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Thread: Backlog of Veterans' Disability Claims Increases 179% Under Obama

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    The only fix that I see is allowing Vets to go to any doctor they want and the bill goes to the VA.
    The VA could open up a Preferred Provider list for private providers. The remuneration would be slightly less than their full fees, but that's often the case for them anyway. That's mainly why provider costs have sky rocketed in the private sector, providers settle for less anyway. The VA would have no problem getting private participation, and the VA might actually save money.

    Veterans groups are skeptical of too much of this because they want a more efficient VA, so it's a quandary.

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    The VA groups are expending too much energy in wishing for an efficient VA bureaucracy.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    The VA groups are expending too much energy in wishing for an efficient VA bureaucracy.
    I know, that's why the Veteran's organizations such as the AL and VFW want a very limited amount of private participation. To get that, many of the VA leaders need to be fired. Costs can be decreased, and the VA can be made to be more efficient. A lot of it is politics, union favoritism, and wasteful spending, but that's the government way.

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    VA abandoned 'Fast-track' Firing Authority...

    Lawmakers Blast VA for Abandoning 'Fast-track' Firing Authority
    Jun 17, 2016 | Lawmakers are furious that Veterans Affairs Department will no longer use the fast-track system for firing employees that Congress gave it more than a year ago.
    Department officials on Friday notified lawmakers they were passing on the expanded firing authority included in the VA Accountability Act of 2014. Officials haven't yet explained the move, and the department's record of disciplining employees under the law is unclear. Lawmakers have repeatedly criticized VA Secretary Bob McDonald for what they say is an inability to fire problem employees, including one who returned to work after being arrested in connection with an armed robbery in Puerto Rico. For example, Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the decision to not use the expedited authority of accountability act is "outrageous and unconscionable. "Two years ago, veterans were forced to wait far too long for care because of incompetent executives," he said. "Since then, we've seen scandal after scandal emerge at the department. While some progress has been made to hold those responsible accountable, there is still a long way to go and choosing to ignore these key reforms is a slap in the face to our veterans."

    Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida who heads the counterpart panel in the House, said the the department "isn't very good at disciplining employees, but this decision calls into question whether department leaders are even interested in doing so. "After all, VA is a place where egregious employee behavior, such as armed robbery participation and wait-time manipulation, is routinely tolerated," he said. "This decision underscores the urgent need for civil-service reform across the federal government that enables leaders to swiftly and efficiently discipline those who can't or won't do their jobs -- an ability that is presently almost nonexistent."

    Among the most widely known firings was that of Sharon Helman, former director of the VA Medical Center in Phoenix in connection with the wait-times scandal and department's findings that at least six veterans died before they could get an appointment at the facility. Helman appealed to the Merit System Protection Board, whichsupported the firing but only because VA officials also found she had accepted some $50,000 in gifts from a vendor wanting to do business with the medical center.

    Several months ago, however, prompted by other MSPB judges' rulings -- overturning VA disciplinary actions against two senior executives --McDonald met with lawmakers to discuss changes he wants to see at the department. McDonald wants hospital directors and other senior executives placed under Title 38 -- the same job category as doctors and nurses. This would allow the VA secretary to demote or terminate employees for cause, without them having the ability to appeal to the MSPB. "[This] gives us more flexibility to pay them more competitively," McDonald said at the time, "but it also gives us more flexibility in disciplinary matters without all the things that happened with the SES employees."

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...authority.html

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    Granny says, "Shame on `em...

    Report: Wait Times Manipulated at Houston-area VA Clinics
    Jun 22, 2016 — Staff at Houston-area Veterans Affairs facilities improperly manipulated wait times for Texas veterans wishing to make a medical appointment, according to a federal report released Monday.
    The Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General said more than 200 appointments were incorrectly recorded for the year that ended in June 2015. Two former scheduling supervisors and a current director of two VA clinics instructed staff to incorrectly record cancellations as being canceled by the patient, the report shows. Veterans in many instances then encountered average wait times of nearly three months when the appointments were rescheduled. "These issues have continued despite the Veterans Health Administration ... having identified similar issues during a May and June 2014 system-wide review of access," according to the report. "These conditions persisted because of a lack of effective training and oversight."

