The VA is failing America's heroes -- again

"If I'd gone to the VA, I would have died." That's what Marine veteran Chinaza Duson told Atlanta NBC affiliate 11 Alive after she nearly died of a heart attack this summer waiting to be seen at her local Veterans Affairs medical center.

Sadly, veterans across America utter similar words all the time. After serving their country, veterans are routinely subjected to unreasonable wait times to be seen for even life-threatening ailments. Once they finally do see a health care provider, too often the care is subpar. Voucherizing veterans' health care, and allowing VA beneficiaries to seek care from private providers, would go a long way toward ensuring that they get the care they need. 

According to reporting from 11 Alive, Duson was told she'd have to wait six months to be seen by a VA doctor. An investigation by the network found that new patients wait 72 days, on average, for care at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Wait times for specialty care can be longer. The wait time for gastrointestinal procedures, 11 Alive found, was 203 days.

The story is the same in other parts of the country. Veterans in Tucson, Ariz., wait an average of three months for neurology appointments. In Green Bay, Wis., the wait for a urology appointment averages 81 days.

Even after patients get an appointment, substandard care is endemic. A review covering October 2021 through March 2022 conducted by the VA's Office of Inspector General found that one New Mexico veteran was forced to wait nearly six months for a CT scan to determine whether a suspicious lung nodule was cancerous. Eventually, a non-VA hospital examined the patient and diagnosed cancer. In some cases, VA employees have allegedly accepted bribes and kickbacks, pilfered medications and other controlled substances, and even sexually abused patients.

During the six-month period covered by the OIG's report, special agents opened 173 investigations and closed 224. Their work led to 104 arrests and 557 administrative sanctions and corrective actions.

This level of waste, fraud, and abuse at a government agency should be intolerable. Giving veterans a right of exit from the dysfunctional health care system would help. 

The 2018 VA MISSION Act expanded access to privately delivered care in certain cases. But it didn't go far enough. Veterans should be able to take advantage of the range of options available to their civilian counterparts. That could mean, for instance, implementing a robust program of health care vouchers. Ideally, these vouchers would apply to any medical facility in the country, and thus enable veterans to shop around their communities for top-of-the-line care.

Health care vouchers have long-standing support from policymakers on the right. But more importantly, vouchers have support from veterans. Nearly nine in 10 told pollsters back in 2015 that they wanted to see an increase in health care choices for VA patients, including access to private care physicians.

America's heroes want and deserve better health care. And that means giving them access to care outside the VA system.

Sally C. Pipes is president, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is "False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All" (Encounter 2020). Follow her on Twitter @sallypipes.