BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O TOOK HIS WORKOUT OVERSEAS AND RECEIVED CRITICISM FOR IT -- IT'S APPARENTLY 2 STEPS BELOW DEBBIE REYNOLDS WORKOUT TAPE FOR SENIORS.
VIDEO AND PHOTOS SUGGEST HE COULD WIN THE CONTEST FOR 'SASSIEST SENIOR' AT THE BOCA RATON SINAI RESIDENCES -- PROVIDED THEY OPENED THE 'SASSIEST SENIOR' CONTEST UP TO MEN.
A veteran said to me today, he was at the April 30th Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing (we covered that hearing in the May 1st snapshot), that he couldn't believe that the Chair of the Committee (Senator Bernie Sanders) had stated in that hearing that his Committee would be up in arms if the accusations about Phoenix turned out to be true.
They are true. The report the Office of the Inspector General released last week confirmed that the books were cooked and two sets of wait lists were kept. Senator Dianne Feinstein does not serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, she does Chair the Senate Intelligence Committee. She issued a statement Monday and we'll note this from it (I'll post the statement in full tomorrow morning -- there is not room for it to be included in full in this snapshot):
Senator Feinstein expressed frustration that a December 2012 GAO report identified a history of record tampering at VA health care facilities. In March 2013, GAO Health Care Director Debra Draper testified about the report before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Veterans’ Affairs, saying “staff at some clinics told us they change medical appointment desired dates to show clinic wait times within VHA’s performance goals.”
“The 2012 GAO report tells me one thing: that VA knew about this problem many months ago but instead of taking action to fix it, employees created schemes to cover up the problem,” Feinstein said. “This is inexcusable and speaks to deeper problems within the VA.”
On April 30, 2014, Feinstein wrote a letter to VA Acting Inspector General Richard Griffincalling for an expansion of the investigation into the Phoenix VA Health Care System to determine if similar problems were prevalent at other VA health care facilities.
There are senators calling out the scandal and making suggestions for reform. But the reality is that the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has failed to seriously address the issue as a Committee. I'm not talking historical, I'm talking about since the scandal broke. CNN was covering this story -- breaking it -- in April. It's now June.
Where's the hearing addressing the scandal?
The House can hold a hearing (and did, last week) but the Senate can't get it together to hold a hearing?
A number of veterans lost trust with Sanders over that April 30th hearing. Instead of focusing on the news of the day, he wanted to cover acupuncture, yoga and other issues which, quite frankly, were not issues in need of dire attention. That was the first wrong step by Sanders. He then became seen as an apologist of the VA -- Chris Cuomo was the first to make that observation and did so in a live interview with Sanders.
I don't know what you do after you weaken or break the bond of trust. I don't know how you come back from one stumble after another. But veterans in DC are not very pleased with the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee or with the Committee itself right now.
Announcing this morning that a planned hearing (for tomorrow) was cancelled did not help.
So let's turn to the House of Representatives. Beto O'Rourke is a Texas Democrat serving in the House.
El Paso survey of veterans shows widespread unhappiness with VA care #VAScandal http://www.usatoday.com/story/nation/2014/06/04/veterans-va-delay-mental-health-care-survey-orourke/9953131/ …
And he issued this on the survey:
I recently sent an email to all veterans in our database, asking them to participate in a survey to determine the quality and access to care for primary and mental health at the El Paso VA.
Hundreds took the time to respond, and from their responses we’ve compiled a report with important information about access to care for El Paso veterans, including the significant discrepancy between what the VA is telling me and what you are telling me.
For example, for each month between March 2013 and March 2014, the El Paso VHA has reported to me that between 85% and 100% of veterans new to the system seeking mental health appointments saw a provider within 14 days of their appointment request. Our survey shows that on average it takes a veteran 71 days to see a mental health provider and more than 36% of veterans attempting to make an appointment were unable to see a mental health provider at all.
For those who do get an appointment, these sessions are routinely cancelled before they can take place. The survey also found that wait times for primary health were unacceptably long, with over 71.8% reporting that they could not schedule a primary care visit within 14 days of their request.
The recent scandal in Phoenix, where administrators kept secret wait lists and denied care to those they were entrusted to help, proves that we cannot depend on the VA to hold itself accountable. The best way to determine how the VA is doing is to ask the veterans themselves. In doing just that, this report can provide the basis for real accountability and improved service at the El Paso VHA clinic and perhaps serve as the model for allowing our country’s veterans to do the same for the national VA system.
Below are our full findings and steps we will take based on what we’ve learned.
For the full report, click here http://goo.gl/8BOi1g.
Thank you for your service in uniform and your service today on behalf of your fellow veteran. It is an honor to serve you.
Hundreds took the time to respond, and from their responses we’ve compiled a report with important information about access to care for El Paso veterans, including the significant discrepancy between what the VA is telling me and what you are telling me.
For example, for each month between March 2013 and March 2014, the El Paso VHA has reported to me that between 85% and 100% of veterans new to the system seeking mental health appointments saw a provider within 14 days of their appointment request. Our survey shows that on average it takes a veteran 71 days to see a mental health provider and more than 36% of veterans attempting to make an appointment were unable to see a mental health provider at all.
For those who do get an appointment, these sessions are routinely cancelled before they can take place. The survey also found that wait times for primary health were unacceptably long, with over 71.8% reporting that they could not schedule a primary care visit within 14 days of their request.
The recent scandal in Phoenix, where administrators kept secret wait lists and denied care to those they were entrusted to help, proves that we cannot depend on the VA to hold itself accountable. The best way to determine how the VA is doing is to ask the veterans themselves. In doing just that, this report can provide the basis for real accountability and improved service at the El Paso VHA clinic and perhaps serve as the model for allowing our country’s veterans to do the same for the national VA system.
Below are our full findings and steps we will take based on what we’ve learned.
For the full report, click here http://goo.gl/8BOi1g.
Thank you for your service in uniform and your service today on behalf of your fellow veteran. It is an honor to serve you.
It is no longer just Phoenix that the administration admits was using two sets of wait lists -- a public one filled with lies and the real one hidden from the public. Jim Salter (AP) reports, "VA officials first acknowledged the Midwestern lists in letters last week to U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, both of Kansas. The letters included information about conditions in the VA's Heartland Network, with unauthorized lists maintained at facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana." Hannah Davis and Angela Smith (KWCH -- link is text and video) report on the use of a "secret wait list" at Robert J. Dole Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kansas. Hanqing Chen (Pro Publica) offers a round up of reporting on the various VA scandals.
CNN notes, "Nearly six in ten Americans give President Barack Obama a thumbs-down on how he is handling the Veterans Affairs controversy, according to a new national poll."
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