    Federal inspectors also determined that wait times for other veterans were understated by more than two months. As a result, wait times "did not reflect the actual wait experienced by the veterans and the wait time remained unreliable and understated." VA officials in the Houston area were directed to provide additional training for staff, improve scheduling audit procedures and take other steps to correct the lingering issue.

    Similar problems have been found in other states. Scandal erupted in Phoenix nearly two years ago, following complaints that as many as 40 patients died while awaiting care at the city's VA hospital.

    VA employees in Texas have previously reported to investigators that they sometimes engaged in misleading scheduling at the behest of their supervisors. But supervisors and administrators at many facilities denied there was a systematic effort to manipulate wait time data. Some told investigators that schedulers may have misunderstood directives, while others said employees had since been retrained to correct the practice.

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...a-clinics.html

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    VA Health Care Still Has 'Profound Deficiencies'...

    Report: VA Health Care Still Has 'Profound Deficiencies'
    Jul 06, 2016 | WASHINGTON -- Two years after a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs still has "profound deficiencies" in delivering health care to millions of veterans, a congressional commission says in a new report.
    The Commission on Care says in a report to be released Wednesday that the VA delivers high-quality health care but is inconsistent from one site to the next, and problems with access remain. The panel says the VA needs to improve its service to veterans, adding that the VA's health care operations "require urgent reform. America's veterans deserve a better organized, high-performing health care system." Congress created the 12-member commission in 2014 after approving a landmark law overhauling the VA in the wake of the wait-time scandal, which also revealed that department employees were covering up chronic delays with false paperwork and secret waiting lists. As many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital, according to an investigation by the department's inspector general.

    President Barack Obama said in a statement late Tuesday that the commission's report includes a number of specific proposals that he will review closely in the coming weeks. In the meantime, "We will continue to work with veterans, Congress and our partners in the veteran advocacy community to further our ongoing transformation of the veterans' health care system," Obama said. "Our veterans deserve nothing less for their sacrifices and their service." VA Secretary Bob McDonald also hailed the report and said he was pleased to see that many of the panel's recommendations are in line with ongoing efforts to transform the VA into what McDonald calls a "veteran-centric organization." Work on that effort has been underway for two years and has resulted in increased access to health care and a better experience for veterans, McDonald said.

    In March, the VA set a new record for completed appointments: 5.3 million in hospitals and clinics, 730,000 more than in March 2014. The department also issued twice as many authorizations for government-paid, private care than in a comparable period two years ago, McDonald said. Nearly 97 percent of appointments are now completed within 30 days of the veteran's preferred date, McDonald said, a huge improvement over past performance. But the report said the VA has a long way to go and singled out a "Choice Program," authorized by Congress to make it easier for veterans to get private care, as significantly flawed. The report recommends replacing the program with community-based delivery networks that it said should improve access, quality and cost-effectiveness.

    The commission also found that the long-term viability of VA health care is threatened by problems with staffing, facilities, capital needs, information systems and other problems. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the 292-page report "makes it abundantly clear that the problems plaguing Department of Veterans Affairs medical care are severe. Fixing them will require dramatic changes in how VA does business, to include expanding partnerships with community providers in order to give veterans more health care choices."

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...iciencies.html
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    VA Stocking Up on Guns, Riot Gear, Tactical Equipment: Report
    Jul 05, 2016 | The Department of Veterans Affairs bought more than $11 million worth of weapons, ammo and other security equipment between 2005 and 2014, according to a report released last month by a non-profit organization that tracks spending across the federal government.
    The report, called The Militarization of America and published by OpenTheBooks, said the VA acquired a variety of pistols -- Berettas, Sig Sauers, Lugers -- and ammunition, as well as body armor, police batons, ballistic shields, riot shields and helmets, night gun sights, tactical equipment for crowd control and more. The $11.6 million in weapons and gear includes $200,000 for night vision equipment, $2.3 million on body armor, more than $2 million on pistols and about $3.6 million on ammunition, the report said. A chart included with the report also shows a variety of training weapons and a night gun scope. The department has 3,700 law enforcement officers guarding and securing VA medical centers.

