The VA

VA budget

The President’s 2017 Budget includes $182.3 billion for VA in 2017. This includes $78.7 billion in discretionary resources and $103.6 billion in mandatory funding. Our discretionary budget request represents an increase of $3.6 billion, or 4.9 percent, over the 2016 enacted level. VA’s 2018 Advance Appropriations request for discretionary Medical Care is $66.4 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion over the 2017 request. The 2018 Advance Appropriations request for mandatory Benefits is $103.9 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion above last year’s request.

So 182 Billion.. (with a B) dollars to run the VA for fiscal year 2017...

Projected Veteran population

ANother Veterans population link

Roughly 22 million Veterans in the good old US of A..

now my math has never been that good... but it seems like 182 Billion dollars to cover 22 million people and provide upkeep for facilities should easily be enough to provide quality health care to all of our nations veterans..

yet we still have 22 suicides a day.. we have vets calling suicide hotlines and being put on hold, we have the infamous wait list down in Arizona I think it was... no accountability, no punishment to the people that have failed us at every single step since at least the Vietnam war.

Now I hear Congress wants to pass the buck to the states.. piss off Congress has every single ounce of power they need to fix the VA, but it would take work so they throw money at it and pretend its fixed.

I am not sure if we need to hand out pink slips like candy to all the useless GS management people that are clearing 6 figures easy.. while vets die waiting for care... or if we should start with some independent organizations that currently conduct inspections on hospitals to find out where the money is going or where the problem is... and bring them in to inspect every facility in the nation.

But I am sick and tired of being told its being taken care of when nothing is being done.

My dad was a Korean War vet and got wonderful care from the va. He never had a complaint about his care even through years of cancer.

But you're right, funding is not the problem that other vets have had issues with. Just wasteful inefficient government programs.

What upsets me as a Vet is the only time the VA kicks into high Gear is an Election year. The rest of the time they are not even trying.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Dont get me wrong.. I have met some wonderful people that are desperate to help as many Vets as they can..

I know there are VA hospitals out there that are very good... it just seems (assumption I know) that most are mediocre to flat out criminal.

CoBaZ; yup... I need to time my disability claims so they hit about the same cycle a an election year... maybe it will get processed in less than 2 or 3 years.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Don't forget abuse of relocation funds to the tune of half a million bucks for a few hundred mile move for VA officials.

Just recently I saw a video of a veteran who set himself on fire and died in front of a VA hospital.

The VA is garbage. The only thing politicians know how to do is throw money at the problem instead of firing the people who are causing the problem and hiring people who will fix it.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Dont get me wrong.. I have met some wonderful people that are desperate to help as many Vets as they can.. I know there are VA hospitals out there that are very good...

There are. The VA in Topeka, Kansas is fantastic.

Same with the one in Reno, NV where I now live.

I consider myself lucky that those were my VA experiences...Larger VA facilities like the one in Las Vegas is not so good, to say the least.

a reply to: projectvxn

Yea I saw that about both of them... the sick thing the women that abused the system,... when its all said and done wont even have a reprimand in their file.

the guy that set himself on fire... well I dont drink often anymore but I did after that.

same in Oklahoma.. OKC va..No just no.. dont .

There is a small one in southern oklahoma that I have heard nothing but good things about.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I got out two years early due to a combat related injury. The VA has been pretty good to me regarding my care here in Reno. But these small examples of good ones seem to be the exception rather than the rule. The VA as a government entity is poorly managed at best, and flagrantly corrupt when it comes to top officials.

My dad had permanent damage done to his arm at the VA. Seriously, he couldn't lift his arm at all due to it. It was his dominant side too so goodbye being able to write. He had to use his other hand to pick this arm up. I personally heard nurses yell at him to just use his arm. Even other vets in his room started yelling at them that he couldn't lift his arm. I have never wanted to slap a b*tch more than some of those nurses.

On the other hand the doctors can be hit or miss. Most of them work some kind of exchange with a local medical school hospital which has some of the finest specialists in the country. Flip side some of the regular doctors that come from there are basically pos.

The VA definitely needs an overhaul right down to some of their office workers. The amount of paperwork needed is redonkulous! The amount of times the same paperwork needs to be filled is even worse!

I have a love hate relationship with the VA because of my dad. Even to the end he would say there are good people there and he was proud to be taken care of at the VA.

Why can't Vets go to their own Doctors.

The solution is so obvious and I'll bet cheaper.

The are constantly spending millions fixing old buildings.

Last week at the Zoo I watched some monkey's have a sh!t fight.

They seemed more dedicated and certainly more organized than our VA.

Maybe this is how you disappear money into the black budget sinkhole....who knows?

a reply to: Irishhaf

What a National disgrace that we can't get the help for these Men and Women that they were promised...the topic blazed bright in the media for awhile, and now seems forgotten.

Thanks for reminding me, OP. I plan on finding some way to help. I will do this partly in memory of my Dad, a proud WWII Marine, that although a highly successful business man, suffered from what we now know as PTSD. And yes, it effected my entire family.

Any Vets out there have suggestions on how to help on a personal level? I have my doubts that ANY of these assorted numbnuts running for President will do something - maybe Trump will, but who knows?

a reply to: Missmissie173

If you want to help, I would hit up a local Vet organization and ask.. off hand short of volunteering at the VA I dont know what if anything you could do to assist.

