The Mission Act was a fantastic start to helping veterans! I vote we push further for our veterans to be able to choose their healthcare provider instead of having to go through Veterans Affairs first. Right now, in order to get care, I have to go through VA first and be recommended over to community care for my choice of local doctor. This can delay care for months. There are many hoops to jump through in order to get your care covered as well.
For example; if I’m experiencing nausea the VA will see me at my local clinic. If they can’t find anything, they will put orders in for me to be seen by GI. In 1-2 weeks, I’ll get a call to schedule the the GI appointment. In this example, I’m over an hour away from VA hospital, so I qualify for community care and can pick the place I want to go that’s closest to me. The VA representative then puts in a request to that place and in 1-2 weeks I get a call to schedule that appointment. In 1-4 weeks, depending on availability, I get seen at GI and they find nothing, but think I need to see an endocrinologist. The civilian clinic can’t refer me over to another department because that wouldn’t be covered by the VA and I would have to pay out of pocket. So they then fax over the information to the VA. In 1-2 weeks I get a call from the VA to schedule another community care appointment with the local place of my choosing. I then get a call in 1-2 weeks from said clinic to be seen in 1-4 weeks. Do you see my point?
This round robin way of doing things, delays care for veterans and causes people who aren’t informed of how the system works to be stuck with bills they never expected to be paying. Sometimes, by the time they get care, their condition is much worse, causing secondary issues, or it’s too late to receive care.
I’m not exactly sure what I’m proposing because the VA is a large organization that needs all the help it can get, but if it were set up like health insurance more than a “healthcare provider” then I think veterans would be able to get the care that they need when they need it.
I have some other topics growing as they pertain to Veterans on the thread I am publishing on mental health. Please come and review them, contribute, and help build & create the policies to back these issues!
I have subsection going called Re: Veteran Care, which I hope is inspiring to you.
Please unburden our vets from what has been horribleVHA bureaucratic institution that exists For itself has severely strayed from its mission to serve our vets!! Let the money follow vets not the institutions for healthcare, housing etc !!
A reason I heard why the community care referrals were being reduced or removed was because the VA was in process of hiring more providers so all services could be provided through a VA healthcare system. Unfortunately, until those hired are in the roles, that creates a backlog of patients and gaps in care service. Also, not every Veteran lives within close proximity to VA healthcare facilities, resulting in Veterans having to travel hours, one way, to be seen, which is not feasible for financial and health reasons for many individuals. And there are times when Veterans show up for their appointments only to find out it has been canceled and they will be notified when it will be rescheduled happens, thus further delaying care. Which puts people’s mental and physical health at risk. If the VA is going to expand the number of providers (preferably both medical and mental health), don’t reduce or eliminate community care.
