Nearly a year after it was discovered that dozens of veterans died while awaiting healthcare, the Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to complete more than 100 recommendations for overcoming its troubling problems, a new report finds.
The VA, which serves about 9 million veterans, is still struggling to make sure patients get the medical appointments they need at the locations where they could best be served, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office released Wednesday. And the agency’s IT system hasn’t been updated in decades, the report said.
“There really is inadequate oversight and accountability … the individual facilities have been given wide latitude to implement the policies and procedures, there are not reviews being done,” U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told a Senate panel. “It’s a real problem that needs attention.”
Dodaro said he met with VA Secretary Robert McDonald on Friday and said he was told by the secretary that the recommendations are a top priority. McDonald replaced former secretary Eric Shinseki in July, after Shinseki resigned in the midst of the scandal that prompted a criminal investigation by the FBI.
Last year, it was found that dozens of veterans died while waiting for medical care at VA facilities in Phoenix. In response, Congress passed a law providing $15 billion in new funding for the agency and requiring it to allow veterans to get care at non-VA facilities if they would have to wait at least a month for an appointment or live far from the nearest facility.
Yet for the first time, the GAO has added the VA to its annual list of programs at serious risk of fraud, waste and abuse. Thirty-two areas are on the list this year, including the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The oversight agency has made 167 improvement recommendations to the VA over the last five years, but most haven’t been implemented, officials said.
Senators expressed dismay, with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., saying she thinks more legislation is needed. “Make no mistake, extremely troubling issues have come to light regarding the VA … and I believe Congress will have to act in a variety of ways to make improvements,” she said.
