The report indicates the billions pumped into the VA since the wait-list scandal erupted two years ago have failed to relieve numerous problems in delivering health care to veterans.
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The report states the program has only “aggravated wait times and frustrated veterans” due to confusing eligibility requirements and conflicting processes for coordinating with private health care providers.
But the report said the VA has a long way to go and singled out a “Choice Program”, authorized by Congress to make it easier for veterans to get private care, as significantly flawed.
Controversial calls to close the VA and offer veterans privatized care, supported by the two dissenting commissioners, prompted unified opposition from major veterans organizations and sparked street protests by unionized VA workers.
Currently, a veteran must wait more than 30 days or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility in order to obtain private care through the VA.
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs “fundamental, dramatic change” to improve the health care it provides to more than 9 million veterans a year, a congressional commission says in a report.
Debate over reform at the VA has been growing in the two years since the discovery of long appointment wait times revealed a pattern of data manipulation and poor access for veterans at VA medical centers across the country.
“While the Commission on Care’s almost 300-page report will take time to completely review and digest, the document makes it abundantly clear that the problems plaguing Department of Veterans Affairs medical care are severe”, said Congressman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who chairs the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
The wait-time and mileage restrictions “have caused confusion and frustration for our nation’s veterans who need flexible, quality care”, said McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a leading advocate for veterans.
On Wednesday, Carlos Fuentes, deputy legislative director at the American Legion, said the veterans organization agrees with the commission’s proposal for integrated care but cautions that the VA must be the coordinator.
The commission recommends: “VHA establish a Senior Executive Service (SES)-level position of VHA Care System chief information officer (CIO), selected by and reporting to the chief of VHA Care System (CVCS) with a dotted line to the VA CIO”. The VA delivers high-quality health care but is inconsistent from one site to the next, and problems with access remain, the panel said.
President Barack Obama said in a statement that he will review the commission’s report closely in the coming weeks.
VA has taken many steps since the commission was chartered in 2014 to address the issues it was established to investigate, VA Secretary Bob McDonald said in a statement.
The Durham VA is also planning a number of construction and renovation projects during the next five years to increase access and improve the patient experience, including expanding our Community Living Center to allow for more single occupancy rooms, as well as expanding several of our operating rooms and our parking garage.
In March, the VA set a record for completed appointments: 5.3 million in VA hospitals and clinics, 730,000 more than in March 2014.
Without directly addressing numerous deficiencies described in the report, McDonald said veteran’s access to appointments had improved in the past two years.
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“While the Commission on Care’s almost 300-page report will take time to completely review and digest, the document makes it abundantly clear that the problems plaguing Department of Veterans Affairs medical care are severe”.
