Lisa Rein and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of the Washington Post report:
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been spending at least $6 billion a year in violation of federal contracting rules to pay for medical care and supplies, wasting taxpayer money and putting veterans at risk, according to an internal memo written by the agency’s senior official for procurement.
So how bad was it? This bad:
Jan R. Frye, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, describes a culture of “lawlessness and chaos” at the Veterans Health Administration, the massive health-care system for 8.7 million veterans.
So bad, that:
“Doors are swung wide open for fraud, waste and abuse,” [Frye] writes in the March memo.
Adding that, “I can state without reservation that VA has and continues to waste millions of dollars by paying excessive prices for goods and services due to breaches of Federal laws.”
Meanwhile, as reported in Government Executive:
VA Officials Say They’re Trying to Fire People, But It’s Still Really Hard