    The VA didn't respond to Military.com's request for comment, though in a Feb. 17 email to OpenTheBooks, the agency described its police officers as "the front line response forces for our facilities" and said its personnel "receive extensive training in active threat response. "While VA police work very closely with Federal, local and state law enforcement partners, VA police will be the first to have to deal with any active situation and are well trained accordingly," it stated. The department is not the only federal agency that has been stockpiling weapons in recent years, presumably against mass shooters and other security threats. The report found that non-military federal agencies spent nearly $1.5 billion on weapons and ammo from 2005 to 2014.

    The report states that the IRS spent $10.7 million on guns, ammo and gear over the same period. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spent $4.7 million, the Social Security Administration $417,000, and the Department of Education $412,000. The Smithsonian Institution's arms purchases totaled just over $309,000. The arming of VA security personnel began in 1996 with a pilot program intended to extend firearms and arrest authority to the department's 2,393 officers, the report said. Two years later, only 262 department police officers had the authority to carry a weapon and make arrests. "However, by 2008, the VA officer corps grew to 3,175 and all were authorized to make arrests and carry firearms," OpenTheBooks' report found. Currently, it said, the VA has more than 3,700 personnel who may carry firearms and make arrests.

    In a swipe at VA over its widely publicized problems with getting veterans in for appointments, the organization said it was "notable [that the arms and equipment] buildup occurred while the VA failed to provide critical care for thousands of veterans who would later on waiting lists." In its email to the group, the department said the gun purchases relate to a decision in 2008 to have VA police switch to a different firearm. It did not say what VA officers used before then. "This change has taken place over time in a phased approach. VA facilities began replacing the older pistol as funds became available and pistol service life limits are reached," the VA said. "Most of VA facilities have completed the transition to the new contracted firearm, with several still in that process." Night vision and other countermeasure equipment were acquired by field facilities to meet their local security and law enforcement needs, according to the department. The VA statement did not detail which facilities required the special gear.

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...nt-report.html
    Last edited by waltky; 07-06-2016 at 07:36 AM.

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    Network of Public-Private Care Providers suggested to reduce VA wait times...

    Report on VA Calls for Network of Public-Private Care Providers
    Jul 07, 2016 | A long-awaited report released Wednesday on the nation's troubled veterans' health care system recommends 18 "bold" changes, including creating a new network of public-private care providers, to address the crippling wait times and other problems at Department of Veterans Affairs.
    The Commission on Care called its report a "foundation for far-reaching organizational transformation," yet two members of the task force issued their own scathing dissent, saying the recommendations don't go nearly far enough to fix a failed system that needs a sweeping overhaul. Debate over reform at the VA has been growing in the two years since the discovery of long appointment wait times revealed a pattern of data manipulation and poor access for veterans at VA medical centers across the country. Since then, promised reform has sparked volatile discussion. Controversial calls to close the VA and offer veterans privatized care, supported by the two dissenting commissioners, prompted unified opposition from major veterans organizations and sparked street protests by unionized VA workers.

    The report submitted to VA Secretary Bob McDonald and President Barack Obama did not go that far, but it did identify a troubled system. The 15-member commission, created by Congress in the wake of the wait times scandal, found that despite billions of dollars spent to improve the sprawling health care system, the VA is still failing to provide adequate access to high-quality care. It suffers from flawed leadership, inadequate staffing, procurement problems and an antiquated IT system. In their recommendations, the majority of commissioners endorsed a public-private network of community-based care that would replace the flawed Choice Program meant to give veterans access to private care when needed. They also called for creating a governing board to oversee reforms and operations at the Veterans Health Administration.


