Veterans Affairs hid a politically-dangerous situation

[chat_noir]

January 8, 2006

DID THE VA REALLY ELIMINATE THOSE LONG WAITING LISTS FOR VETERANS' HEALTHCARE? NO!
To hide a politically-dangerous situation, VA officials moved healthcare waiting lists from outside the system to inside – Veterans still wait months or years for necessary healthcare

It’s an old political game. If you can’t solve a problem, you hide it. But, this time, the game turned deadly.

For the first three years of the Bush administration pressure had been mounting on the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) as veterans tried to enroll for benefits in unprecedented numbers.

Vietnam-era veterans were experiencing late-onset diabetes and various cancers associated with exposure to Agent Orange. Older veterans who were on Medicare discovered it was less expensive to get their medications through the VA. Gulf War veterans complained of a myriad of symptoms that we know as Gulf War Syndrome. Many veterans were coming to grips with the devastating effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) brought on by their combat experiences. And, veterans caught in the stagnant economy in the early part of the new millennium found themselves unemployed or underemployed and without healthcare benefits.

SNIP

Going into the 2004 election, President AWOL Bush was able to claim that he had eliminated the long lists of veterans waiting for healthcare at VA hospitals. Pre-election polls showed veterans favoring Bush over Senator John Kerry by 58% to 35% and those numbers held through to Election Day.

Harsh Reality

But, it didn’t take long for veterans to realize that something was wrong. Even though they were enrolled in the VA system, they weren’t getting the healthcare they had been promised. They had to wait and wait and wait.

Many veterans waited 18 months or longer for their first visit with a Primary Care physician. The wait to see specialists could be even longer. And, the waiting time for medically necessary surgeries jumped to between 18 and 24 months in many VA facilities.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_larry_sc_060108_did_the_va_really_el.htm