(02-02-2019, 09:51 AM)B2hibry Wrote:

(02-02-2019, 07:02 AM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: My dad is a Viet Nam vet. He and 3 other friends of the family get healthcare via the VA and we've never heard a complaint from any of them. They've provided my dad healthcare that otherwise, he could not afford. Some of his prescriptions are hundreds of dollars on their own and he is on a lot of medicines for various health problems related to exposure to chemicals during the war and years of shift work in the factory, where he was employed for 36 years. The people that I've met who complain about the service of the VA are the ones who either don't need it or are rich enough to buy whatever private healthcare they need. In fact, he just had an eye appointment at the VA last week to check on his glaucoma and he was in and out in around 45 minutes. That's not typical, but it happens. In all the years he's gone there, we've only experienced really long wait times twice that I know of and that was during a big flu outbreak where they were understaffed. That could've happened anywhere. Sometimes you just have to be patient, whether it's at the doctor, the DMV, the grocery store or a restaurant.

Really rich or didn’t need it? This is the VA, not Bay Health! In any case, you just contradicted yourself and proved my point. It is a mess and inefficient except for routine work. Pharmacy and eye checkups are hardly time consuming and beyond routine. But glad he is comfortable with his care. They are trying to improve. Most folks are just not lucky enough to live near a new high dollar facility or in a low population region. Some regions even have small “clinics” to try and offset certain service waits. My care in Fargo ND was outstanding! Not even close down here. I don’t have time to sit all day or sit 4 hours only to get rescheduled last minute...over and over. Waiting 3 weeks for urgent care is not acceptable either. It’s less of a hassle to pay a little out of pocket and use wife’s insurance. There appears to be this perception that veterans should just be patient no matter the inconvenience but boy if that standard is applied to civilians all hell breaks loose! You better have access to 5 urgent care facilities in a two block radius, drive through pharmacy access and PMC access 24/7.

My quick [BLEEP] story...my dad died this past year from a service related issue that he had been waiting years to get addressed. He paid out of pocket for treatments until he went broke. He was Navy in Vietnam and fell under the offshore agent orange claims. But as some may know, there has been a battle to deny those claims. The case was settled last week to support ALL agent orange claims in that AOR. During all this, my dad was not given even basic care because although his records supported his claim for treatment, the bureaucracy did not. He filed paperwork to upgrade his disability but that still is waiting for review two years later! This is typical in the VA. Anything to try and save a buck. That is where most issues lie. There is a set pool of money and all centers must share which means care will be unfairly rationed. There is no profit pool sharing. It is triage medicine at its worst.

That's fine if you have that option, but my dad doesn't have that option and if he did, he couldn't afford the premiums. He's 76 years old and on total disability after a major stroke. He and my mom are on a fixed income and the VA has been great for them. My dad averages 4-5 trips there a month and he has never experienced the inconveniences you mentioned, other than the one time I mentioned. Without the care the VA has provided, my dad might likely be dead, since they cannot afford private care. My dad's issues were related to agent orange as well. We haven't had any problems getting his issues covered by the VA, as they were determined to have been linked back to the agent orange several years ago. I'm sorry your dad went through that, but we've just had different experiences with the VA. Here in Ohio, our VA sounds like it may be running much more efficiently.

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