    Under the Choice Program, also set up in the wake of the scandal, veterans were supposed to be able to get medical attention outside the VA if their doctor wait was more than 30 days or they had to travel more than 40 miles. But veterans had trouble getting those visits approved and getting reimbursed for out of pocket expenses. Under the proposed plan, those requirements would be scrapped and veterans would have a choice of medical providers from a network in their community that includes VA, federal and private doctors and specialists. "The commissioners ... agree that America's veterans deserve much better, that many profound deficiencies in VHA require urgent reform and that America's veterans deserve a better organized, high-performing health care system," they wrote. "These recommendations are not small-scale fixes to finite problems. Instead they constitute a bold transformation of a complex system that will take years to fully realize."

    Other reforms include cultural and leadership changes from creating an 11-member board of directors -- a move Congress would have to legislate -- to developing a leadership promotion pipeline. One recommendation suggests revising regulations to allow care for veterans with other than honorable discharges who are deemed eligible because of mitigating factors like combat trauma or injuries. "While the Commission on Care's nearly 300-page report will take time to completely review and digest, the document makes it abundantly clear that the problems plaguing Department of Veterans Affairs medical care are severe," said Congressman Jeff Miller, R-Florida, who chairs the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He said the committee would review the report in detail in September when Congress reconvenes. Many of the recommendations could be implemented directly by Obama, though some reforms, like a governing board, would still require congressional action.

    MORE
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    Group Criticizes VA Commission for Failing to Vote on Recommendations
    Jul 06, 2016 | A veterans group is criticizing as inadequate the work of a congressional commission that concluded the Veterans Affairs Department still has "profound deficiencies" in delivering health care.
    The Concerned Veterans for America, an Arlington, Virginia-based organization that advocates for greater choice in veteran health care providers, described the panel -- of which it was a part -- as "broken," in part for failing to vote on its own recommendations. "Basically we … have a broken commission, and because of a broken commission we have a broken report," said Darin Selnick, senior veterans affairs adviser for organization, which hosted a teleconference on Wednesday after the release of the panel's report. Selnick, who served on the commission, participated in the teleconference with Stewart Hickey, a fellow commissioner and former executive director for AMVETS, and Dan Caldwell, vice president for political action at the Concerned Veterans for America.

    The report includes some recommendations that Selnick and Hickey said they could support, such as creating a board of directors to oversee the Veterans Health Administration, eliminating the 30-day and 40-mile restrictions on using the Choice Act for non-VA care, and adopting a BRAC-like system to shut down unneeded VA facilities. But they panned the overall package as continuing the status quo. They also criticized the commission for not putting each recommendation to a vote -- something that the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees had wanted -- and for not publishing on the commission's website a letter dissenting from the recommendations.

    Selnick specifically accused Nancy Schlichting, the panel's chairwoman, of preventing substantive changes, and commission member Phillip Longman, senior editor of The Washington Monthly, of using his magazine to smear members such as himself for pressing for reforms to give veterans greater private-sector choices. "[Schlichting] had her own agenda. She felt that veterans were broken, were old, felt veterans couldn't take care of themselves, so the VHA had to be the one to take care of it," he said, referring to the Veterans Health Administration. "She focused and derailed any efforts that went against her perceived support of the status quo and fixing of the existing choice program."

    Caldwell, CVA's political action head, slammed "left-wing news outlets and the Washington-based leadership of certain veterans' organizations" for making false claims that some commission members would profit from reforms that would increase private health care options for veterans. He singled out Longman for a Washington Monthly report that the libertarian billionaires David and Charles Koch were funding his organization and using it to push for privatization of VA health care. The group's ties to the Koch brothers have long been known and reported on. Military.com was unable to reach Longman for comment, though Schlichting rejected the idea that she or anyone else on the commission steered its recommendations.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ptif219 View Post
    Why was it not a problem with Bush? Seems to me Obama is not making veterans a priority like he does Unions
    Because Obama really could care less about veterans or low income Americans. He's too busy been an arrogant, clueless, partisan dumbazz and promoting his failed leftist agenda.

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    VA Access Improves but there is still work to do, jobs needed for vets...

