KMBC broke news of this bit of Obamacare defense: The Kansas City VA Medical Center released a statement late Friday afternoon disputing lawmakers' claims that the facility maintained a secret wait list for veterans in need of care.
KCTV5 offers another unique perspective: Kansas City VA admits to keeping secret waiting list
KCTV5 offers another unique perspective: Kansas City VA admits to keeping secret waiting list
According to the KC VA, "All of these veterans were established patients already receiving care at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and this is no way reflects a list of veterans being denied care due to a lack of capacity," the statement said."
ReplyDeleteThis is the whole problem. Here is how it works folks. As a Vet you go to the VA to sign up. The process takes about half a day or less if you have your ducks in order. They set you an initial appointment wirhing a couple of weeks where they take all the RX you are presently taking and order them from the VA pharmacy. Then they start asking about your health history. So you tell them and give them a list of shit you need medical help with. Then they put bullshit in your record. For example if you tell them your thumb is broke it may very well end up in your record as" Patient once had a broken thumb" Hence no follow up. Now you can ask your primary care doc to send you up to have your broken finger fixed, but at a minimum you will likely be looking qt 6 weeks to 2 months and even longer if your primary starts ordering bullshit tests. Remember this is a government operation so you are going to get sent where you don't need to go just so everyone gets their ass covered. Doesn't matter if it does you no good as a patient this is about their job.
If you have multiple issues there is a huge chance your new primary care person will get the notes wrong. Then when you come in for your next appointment with your primary care you realize that he/she has no freaking idea why you are there even though he/she made you come back. So now you have to go ever everything again only this time your primary is telling you that is not what you said because he/she is now reading the INCORRECT notes from the last visit. It snowballs as you move from department to department. You spend more time frustrated and clarifying then getting anything done to help you medically.
Also VA primary care is not like your primary care under insurance. At the VA there is a big chance that your primary care is a relatively inexperienced nurse practitioner. They can treat the sniffles and might keep your flu and tetanus shits up to date, but if you have a real medical issue you are not going to seen anyone for weeks and weeks - often even months.
Now here we have the politicians harping about initial appointments and the VA talking shit about how there is no secret list to get to your primary care provided. Of course there isn't. The bullshit starts after you are in the system and you actually have anything from a suspected ulcer, arthritis, possible cancer or a thousand other real issues. You are literally sent from nurse to nurse, department after department, and never get a diagnosis or treatment.
Now here comes congress wanting to put more money into a completely corrupt system. The tax payers need to demand that they either fix the damn mess or shut it down. The last thing we need is to spend a half billion hiring more god damn bureaucrats. That is not a solution, it is the problem.
Veterans Service Organizations are to busy with Bingo Bullshit to get involved with the process of getting sick vets through the hospital system.
ReplyDeleteNo one said anything when the VA cutbacks came in 2012. The surprise this is occurring to another generation of Veterans is merely public amnesia.
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