This sums up some of it for VA and VHA

[Meddac]

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/04/17/newt-gingrich-veterans-administration-grievously-sick/

I'm not real in-tune with the VHA side of things, but I do know that it is severely broken. On the VBA side of the house I agree that the Appeals backlog is huge as reported in the story. If VA shifts resources to address it then the claims backlog will once again skyrocket. The see-saw of priorities goes on and the taxpayers are funding it.

In the VA they literally refer to all of this type of news as "job security", and it really is just that. The Union protects employees, but too often it's the wrong employees. The internal process is so far gone that I don't think it can ever recover. Not even a complete sweep of management will solve the VA's problems because it goes much higher and lower than that.

I could spend all day on this forum trying to educate, inform, and expose.....but I don't want to be on some TV show with my wife telling the world how I failed to get stuff done around the house!! 

 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Meddac

[broncovet]

Meddac posted:

"Oh, fight that one to the final breath. If there are indeed 2 conflicting opinions then VA is supposed to obtain a third opinion to reconcile which it did not do.

BVA will generally force this action,....."

 

...excellent advice.  I could not have said it better myself, but YOURs is more credible as its from the inside.  

[Meddac]

16 minutes ago, broncovet said:

...excellent advice.  I could not have said it better myself, but YOURs is more credible as its from the inside.  

I don't consider mine to be more credible. I worked on the other side for many years, but that in no way makes me more knowledgeable than the next person. I want to continue serving Veterans as I have. I miss my own share of things, Bronco. I'll rely on you and others to keep me in line.

I do have horror stories from the inside, but I aim to look at things with an equal light as much as possible.

[broncovet]

Meddac...

   Im going to be very busy for the next couple weeks, but I want to listen to your "podcast"..and comment, too.   My trouble is I am seriously hard of hearing and pretty much can not listen to the radio/tv/movies without close captions.  However, I got new hearing aids about a month ago, and heard my grandson for the very first time on the phone!!!  (I could hear some of what adults with a strong voice say, but never kids).  

[Meddac]

Thanks Bronco, I need all of the support I can get to get the show out to as many as possible. I'm sure I'm going to have some "open" shows where I vent, but I've been able to resist so far.

The VA is broken from the highest post to the lowest. Some of it is trying to do a good job, but there is way too much red tape.

[bobbyq]

The 686 I do not understand I got a print out from the VA computer that shows her as a dependant has her name, social, and names her as a beneficiary when the vet was getting 40% but now that she files for death benefits they want the 686?

[Vync]

On 4/18/2016 at 4:25 PM, broncovet said:

I appreciate Newt sticking up for Vets..but he has no solutions, just problems.   The problems are so big, and so widespread, it probably will take legislation to fix it.  I think at the root of it is the unions, which sues VA whenever someone gets fired, so it makes it so difficult to fire people they just keep moving them from place to place to place.  

It reminds me of the old Catholic Church.  When a priest was suspected of molesting, they moved him to another area.  Very, very bad idea, and when it caught up with the Catholic Church it was very very bad.  

Its the same thing with VA.   You dont want  to relocate your problems you want to fix them.  The union largely prevents that.  

Im a pro union guy...voted for the union in my company, tho it was defeated.  The VA needs to be able to trim dead wood, especially when its wormy dead wood infecting the whole forest.  

Hey Broncovet,
That about sums up the whole damage control process the VA uses. Instead of moving the problem doctor, they just offer to move the veteran patient. This leaves other veteran patients to unwittingly suffer from the same mistakes made by the problem doctor. The stubborn doctor is left alone to continue making the same mistakes because they are considered "holier than thou".