“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)
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The VA could fulfill it’s mission far better by replacing as many civilian employees with Veterans as possible. Not to say those who never served in the military don’t care, just saying those who have care more. I’ve seen the difference at the VA’s National Medical Center in Washington DC, the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC, the former National Navy Medical Center in Bethesda MD and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda.
Vietnam Veteran