Veterans medical care

[ralphc1]

I was surprised not to find a thread on the VA medical center in Phoenix. Seems that veterans are literally dying to get an appointment. They face very long waits to even see a doctor. Some families claim that relatives have died while being told to be patient while waiting over a year to see a doctor.

Now there is evidence of the same thing in Cheyenne. It seems that they hide patients because the VA requires patients to be seen by a doctor within a certain time.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/us/va-scandal-cheyenne/

A friend of mine is retiring has been trying for 2 years to transition from his employers insurance to VA care. He said it took over a year to get an ID card that he had to have before he could try to schedule an appointment. Then he didn't file a claim within a year so he was dropped from the list. He couldn't file a claim because he couldn't get to see a doctor for a year.

Another friend has hearing loss from his service years and he needs his hearing aids replaced about every 4 years. Every time he has to go through the sign up process because he has been dropped from the system and has to spend almost a year to sign up again. He told them that he only had 30 days from the day he was drafted before he had to be at the induction center. They have his fingerprints for ID.

Both are members of Vietnam veterans groups and say that after the crap the VA puts them through, it's difficult to keep from punching someone who thanks them for their service.

They live in a metro area of 80,000 with two major hospitals and many large clinics but have to drive 90 miles to the VA facility. Why can't the VA use local medical care like Medicare does?

With Vietnam veterans retiring I expect many will turn to the VA for medical care along with more recent vets who don't have jobs or their employers don't provide insurance. It will only get busier.

 

[OldGoat]

I was surprised not to find a thread on the VA medical center in Phoenix. Seems that veterans are literally dying to get an appointment. They face very long waits to even see a doctor. Some families claim that relatives have died while being told to be patient while waiting over a year to see a doctor.

Now there is evidence of the same thing in Cheyenne. It seems that they hide patients because the VA requires patients to be seen by a doctor within a certain time.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/us/va-scandal-cheyenne/

A friend of mine is retiring has been trying for 2 years to transition from his employers insurance to VA care. He said it took over a year to get an ID card that he had to have before he could try to schedule an appointment. Then he didn't file a claim within a year so he was dropped from the list. He couldn't file a claim because he couldn't get to see a doctor for a year.

Another friend has hearing loss from his service years and he needs his hearing aids replaced about every 4 years. Every time he has to go through the sign up process because he has been dropped from the system and has to spend almost a year to sign up again. He told them that he only had 30 days from the day he was drafted before he had to be at the induction center. They have his fingerprints for ID.

Both are members of Vietnam veterans groups and say that after the crap the VA puts them through, it's difficult to keep from punching someone who thanks them for their service.

They live in a metro area of 80,000 with two major hospitals and many large clinics but have to drive 90 miles to the VA facility. Why can't the VA use local medical care like Medicare does?

With Vietnam veterans retiring I expect many will turn to the VA for medical care along with more recent vets who don't have jobs or their employers don't provide insurance. It will only get busier.

Gubmint corruption, brutality, and criminality is not news anymore. It's to be expected. Plus society cares more about un PC speech from old Jewish men.

 

[AznTrojan]

the VA is where lazy nurses kill patients and good doctors go to die.. no one in their right mind wants to work for the VA

 

[IGIT]

hello Ralphc1,

regarding your friends, it sounds like they didn't process their paperwork in a timely manner, meaning, they didn't follow protocol.

regarding your linked CNN piece, i wonder how systemic this problem is? i'm also curious if adequate funds have been set aside for veterans, as the costs must be skyrocketing due to our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- IGIT

 

[OldGoat]

hello Ralphc1,

regarding your friends, it sounds like they didn't process their paperwork in a timely manner, meaning, they didn't follow protocol.

regarding your linked CNN piece, i wonder how systemic this problem is? i'm also curious if adequate funds have been set aside for veterans, as the costs must be skyrocketing due to our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- IGIT

VA is operated terribly poorly. Accountability is low and work rules with the union peeps make it hard to get anything done. VA... lol.

 

[ralphc1]

hello Ralphc1,

regarding your friends, it sounds like they didn't process their paperwork in a timely manner, meaning, they didn't follow protocol.

regarding your linked CNN piece, i wonder how systemic this problem is? i'm also curious if adequate funds have been set aside for veterans, as the costs must be skyrocketing due to our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- IGIT

The paperwork is returned to the VA and seems to get lost. Why should they have to take time off from work and make 4 trips just to get an ID that apparently is only good for one year from the date you first apply for it? One even took his dog tags in to prove who he is but they won't do anything without that ID card. Why should it take so long to get renew a card? I can renew my drivers license in less than 30 minutes.

"Protocol" seems to be avoid and delay. They hope veterans will get their care somewhere else. Sooner or later, someone will get angry enough to go in and shoot the place up like they were trained to do.

I've urged my friends to take photographs of the paperwork and the people they turned it in to. It seems that cameras aren't allowed.

