WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOING ON WITH THE VA? HERE IT IS:

THE UBER-BUREAUCRATS AT VA CENTRAL OFFICE IN D.C., WHO HAVE NOT SPOKEN TO A REAL VETERAN IN YEARS, IF EVER, DEMONSTRATE THEIR PROWESS BY SETTING GOALS (QUOTAS) THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET IN THE REAL WORLD. THIS TO IMPRESS THE SUPER-UBER- BUREAUCRATS ABOVE THEM.

THE LOCAL PEOPLE WHO DEAL WITH REAL VETERANS IN THE REAL WORLD ARE USUALLY COMMITTED TO SERVING VETS. THEY ALSO DO NOT WISH TO COMMIT JOB SUICIDE. SO THEY FIDDLE THE SYSTEM TO KEEP CENTRAL OFFICE OFF THEIR BACKS WHILE THEY TRY TO DELIVER THE SERVICES TO THE VETS AS BEST THEY CAN WITH THE ASSETS AVAILABLE TO THEM.

AS IN ANY BUREAUCRACY AS YOU MOVE UP THE FOOD CHAIN, DEVOTION TO THE MISSION DECREASES WHILE LIP SERVICE TO THE MISSION AND DEVOTION TO THE SYSTEM INCREASES. CAREERISTS PROLIFERATE; PROFESSIONALS BECOME RARE.

TWENTY YEARS WORKING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS BENEFITS. RETIRED IN 2002.

Good summary. Unfortunate but accurate. Some gave all. Some give lip service. As many know, technology has saved many that might have otherwise died. Medical services are an astronomical expense whether it be a veteran or a civilian. In all walks of life what is presenting itself on all fronts is the cost of skyrocketing medical outlays are unsustainable. The federal deficit is far from manageable and action has been deferred for decades. Where do the dollars come from? I have said in the past that luckily I'll be dead or close to dead by the time this system implodes. It's not far away either. Look for more creative finance in the future. Follow the shell ..........

Maybe they should merge with the USPS, the model of efficiency.

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Bad comparison. Congressional and Senatorial manipulation has bound the USPS to do their bidding. If allowed to operate like a business and not a government stepchild the USPS could have dealt with cost containment over 2 decades ago. 6 day home delivery is ridiculous in todays society. Many offices are kept alive because of their economic impact on the community. It is one of the last dying bastions of middle class income. Sure Walmart could handle your mail delivery, but would you want them to? I guess low paid part time employees could be hired to oversee the incarcerated also. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know how to lock and unlock a door. Firemen? Are they really needed. Just let the fire burn itself out and let the private insurance companies pay off the claims. I'm not serious about firemen but you can see where this all is going. Low paid Obamacare subscribers that qualify for free phones, low income housing and food stamps (whatever the program is called now) is certainly not the way to go to achieve greatness. We used to be a country of professionals. Now we're a bunch of disenfranchised poorly educated wannabes filling job slots in a service economy. We reap what we sow. Not that I really have an opinion on this .....

Above all else the VA Hospitals and outcare need to be the best for the men who served fought and sacrificed for this Nation.....didn't I just read that there is a 115 day average wait to see a doctor at the VA....something like that....now that's bullshit....in my opinion anyway....

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Oh, I agree. We have a little VA clinic here in Homestead that I could use that is pretty quick for general medical issues. I don't use them because I have private health insurance but I have a buddy that uses the VA regularly. He has a limited disability that happened while in service. I have a service connected disability myself though I never took the time and effort to make a claim. Time and effort being the key words. A local AMVETS Post officer offered to help me through the quagmire but I feel there are many more much more deserving than I. What's my disability? Injured my lower back while moving full AIM 7 and AIM 9 missle containers in a storage facility. There are two ends to the container. A heavy end and a light end. Don't confuse the two is all I can say.

Without a doubt the VA is a last resort for me as well.

Tommy nailed it, with the time and effort thing.... I have delt with the VA for my personal benifits once trying to use my GI bill and after that experience, I hope to god I never have rely on the VA for anything medical releated....

