Just six months ago, Americans were outraged by revelations of a widespread patient scheduling scandal in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation — a shameful story of secret wait lists, calculated executive greed and veterans dying while awaiting care from a dysfunctional bureaucracy.

That scandal set the stage for the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, a serious set of reforms passed by Congress this summer and signed into law by the president. Along with the appointment of a new VA secretary, it appeared the VA was on a positive path toward change.