    VA Access Improves, Work Still Needed: Report
    Aug 05, 2016 | A new independent report on Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics found that although improvements have been made on issues such as access to care, there is still work to do.
    The Joint Commission, which conducts organization health care audits, began unannounced surveys on hospitals in the VA system between September 2014 and August 2015 at the VA's request, VA officials said. Some of the surveyed hospitals were then visited again through April of this year as part of a separate, previously scheduled round of visits, and their progress on key issues was examined, they said. The program looked at problems such as access to care, leadership and staffing. "Phones were inconsistently answered when patients called to make appointments, even though insufficient staffing did not appear to be the reason," the investigation found. "Staff absenteeism also caused problems with access. There were often no plans for coverage. As a result, veterans would arrive with no one to see them and no process in place to assist them in rescheduling their appointment."


    The initial review looked at 139 medical facilities and 47 community-based clinics nationwide, the VA said, while the follow-up surveys revisited 57 of those locations. More than 220 requirements for improvement were identified at those sites, according to the report. Seventy-one of those were related to care access, coordination or timeliness, some of which was caused by staff confusion about expectations, the report says. While some of the scheduling issues were improved by a clarification given to the clinics from top VA officials during the survey period, problems lingered, the report says. However, improvements were made at the 57 locations that received follow-up visits, the report says. Of those, only three received a repeat citation for access, coordination and timeliness issues.

    To address those continued problems, the report recommends that officials continue to monitor appointment scheduling timeframes and have better patient engagement, among other suggestions. "Their analysis shows that VA as national health care leader is making progress in improving the care we provide to our Veterans," said Dr. David Shulkin, a VA under secretary for health, in a statement on the report. "This affirms our commitment to providing both excellent health care and an exceptional experience of care to all Veterans served."

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...ed-report.html
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    Post-9/11 Veteran Unemployment Rate Ticks Upward
    Aug 05, 2016 | Unemployment rates for all veterans and especially for post-9/11 veterans went up in July despite a rosy government jobs report Friday that showed the U.S. economy strengthening.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report for July put the national unemployment rate at 4.9 percent, the same as in June, while overall veterans' unemployment rates were at 4.7 percent, up from 4.2 percent in June, even as employers made far more hires than expected. The jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans, called Gulf War II-era veterans by the BLS, was pegged at 5.9 percent, up from 4.4 percent in June and 4.0 percent in May. Male post-9/11 vets had an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent in July, while female post-9/11 vets had an unemployment rate of 7.0 percent, the BLS said. Unemployment rates for post-9/11 veterans had hit double digits during the recession before steadily coming down since 2011, according to BLS statistics.

    In 2011, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a program giving employers tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans. Other programs also have encouraged companies and government agencies to hire veterans. Jackie Maffucci, research director for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, cautioned against drawing conclusions from the latest statistics on post-9/11 veterans jobless rates. "While seemingly a large jump in the post-9/11 generation, the smaller sample size of the population sometimes results in more dramatic changes in rates from month to month," Maffucci said. "While one month does not a trend make, it will be important in the next few months to monitor whether unemployment among the newest generations goes back down, as employment continues to be a primary concern among IAVA members," she said.


    American Legion hiring fair.

    The rise in veterans' unemployment came despite what Jason Furman, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, called a BLS report that projected continued growth for the economy. "The economy added 255,000 jobs in July following robust job growth in June, as the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent and labor force participation rose," Furman said in a statement. "U.S. businesses have now added 15.0 million jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in early 2010, and the longest streak of total job growth on record continued in July," Furman said.

    The overall positive jobs trends in the latest BLS report were hailed by Michelle Meyer, head of United States economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "This was everything you could have asked for, maybe more," Meyer told The New York Times. "We're seeing new entrants into the labor market, which implies a longer runway for the business cycle." The July statistics were in contrast to numbers released last week showing disappointing economic growth in April, May and June. The April-June quarter was the third consecutive period in which the economy advanced at less than a 2 percent annual rate, the weakest stretch in four years.

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...tes-spike.html

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    I have walked out of VA hospitals twice.
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