Valley veterans expose big flaw in revamped VA health care plan
“I did a lot of research. I read the bill itself.”
Bill Taylor and his partner Bruce Kenyon hoped the Veterans Access to Care Law would cut down on the time they spend driving to the VA Hospital in Loma Linda.
“If you have multiple issues that you’re dealing with,” explained Kenyon, “you could end up making as many as three trips in a week, round trip at 130 miles.”
So when the Air Force and Navy veterans got their “choice cards” in the mail recently, they could not wait to use them.
Since Loma Linda is more than 40 miles away, the cards would mean they’d get to see their own doctors in the Coachella Valley. Unfortunately, they quickly found out that “Everyone in the Coachella Valley who is a veteran, all 30,000 of us, are ineligible for the program because we don’t, No. 1, meet the distance requirement,” says Taylor.
That’s because of a small VA outpatient clinic in Palm Desert.
Inside the wellness center on Cook Street, veterans can receive primary care services, counseling, referrals to Loma Linda, some lab work and some prescriptions.
But it offers none of the specialty services veterans request most, like pain management, podiatry, chemotherapy or dentistry.
“For them to use the VA clinic here, which is basically a wellness center with a lab, and say that satisfies the requirement of being within 40 miles of a VA facility, is dishonest,” Kenyon laughs.
Taylor and Kenyon are not alone.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Defends its Actions
Within the last week, the VA answered tough questions on Capitol Hill about the VA’s overhaul.
But the VA turned the criticism back around to the lawmakers who wrote the bill, and reminded Congress exceptions made to the 40 mile radius rule meant millions more taxpayer dollars spent on the program.
Congressional Reaction
“So the intent of this law is to help our veterans get care with their own physician in their own community,” said Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-36th). We asked Rep. Ruiz if the law fulfills its intentions. He said, “no.”
“This is an issue. And this is an issue that needs to be fixed.”
Ruiz co-sponsored HR-577, a bipartisan bill currently being considered in the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which would make services as important as the distance to the facility.
“Even though you may live near a clinic, if they don’t have a pain specialist, then they should be able to see a pain specialist in their community,” he says.
Rep. Ruiz also wants to use a veteran’s home address to determine eligibility, not just their ZIP code.
“And, not wait for an act of Congress, but to start working here locally to recruit physicians in our communities to contract with the VA.”
Rep. Ruiz points out if veterans must wait more than 30 days at Loma Linda, they qualify to see a local physician.
Current VA Wait Times
During January 2015, the VA at Loma Linda reported veterans waited an average of 6 days beyond their desired appointment date for specialty care, anextra 10.5 days for dental service, 6.3 days for audiology, 13.4 days for podiatry, and 9 days for the pain clinic.
But when Taylor recently tried to see an ophthamologist at Loma Linda, he was told the earliest appointment would be in September, with no mention of the Choice program, or an option to see a doctor close to home.
If Ruiz’s bill can gain traction, Kenyon says, “Well, that would be wonderful.”
In the meantime, the local couple believes the current Veterans Access to Care Plan, “questions the intelligence of the men and women in the Coachella Valley who really proudly serve our country.” And, according to Taylor, “I think they deserve better than that.”
Contact Rep. Ruiz here
