority of this money, which department officials said was urgently needed, unspent,” said Miller, a Florida Republican. “We’re not seeing accountability proportionate to the enormous misconduct and breach of trust that occurred.”
The scandal engulfed the agency a year ago this month amid allegations that officials at VA hospitals and clinics across the country had falsified records to cover up delays. Reports that veterans had died while awaiting treatment in the Phoenix VA system sparked outrage among lawmakers, forcing Department Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-30/a-15-billion-cure-can-t-fix-veteran-health-care-at-u-s-agency
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