 

[trainharder]

The paperwork is returned to the VA and seems to get lost. Why should they have to take time off from work and make 4 trips just to get an ID that apparently is only good for one year from the date you first apply for it? One even took his dog tags in to prove who he is but they won't do anything without that ID card. Why should it take so long to get renew a card? I can renew my drivers license in less than 30 minutes.

"Protocol" seems to be avoid and delay. They hope veterans will get their care somewhere else. Sooner or later, someone will get angry enough to go in and shoot the place up like they were trained to do.

I've urged my friends to take photographs of the paperwork and the people they turned it in to. It seems that cameras aren't allowed.

I can make a new set if dog tags at work. Doesn't prove anything. Not have cameras at a VA office sounds like a load of bullshit.

 

[7437]

hello Ralphc1,

regarding your friends, it sounds like they didn't process their paperwork in a timely manner, meaning, they didn't follow protocol.

regarding your linked CNN piece, i wonder how systemic this problem is? i'm also curious if adequate funds have been set aside for veterans, as the costs must be skyrocketing due to our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- IGIT

the va is horrible. every single place is terrible.

 

[oldshadow]

The VA sucks and the care when you do get it sucks. I know quite a few people that were on VA health care and their experiences have been horible.

Having seen how the government runs the VA makes me not want any thing to do with government run or controlled health care.

 

[ralphc1]

I can make a new set if dog tags at work. Doesn't prove anything. Not have cameras at a VA office sounds like a load of bullshit.

The dogtags were enough proof of who you are while in the military. You could easily switch tags with someone else. They have fingerprints from Vietnam era vets and DNA from more recent vets. An expired drivers license is enough proof of who you are to get a birth certificate. The birth certificate and expired drivers license are good enough to get a Social Security card. Your Social Security card doesn't expire. Why isn't the expired VA ID card enough proof? Why do the cards have an expiration? You are a veteran for the rest of your life. Why do they ever drop anyone from the system until they die? They can keep records of every phone call made in the United States so the comparitively small amount of data involved with vets should be easy.

They claim the no cameras is because of the privacy laws.[HIPPA]

Again, why can't vets just use local care providers like Medicare patients do?

 

[OldGoat]

The dogtags were enough proof of who you are while in the military. You could easily switch tags with someone else. They have fingerprints from Vietnam era vets and DNA from more recent vets. An expired drivers license is enough proof of who you are to get a birth certificate. The birth certificate and expired drivers license are good enough to get a Social Security card. Your Social Security card doesn't expire. Why isn't the expired VA ID card enough proof? Why do the cards have an expiration? You are a veteran for the rest of your life. Why do they ever drop anyone from the system until they die? They can keep records of every phone call made in the United States so the comparitively small amount of data involved with vets should be easy.

They claim the no cameras is because of the privacy laws.[HIPPA]

Again, why can't vets just use local care providers like Medicare patients do?

What constituency do you think the VA serves? Who's the largest employer in the nation?

 

[CableandThanos]

I am a veteran but have never used the facilities yet.

Don't really know what to make of this.

Geraldo mentioned this when he was being interviewed by a stand in for oreilly


http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2537

April 16, 2014 Independent 2013 Survey Shows Veterans Highly Satisfied with VA Care Higher rating than Private-Sector Hospitals on Average

WASHINGTON -- The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an independent customer service survey, ranks the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) customer satisfaction among Veteran patients among the best in the nation and equal to or better than ratings for private sector hospitals. The 2013 ACSI report assessed satisfaction among Veterans who have recently been patients of VA’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA) inpatient and outpatient services. ACSI is the nation’s only cross-industry measure of customer satisfaction, providing benchmarking between the public and private sectors.

In 2013, the overall ACSI satisfaction index for VA was 84 for inpatient care and 82 for outpatient care, which compares favorably with the U.S. hospital industry (scores of 80 and 83, respectively). Since 2004, the ACSI survey has consistently shown that Veterans give VA hospitals and clinics a higher customer satisfaction score, on average, than patients give private sector hospitals. These overall scores are based on specific feedback on customer expectations, perceived value and quality, responsiveness to customer complaints, and customer loyalty. One signature finding for 2013 is the continuing high degree of loyalty to VA among Veterans, with a score of 93 percent favorable. This score has remained high (above 90 percent) for the past ten years.

 

[ralphc1]

What constituency do you think the VA serves? Who's the largest employer in the nation?

Such a large pool of voters should have great influence on elections but Congress talks a good game but does nothing to fix the problems. The VA brass has ordered shorter wait times but they are finding out that the staff at at least 2 locations are cooking the paperwork to make it look like they are meeting the goals by using delaying tactics. We don't know if that was orchestrated higher up. Maybe it's time for Congress to transfer the medical care of vets to Medicare and pull the money to cover it out of the military budget.

 

[OldGoat]

Such a large pool of voters should have great influence on elections but Congress talks a good game but does nothing to fix the problems. The VA brass has ordered shorter wait times but they are finding out that the staff at at least 2 locations are cooking the paperwork to make it look like they are meeting the goals by using delaying tactics. We don't know if that was orchestrated higher up. Maybe it's time for Congress to transfer the medical care of vets to Medicare and pull the money to cover it out of the military budget.

