VA Secretary Robert McDonald: Disney doesn’t measure wait times, neither should VA
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald compared the length of time veterans’ wait to receive health care from the VA to the length of time people wait for rides at Disneyland, and said that Disney doesn’t keep track of wait times, so Veterans Affairs shouldn’t either as it’s not a valid measure of one’s overall experience. “When you got to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important?” McDonald asked reporters Monday during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. “What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience? And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure.” The comparison brought swift disapproval from Republicans and veterans organizations alike who were none too pleased with Secretary McDonald’s analogy in light of the scandal that exploded two years ago when it was revealed that the VA was attempting to cover up long wait times. Republican Presidential front-runner Donald Trump took a moment to try to gain political traction, saying he would “take care” of America’s vets. Obama’s VA Secretary just said we shouldn’t measure wait times. Hillary says VA problems are not ‘widespread.’ I will take care of our vets! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2016 Wisconsin Republican and U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan ripped into McDonald with a series of tweets saying unlike Disneyland, the VA “is not make-believe.” This is not make-believe, Mr. Secretary. Veterans have died waiting in those lines. https://t.co/OxfT3AYzTi — Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) May 23, 2016 The happiest place on earth? Secretary McDonald compares #VA lines to #Disneyland. Seriously. https://t.co/SmvIKqxGKW — Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) May 23, 2016 There’s no Fast Pass at the #VA. #Veterans seeking medical attention don’t have that luxury. https://t.co/SmvIKqxGKW — Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) May 23, 2016 Concerned Veterans for America called the remarks offensive. “It also shows that he doesn’t even view long wait times and secret wait lists as real problems in need of a fix,” said John Cooper, a spokesman for Concerned Veterans for America. “To compare veterans’ experiences waiting weeks and months for care to tourists waiting in line to see Mickey Mouse demonstrates just how out of touch the secretary is with the struggles many veterans deal with while waiting for care at the VA.” McDonald’s controversial comment was in response to a question as to why the VA won’t publish the average time a veteran has to wait from the day he or she calls and asks for an appointment, known as the “create date.” Instead, the VA publishes its average wait times based on the “preferred date,” or the day a VA scheduler actually puts an appointment time on the books. McDonald went on to explain that the “create date” was not a “valid” measure of the VA’s success.
Martha Roby, “tired of asking” for veteran care reform, calls for VA “takeover” of failing medical centers
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby introduced a bill that would force the federal Veterans’ Administration to do something she has asked them to do for a long time: intervene when regional medical centers show they are unable to adequately care for American military veterans. Roby’s new proposal — H.R. 3234, dubbed the “Failing VA Medical Center Recovery Act” — calls for a “rapid response team of managers and medical professionals” to deploy to failing centers directly. “I believe the problem is we have been depending on a broken bureaucracy to fix itself,” said Roby in a prepared statement Monday. “I believe it’s time to change that by breaking through the bureaucracy to get results on behalf of our veterans.” “This is the ‘anti-bureaucracy.’ This is the team no complacent VA employee wants to see coming because they know that the status quo is about to get shaken up.” Roby represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, where the state’s VA medical centers in Montgomery and Tuskegee have been identified as the nation’s worst and second worst, respectively. The third-term Republican said she will not allow inefficiencies in the “sprawling VA bureaucracy” that provides poor service to veterans stand any longer. “The determination of a failing medical center will be based on data, not the Secretary’s whim or what media attention it is garnering,” Roby said Monday. “My bill sets up an automatic trigger that compels the VA to act under the law. “I’m glad the [Veterans’ Affairs] Secretary [Robert McDonald] used his authority to take control of the situation in Phoenix. But, why not Montgomery? Why not Tuskegee? Why not come and take control of the worst and second worst situation in the country, especially after we have repeatedly asked and pleaded him to do so? “I’m tired of asking, and that’s why my bill requires the VA to step in and take charge.” See Roby’s House floor speech where she formally introduced the bill below.
Martha Roby blasts Robert McDonald, President Obama over VA missteps
U.S. Rep. Martha Roby said Thursday that Veterans’ Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald and the Obama administration “need to spend less time on political posturing and more time correcting the ongoing mismanagement of VA health care systems.” Roby, a Republican who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, in a news release cited a recent memo Jan R. Frye reported in The Washington Post that portrayed an atmosphere of “lawlessness and chaos” surrounding the VA. Frye wrote in a memo addressed to McDonald that about $6 billion of taxpayer money was lost to what Roby called on Thursday “waste, fraud and abuse.” Roby also teed off on what her office called “independently refuted” accusations from President Barack Obama that recent problems with the Veterans’ Administration — a problem especially acute in parts of Roby’s district, which includes the Wiregrass region as well as parts of metropolitan Montgomery — stemmed from budget cuts pushed by the GOP-led House of Representatives in her statement, below: “While Secretary McDonald was falsely accusing House Republicans of cutting funding for VA healthcare, his department was responsible for billions in waste, fraud and abuse. “While President Obama was threatening to veto our appropriations bill over $1.4 billion in funding, the VA was blowing through four times that annually in misspent funds. “I have been told by senior VA officials in no uncertain terms that problems at systems like the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System are ‘not about money.’ Today’s report further demonstrates that the rhetoric from the White House and Secretary McDonald was absurd, insulting and shameless. “They need to spend less time on political posturing and more time correcting the ongoing mismanagement of VA health care systems that is preventing our veterans from receiving timely, quality care.” Roby said in a news release she is preparing to advance legislation that would compel the VA Secretary to take over VA systems that perennially fail to meet certain standards.
