Vets Waiting For Doctor Appt. Explodes By 400 Per Cent!

[Gimpy]

Yep, FOUR HUNDRED PERCENT (400%) in just two short years folks!

This is beyond "unacceptable"...

Why is this happening?

UNDERFUNDING...UNDERFUNDING...UNDERFUNDING.

It is just that simple.

Congress and the current administration have once again failed to meet the needs of the veterans of this country.

We have two recent articles here.

The first is a press release from Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Press release can be located here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/housecvade...ws04-20-06.htm

I have copied the full press release below.

The second is from the Air Force Times newspaper.

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VA Data Show Twice as Many Veterans Waiting for Health Care


Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data show that the number of new veterans enrolled in the department?s health care system and waiting for their first clinic appointment to be scheduled has doubled in the year. As of April 2005, 15,211 veterans were waiting. This month, the number has ballooned to 30,475. Over the course of two years, the number of new enrollees waiting has increased by over 400 percent.

?These numbers are simply unacceptable,? stated Representative Mike Michaud (D-ME), the Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans? Affairs. ?The VA must ask for the budgetary resources it needs to provide health care to our veterans, and not pretend everything is all right as this Administration rations health care by making veterans wait and wait and wait.?


Noting that the Administration imposed an enrollment ban on certain veterans in 2003, Michaud called for the ban to be lifted: ?On top of asking for the dollars to get the job done today, the Administration must ask for the dollars to end this intolerable enrollment ban. This is even more important today than it was in 2003 because more and more families are losing their health care.?


Although there are some areas of the country which have shown an improvement in the recent past addressing the number of veterans waiting for care, many others have shown an exponential increase.


?The Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) that serves my state has shown a marked improvement since last September, but a single veteran who has to wait for health care is one veteran too many. I believe if a man or woman has served our nation in uniform, they deserve timely access to VA?s medical facilities and quality care. A lack of timeliness has a direct impact upon health care quality. VA health care is very good, but for those who have to wait the quality is not what it should be? said Congressman Michaud.

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Second article can be found here... ... http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.p...25-1720334.php

Entire story copied below:

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Veterans? waits for first appointment spike


By Rick Maze
Times staff writer


The number of veterans waiting for their first medical appointment in the veterans? health care system has doubled in the last year, according to information released Thursday by members of the House of Representatives.


Cited statistic provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Democratic staff of the House Veterans? Affairs Committee says 30,475 veterans are waiting for their first appointment at a VA facilities, compared with 15,211 at the same time last year.


Since 2004, the number of newly eligible people waiting for appointments has increased by 400 percent, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine, ranking Democrat on the veterans? affairs committee?s health panel, said the situation is ?simply unacceptable,? especially because the Bush administration has opposed efforts in Congress to increase the VA?s health care budget.


?The VA must ask for the budgetary resources it needs to provide health care to our veterans and not pretend everything is all right as this administration rations health care by making veterans wait and wait and wait,? Michaud said.


The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed increasing the VA health care budget as part of the wartime supplemental appropriations bill because of concerns that the VA doesn?t have enough money. The Bush administration did not ask for any emergency funding for the VA, claiming that the 2006 budget ? boosted by Congress last year after the VA admitted to funding shortfalls? is sufficient.


In January, the administration asked for $38.5 billion for veterans? health care programs for 2007, an amount Democrats have said is $3.6 billion less than needed . Part of that extra money ? about $800 million ? is needed to offset a Bush administration assumption that higher enrollment fees and co-payments for prescription drugs would reduce health care costs.


There has been bipartisan opposition in Congress to the fee increases, leaving lawmakers to seek money to cover the extra costs.


VA officials did not return phone calls asking for comment on the report about the increased number of veterans awaiting care.


The 31,000 veterans waiting for their first appointment are those with service-connected injuries or who have little or no income. Which is because since 2003, the Bush administration has barred new enrollments in the VA health care system of veterans who have modest incomes and no service-connected disabilities or medical problems.


Michaud said the enrollment ban should also be lifted. ?On top of asking for the dollars to get the job done today, the administration must ask for the dollars to end this intolerable enrollment ban,? he said. ?This is even more important today than it was in 2003 because more and more families are losing their health care.?

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What else is new with this administration, George Bush has dropped the ball when it comes to the VA and Veterans. I have become quite disillusioned by this administaration.

[Gimpy]

get NO arguement outa me on that subject Robert!..........

[Rebelwitho]

I'll argee with that. Here at the V.A. in Jackson, Mississippi the wait time has gotten worst. some time it takes up to 6 months to gat a appointment, Now other V.A.'s might not be bad, but in our case we can't blame it all on Bush. After Hurrican Katrina the New Orleans and Gulfport V.A. are shut down due to all the damage, Gulfport will not reopen to much damage, New Orleans up to 5 years to repair. So we are the closest full blown medical centers so in turn we now seeing all of their Patients.