They should disband the VA and just give the veterans insurance that can be used where they choose. Won't happen cause it'll piss off unions and other special interests.

 

[ralphc1]

I am a veteran but have never used the facilities yet.

Don't really know what to make of this.

Geraldo mentioned this when he was being interviewed by a stand in for oreilly


http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2537

April 16, 2014 Independent 2013 Survey Shows Veterans Highly Satisfied with VA Care Higher rating than Private-Sector Hospitals on Average

WASHINGTON -- The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an independent customer service survey, ranks the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) customer satisfaction among Veteran patients among the best in the nation and equal to or better than ratings for private sector hospitals. The 2013 ACSI report assessed satisfaction among Veterans who have recently been patients of VA

 

[CableandThanos]

Such a large pool of voters should have great influence on elections but Congress talks a good game but does nothing to fix the problems. The VA brass has ordered shorter wait times but they are finding out that the staff at at least 2 locations are cooking the paperwork to make it look like they are meeting the goals by using delaying tactics. We don't know if that was orchestrated higher up. Maybe it's time for Congress to transfer the medical care of vets to Medicare and pull the money to cover it out of the military budget.

Yea delaying tactics are a big thing even at civilian hospitals.

At one of the hospitals I work at, there was suppose to be a 30 minute guarantee. That when you checked into the ER, you would be seen within 30 minutes.

Well a nurse walks in and hands you a urine cup and tells you to pee in it. That is considered being seen. It doesn't matter that you don't see her or the doctor for another hour and a half, you peed in a cup so you have "BEEN SEEN".

At one point I did some rough calculations and I came up with about 2 billion dollars in unneeded urinalysis performed every year (in the entire US, not my hospital, LOL).

 

[CableandThanos]

Not much chance they interviewed any of those who died before they got to be seen by a doctor. I'm sure the brass who are treated at the better hospitals are happy with their treatment. Whose names do you suppose the VA gives the people who are conducting the survey.

OHH so the VA will give only the good patients, but the public hospitals are so much more honorable and give their bad reviews to the survey.

Also probably sure that they didn't get to survey people who died at public hospitals either???

Why do you assume the VA will lie, and the public hospitals will tell the truth?

 

[Lord of Lies]

My father worked at the VA hospital for 14 years. He always said, never take him to the VA hospital for medical treatment.

 

[Michaelangelo]

The administration for health care in certain sectors like Medical and Veteren's Affairs are so back logged that your case is pending for eons.

 

[Darkballs]

I recently went through the VA for the first time these past 8 months. Despite the media reports, I would rate my overall experience as satisfactory, but strongly advise any patients to be extra diligent to avoid falling through the cracks or getting the run-around.

I tore my ACL back in september two days after my private insurance policy had lapsed (my fault for letting that slip). This happened back in New Orleans. Now the VA facility in NO was pretty fucking pathetic and the care there, with the exception of a few people, was substandard. I had never signed up before hand, so I had to do so in the ER. That process only took about two hours, and about another five hours to see a primary care doctor. I explained how I tore my ACL. Both doctors evaluating me disagreed and only gave me a cursory examination. I had to beg/threaten to get them to order an MRI. They relented, and I got an MRI done by a private company on the VA's dime. The MRI confirmed a complete tear, and from then on the doctors were much more attentive with my care.

The good news was that the VA often doesn't have in house surgeons available for most procedures, so they outsource. This was great, as it gave me the choice of non-government surgeons to choose from. Anyway, long story short, I had torn (90%) my MCL as well. So no surgeon was willing to operate until that healed up on its own, which would take about 4 months.

Until then I had to move to Los Angeles for work. Now my biggest gripe of this whole thing was transferring over. Apparently, even though everything was computerized, the VA branches do not share information with each other. So that meant upon arriving in LA I had to start the enrollment process all over again. Thankfully, this was done pretty quickly (about three hours).

Now the difference between the two facilities (LA and NO) was night and day. LA was clean, the staff seemed professional and were much more responsive to any calls or concerns I raised. To be honest, I would not have elected to have surgery if it was done by a VA in-house surgeon. I have a buddy who works with medical equipment sales. He specializes in knees. He's sat in on roughly 300 surgeries at dozens of hospitals in the southeast. According to him, the VA facilities are hands down the worse in terms of cleanliness and inspection ready operating rooms.

Ultimately though, LA was incredibly clean, and uses the UCLA sports medicine team for their knee reconstructions. Doing my homework, I found out that my surgeon was one of the best in the nation for ACL repairs. Additionally, since UCLA is the hub for donor tissue research, it was no problem opting for a donor tendon. This is something not easily accessible, and often costs much more money even with a good private insurance policy.

I'll stop my ramble now (just had the surgery 10 days ago). All in all, when choosing any hospital or surgeon, do your homework. Know what to expect and demand proper care. If you feel that you are getting the run around from administration, stand up for yourself. Make noise, go over people's heads, and report any fuck-ups to higher authority.