Chuck Lauer, former publisher of Modern Healthcare, writes:

“Remember all of the hearings in 2014 and the promises made, that the VA would be put back on the right track and that our veterans would receive the outstanding care they deserve? Congress passed and the president signed legislation called the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. The goal of the law and new funding was to reduce wait times at VA hospitals, give veterans access to outside healthcare and allow the VA to quickly terminate problem employees. Everybody felt better about the situation and moved on to other things.”

“It turns out nothing really changed; a couple of people were reassigned and there is a new head of the VA. But wait times are now 50 percent higher than in 2014, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal  by Kyndra Miller Rotunda, a former judge advocate general in the U.S. Army.”

“They are all looking for help from the Veterans Administration, but this organization is filled with bureaucrats who care more about their seniority and benefits than about giving our veterans the care they need now! No tomorrow, next week, next month or — in some cases — next year.”

”The law was written with this little kicker that a veteran can seek care outside the VA system but only for 60 days. Then they are back in line at the VA.”