State’s vets seek solutions to medical delays
WASHINGTON— Military veterans in Florida say they are looking for solutions, not just finger-pointing, to deal with a growing scandal over delays in medical care for soldiers coping with wartime injuries.
Some Florida politicians have responded by calling for the firing of top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Congress already is moving to provide more money and personnel to process the crush of claims from soldiers who returned from wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
And some in Congress are looking at sending veterans to private doctors and hospitals outside
the VA system.
“Why not allow me to go to a regular doctor using Medicare and let them bill the VA?” asked Nicholas Lorris, 68, a former Army private in Boynton Beach whose legs and pelvis were broken and bladderruptured by an explosion in Vietnam.
Firing top VA officials would not solve the problem, he said. “That’s just feel-good legislation. That doesn’t change anything. Look, these problems have been going on for years.”
Veterans interviewed last week were grateful that Congress is at least addressing the problem.
“Anything they do to improve and enhance the opportunity for veterans to get their benefits and get some attention will be greatly needed and appreciated by all veterans,” said Clyde Walker, 69, of Orlando. Walker, an Army chemicals specialist during the Vietnam War, said he has had nine surgeries stemming from war injuries. “Now you go out to the VA, and the line for getting services is so long, it tookme over six months to get dental services that I needed,” he said.
Long-standing concerns over delayed care flared into a scandal this month after federal investigators found signs that some VA centers across the country were manipulating waiting lists to disguise long delays for treatment. The evidence raised alarms that some veterans have died while waiting for treatment.
Many Republicans, including Gov. Rick Scott, are blaming the Obama administration and demanding the removal of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., proposes instead to give the VA secretary more authority to fire or demote underperforming officials without going through the usual administrative process.
“Some heads need to roll,” agreed U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. “The VA bureaucracy has gotten to the point that it cannot respondto the desperate need of our veterans.”
Central Florida lawmakers have joined the chorus of criticism of the VA. But U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, defends Shinseki, saying he already is reducing claims backlogs while expanding coverage to more veterans.
Legislation similar to Rubio’s proposal passed through the U.S. House on Thursday by a vote of 390 to 33. Rubio tried to persuade the Senate to quickly adopt the House measure Friday in time for Memorial Day. But hewas rebuffed by an objection from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who plans to hold a hearing on the matter next month.
Florida veterans for years have faced monthslong delays with processing medical claims. Many say they get excellent care at VA hospitals, but some complain of inaccurate diagnoses or inadequate treatment. Recent revelations have escalated those concerns.
“I don’t want veterans to not get care because they don’t want bad things to happen to them,” said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach. Frankel, the mother of a retired Marine, routinely helps veterans cut through federal bureaucracy to become eligible for care or disability benefits.
She helped push legislation through the House this month that would provide $173 million to reduce the claims backlog, mostly by creating a centralized digital Veterans Benefit Management system. The goal is to upgrade record-keeping scattered between the Pentagon and the VA— muchof it on paper— and eliminate the claims backlog by nextyear. The Senate is preparing to act on its version of the bill.
Some veterans say the VA’s problems are another consequence of long and debilitating conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many veterans of those wars will need extensive care for decades.
“It’s not the war, it’s the aftermath,” said Robert Longo, 68, of Hollywood. The former Navy medic, injured by a land mine in the Vietnam War, said health care for veterans needs to be considered in calculating the costs of going towar.
“They send us to war,” he said, his voice breaking, “and they don’t care.”