But Ill bet dollars to donuts someone at the VFW, or the Legion or any of the many private groups that have stood up in the last decade to try and fill the gap would have a pretty good idea.

Or you could run for office and carry that standard into the battle... either way thank you for wanting to help.

a reply to: YachiruKusajishi

You are a much calmer person than me... I would have gone to jail for assault...

even though I know it wouldnt have accomplished anything, when it comes to family my fuse is about a mm long.

a reply to: Irishhaf
Please don't get me started with the VA. I have watched our VA go from a stellar operation, to an incompetent, poorly structured, ridiculously, unorganized operation, that can only keep the dregs at the bottom of the barrel. From doctors that where knowledgeable, caring, and supportive, to a bunch of failure physicians, that could never make it in private practice, because they are walking robots, that have not one ounce of backbone, or a single heart cell.

The good staff is dropping the VA like a hot potato. It used to be nearly impossible to get a job at the VA without being placed on a waiting list, and waiting years for an opening. Now they are advertising like crazy, and keep losing their quality staff.

One thing that no one is talking about is, why do we even need the VA anymore? If the federal government is controlling healthcare in America, then Veterans should be able to got any doctor or hospital they choose.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

well until they sort out the Cluster Fark that is the ACA, I would rather stick with the devil I know... but that is just my opinion.

If the ACA didnt seem (in my opinion) such a run away train wreck I would be 100% for letting us get the help we need.

But the options for that now.. (if you live X amount of miles or hours form the nearest VA) has the VA playing the deny everything game.. cant recall off the top of my head, but I want to say they are only approving a tiny % of the requests.

VA choice program

the link is to the program itself, but like I said I have heard the VA is cooperating the way they are supposed to.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

well until they sort out the Cluster Fark that is the ACA, I would rather stick with the devil I know... but that is just my opinion.

If the ACA didnt seem (in my opinion) such a run away train wreck I would be 100% for letting us get the help we need.

But the options for that now.. (if you live X amount of miles or hours form the nearest VA) has the VA playing the deny everything game.. cant recall off the top of my head, but I want to say they are only approving a tiny % of the requests.

VA choice program

the link is to the program itself, but like I said I have heard the VA is cooperating the way they are supposed to.

VA Choice Program! The program that makes the VA look like the pinnacle of healthcare organizations.

I was just graciously seen by a Spinal Neurosurgeon Specialist, at a local University Medical Center. The orders for the consultation was enter into the system May 2015. One month shy of "one" year, through the Choice Program.

Just when I thought there could be no organization more incompetent, more disorganized, or any place more disconnected, and with more lack of communication; in walks the VA Choice Program.

It is just a cycle dump for the VA, because once they you refer you to the Choice Program, you no longer are their problem for whatever condition for which you were referred out. Then the VA can gleefully proclaim, "It is not our fault." "You have to call HealthNet."

VA gets to screw you twice.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

wow didnt realize it was that bad... so its pretty much the worst picture painted during the ACA debates... but lucky for politicians it only affects about 22 million people..

Gah... wish I knew what to do.. part of me says fire everyone and start over... but I dont think that would work... we would get the same 6 figure a year salary bean counters in I cant be fired GS positions that will dork everything up with red tape again faster than you can say its fixed..

The va needs a top down inspection from one of those companies that does it for a living to regular hospitals.

a reply to: Irishhaf

The other vets were viscious enough for me. Nothing better than watching an 80 yr old man put a 20 something in her place. A couple marines that were there really gave it to them pretty bad over my dad. They also would play and talk with my kids when I came to visit. I never felt better than having that group of men watch out for my dad. They would either call my mother or tell her in her next visit and then she would light into the supervisor too!

a reply to: Irishhaf

Short story... My experience with the VA began in 2011. I never even considered the VA as an option for anything that ailed me up to that point. I had issues... Homelessness, alcohol dependency, and a list of other things that were literally destroying me. They took action and I spent an entire year in in-residency treatment. While in the programs, three of which I completed - an initial 30 day, than a 90 day, followed by a 6 month course of therapy, I learned SO MUCH about what it is that is me! I can't thank them enough. Housing, food, work searches and travel. We did a lot to dispel the distortions in our minds that are crippling us from moving forward. The only easy thing about military service is joining. Anyone else that says different is probably a recruiter. We had clinical psychologists, PhD 's from Stanford on staff.... If you wanted answers, you could work towards that end. The ONLY, and I mean ONLY thing I think where they dropped the ball on is identifying those with the intellectual capacity to understand their diagnosis and work towards facing and effectively dealing with those specific problems. Instead, they allowed the "group" to give input and advice without having the training to give appropriate feedback. I was diagnosed with substance induced mood disorder to which I was CONSTANTLY harassed about why I wouldn't accept psych meds. I WANTED to feel my problems, not coast on a cloud. I would think that with the money spent on the doctors salaries, they would assess better instead of leaning on program policy to "fix" things. I only know about this because I did a FOIA on my clinical records for that year, 546 pages total of input and reports that made more sense to me than the time it took to get to that point. Point is, I appreciate the VA for their commitment to my recovery. I think a lot of time is wasted however.