‘The VA’s breaking the law’: Is the agency’s health care data perfection or deception?
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)— If a veteran waits longer than 20 days for a primary care appointment, the law requires U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities to offer them a civilian doctor through its Community Care program.
But records obtained by 8 On Your Side reveal veterans locally and nationally rarely receive Primary Care through the program.
According to the records, during a recent period of nearly two years starting Jan. 1, 2022, there were nearly 12 million Community Care referrals across the country.
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Just over 145,000 involved Primary Care. That was about 1% of the total.
Darren Selnick, of Concerned Veterans for America, helped write the law.
“It’s almost statistically impossible,” Selnick said. “It’s all about control so they can control the money, control the patients, control where they go. It’s not about what’s best for the veterans.”
Bay Pines VAMC was even closer to perfect. Seventeen veterans in about two years, representing .014% of the total Community Care patients, went outside the VA for Primary Care.
Just over 1% of James Haley VAMC Community Care patients were referred to primary care during that time.
VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes credits improvements that have made VA Primary Care more available.
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“Thanks to these efforts, in many cases, VA Primary Care services are more accessible in terms of geography and wait times than non-VA Community Care,” Hayes said. “In many instances, Community Care Primary Care wait times exceed VA Primary Care wait times.”
Selnick doesn’t believe it, citing a statement he claims was made in a VA town hall meeting.
“The under-secretary of health said stop hitting the Community Care button,” Selnick said. “That too many veterans are using CC and if they do Community Care then why do we need the VA and you’ll all lose your jobs.”
8 On Your Side sent the new data to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio who previously reacted to similar records gathered for the previous two-year period that started in 2020.
After 8 On Your Side’s initial report, Rubio and several other lawmakers sent a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough expressing “serious concerns regarding the Veteran’s Healthcare Administration’s refusal to provide adequate access to Community Care.”
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Selnick said his organization has heard from veterans around the country who claim they are still waiting too long for help.
“We’ve had veterans commit suicide because they couldn’t get mental health. We’ve had veterans die of cancer because they couldn’t get appointments,” Selnick said. “It’s got to stop. There’s no doubt the VA’s breaking the law.”
The VA has repeatedly denied the Community Care law is being broken.
The 2014 Choice Act created Community Care after several Phoenix, Arizona area veterans died while waiting for care on secret lists allegedly created to hide long wait times.
Critics claimed the VA was not properly calculating the wait times, prompting the 2018 Mission Act that stated the wait time calendar should start on the date the patient requests an appointment.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is suing the VA for allegedly failing to release information about wait times.
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