“I don’t want my feet kissed but I do want the respect everyone deserves,” said Krystal Hasson, a veteran and VA patient discussing substandard VA care on Facebook.  According to Hasson, it is common for government employees dealing with veterans to be rude and disrespectful.  As a California homeowner, she reports having a similar experience during the buying process with Cal Vet employees.

Chris Hefner, another California veteran, reports filing a claim over 12 months ago and trying to receive an update in the last two weeks.  According to Hefner, the VA claimed they never received his claim despite the fact that he had a confirmation number from filing the claim.

What began as a simple question and expression of frustration to Facebook friends quickly turned into several veterans detailing their frustrations over dealing with the VA for medical care or claims of disability.  Hefner reported being told they had no record at all of him applying despite the fact that he filed his claim twice.  Hasson had to have her claim “escalated” by a government official before action was taken.

Hasson said that in her experience, if you have waited more than 12 months for action, the next step is to contact your local VA representative.

“They will contact your state representative, and that really puts a fire under the VA.  It is a shame that it has to be this way,” Hasson said.

One Facebook user reported being told about two types of VA employees (by a VA employee nonetheless).  “There are those who like veterans and those who think we get too many benefits,” Cal Glass said.

Glass also said that in his experience, there are more good VA employees than bad ones; but the bad ones do make dealing with the VA difficult.

Several attempts to contact the VA for comment and confirmation went unanswered or unreturned.

Photo credit: familymwr (Creative Commons)

The veteran sits in his home on hold yet again with the veteran’s administration healthcare facility that is two hours from his home.  It is not his closest facility, but it is the only one he can get an appointment at, and now that appointment needs to be changed.  He has been on hold for over an hour when he screams in frustration that he was now disconnected and will have to begin his wait anew.

That veteran is yours truly, and I was trying to make intake appointments for my wife and me at the Mountain Home VA Hospital in Johnson City, TN.  We are both disabled veterans and have been part of the VA healthcare system for years; but since we moved from California to Tennessee, we had to start all over and reapply for our benefits.  They could not simply transfer us in the computer; and to make matters worse, we were told we cannot have appointments at the local clinic and will have to drive over two hours to see a doctor.

Our story of frustration is felt time and again on a daily basis across the country by disabled veterans who are treated poorly by the very system built to help them.  Operators and phone personnel are rude, offices do not talk with one another, or computer systems are incompatible and make communications difficult or impossible.  Veterans who have been in the VA system for years are subjected to re-testing just to maintain the medication that has helped them in the past.  Veterans entering the system are subject to the same re-testing despite providing complete medical records to the VA time and again.

In a tearful plea for help, Vietnam veteran Carl Harmon of Linn Valley, KS writes, “So here I sit in the middle of the night after two months without pain meds.”

Harmon tells a tale of his wife losing her job due to layoffs and this forcing him to turn to the VA for his long term care for several chronic conditions.  According to the letter written by Harmon, he provided VA care providers with several copies of his medical records.  Despite this, the VA insisted he take tests he has already had that were documented in his medical records; until the tests can be scheduled, administered, and scored, Harmon will have to survive without his pain and anti-depression medication.

Unlike a private practice doctor who is held accountable by the courts for malpractice, it appears no such accountability exists for the VA.  Attempts to hold the VA accountable by several patients have ended only in frustration, according to various websites dealing with VA complaints.

Several attempts to contact the VA regarding this issue of lower-than-standard care for America’s veterans went unanswered at the time of publication.

Photo credit: terrellaftermath