VA hospital delays inexcusable

It was one year ago that Americans heard outrageous stories of our nation’s ailing veterans being treated like an inconvenient burden by VA hospitals.

Immediately, Congress took up the cause, demanded accountability and promised changes.

Unfortunately, last week, we once again heard that sick veterans are waiting in line for critical treatment for weeks or even months. The bureaucratic maze has all the hallmarks of a Kafka-esque nightmare, and like Kafka’s protagonists, many of our nation’s heroes are losing hope.

Last May, when we wrote an editorial on the situation, we were optimistic. “Thank goodness Congress has opened hearings into the allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths,” we opined. But we thought the hearings would lead to action. In that we were sadly mistaken.

A study by the Associated Press “found that since the summer, the number of medical appointments delayed 30 to 90 days has largely stayed flat. The number of appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled.”

Montana’s veterans are among those hardest hit. Nationwide, one in 36 patient visits involved a delay of at least a month. In Montana, that number was as high as one in 20!

Considering Montana’s admirable record of military service among both our young people and our retirees, it is a real shame. And what makes it even worse is the long travel times that most of Montana’s veterans experience when they seek care — usually at Fort Harrison in Helena.

Sen. Jon Tester did his part last month when he brought new VA Secretary Bob McDonald to Helena to hear directly from veterans about staffing shortages and program deficiencies. McDonald got an earful, and Sen. Tester has been and will continue to be a tireless advocate for veterans’ causes.

Can we realistically expect a quick fix to this bureaucratic quagmire? Perhaps not, but we must not stop pushing for solutions. The United States government is wasting billions of dollars across the board in program after program. It’s about time that some of those sweetheart deals get shut down. Let the environmental researchers and social scientists who want to learn how to better control the planet or the people wait in line.

Put the veterans first, and give them the health care they deserve.