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The audit found that 70 percent of Veterans Affairs facilities surveyed placed patients on alternate wait lists, meaning many of those veterans probably weren’t recorded in the official reports back to headquarters and were used to dole out bonuses to VA executives.
In a report that called the problems plaguing the nation’s largest single health care provider “systemic,” auditors also found a scheduling process that is “overly complicated” and “resulted in high potential to create confusion among scheduling clerks and front-line supervisors.”
As a result, more than 57,000 veterans were waiting 90 days or more for an initial appointment. Another 64,000 apparently never got appointments after enrolling.
“This audit is absolutely infuriating and underscores the depth of this scandal,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “Our vets demand action and answers.”
Richard Griffin, the VA’s acting inspector general, told a Monday evening hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee that his agency was investigating 69 of its medical facilities for suspected wrongdoing, more than half as many as the 42 that he said were being investigated two weeks ago.
The White House said the audit is the beginning of efforts to resolve problems within the VA and that President Obama deserves credit for releasing the details.
“The release of today’s data is an indication of the president’s commitment to trying to be transparent about this process,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
He said fixing the problems won’t be easy but insisted that Mr. Obama has “never been more dedicated” to the effort.
Mr. Earnest said one change already has been made: The VA no longer has a goal of scheduling appointments within 14 days. The spokesman said that goal led to “unintended consequences” such as the secret wait lists.
Both chambers of Congress are working on bills that would let veterans who have waited too long for appointments to go instead to private doctors outside of the VA system, with the costs covered by the government.
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