When I did my final physical at Bethesda in 2007 the Doc was looking over my papers and stopped at my hearing test and asked me if I was going to apply for VA disability... I told her about my previous experience with the VA and that I would just wait until I was too old to work a real job before I applied because I was quite certain I be at least that old before I got approved anyway.

At least they make it easy to get your certificate of eligibility for the VA home loans. I wish getting the benefits we were promised and deserve were all as easy.... but the way the system is set up only the truly messed up or scammers with nothing else to do are capable of devoting the time nessecary to get it done.
Will

My nephew's life was saved by the VA. He had such intense PTSD after returning from the Middle East... He was spiraling out of control and couldn't stop. Thanks to the VA, he is now back on track.

Specifically, the Cheyenne, WY, center.

I dealt with VA when I was in college. My fathers' death left me with VA benefits and as such, I had to deal with the system. There were some wacky rules, to say the least!

But, like any other bureaucracy, it is doomed to crash on its own complacency. I hated the paperwork, none of the forms made sense and the VA office on campus was hard to get a hold of.

Then came the 'incidents'... the rumours of convient fires at the main storage facility in St Louis. I got screwed one summer when the pre-printed document had my Dad's SSN shifted one digit! WTF? Say it should have been 123-45-6789, it was 234-56-7891. It looked right... why should we check it? Took 3 months without any VA income to get it right.

Luckily, I had a job and very limited expenses...

I did get reimbursed, but they didn't touch it until October... in short, that fiscal years funding ran out! 1987, IIRC.

The biggest thing that bothers me about this VA scandel is the corruption.

The Govt in my lifetime has always run by Corruptacrats... and they do what they do... mess up everything they touch for others, while making bank for themselves - all the while making pretty speaches on TV about how they are the only MF's that can fix the problems.

Shinseki while being a veteran himself, can't use that as a cloak to hide from the responsibility of this.... If anything I hate him more because he should have known better than to sell us out. I expect to be sold out by a life long scumbag, POS politican... not by a fellow veteran.

(1) Glad to see he's fired.
(2) Scared to death to see who replaces him.

He (and whoever replaces him) shouldn't have taken the job in the first place if they are not willing to lay it all on the line to help those that need it.

Will

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You don't get a job like that unless you're willing to do what is required and requested. Usually it involves cost containment, reductions in force and services, and issuing of contracts to those that have contributed to the right campaign funds. Those that try to do the right thing are battered, used and obused. You have to work above and beyond to do the right thing and in the end it will bite you in the ass. At least you'll be able to sleep at night.

HAVE NOT HAD MUCH TO DO WITH THE HOSPITAL SIDE OF THE VA, I ONLY USE THEM FOR HEARING AIDS. ASIDE FROM MISMANAGEMENT, THE BIG PROBLEM THERE SEEMS TO BE SUPPLY AND DEMAND. ELIGIBILITY FOR TREATMENT HAS BEEN EXPANDED; STAFFING HAS NOT. THE MEANS ARE INADEQUATE FOR THE DESIRED ENDS.

ON THE BENEFITS SIDE IT'S MORE OF A SELF INFLICTED WOUND. WHEN I STARTED AT THE VA CLAIMS PROCESS WAS NON ADVERSARIAL, AN ADMIN PROCESS LOADED IN THE VETS FAVOR. ANY LAWYER INVOLVED WAS LIMITED BY LAW AS TO THE $$$ HE COULD CHARGE. BACK IN THE 80'S THE VETERAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS KEPT PUSHING FOR MORE LAWYER INVOLVEMENT. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. NOW IT HAS BECOME AN ADVERSARIAL SYSTEM LIKE THE COURTS, REQUIRING ENDLESS DOCUMENTATION AND TAKING YEARS TO RESOLVE. JUST LIKE OUR LEGAL SYSTEM. JACK CADE WAS RIGHT.

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IF MY MEMORY IS CORRECT SHINSEKI WAS HILLARY C'S CHOICE FOR CHIEF OF STAFF, AS HE WAS THE DUMBEST OF THE CANDIDATES AND SO THE EASIEST TO FOOL AND MANIPULATE.