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For today\u2019s VA, it\u2019s the best of times and the worst of times –\u00a0<\/strong>By:\u00a0Leo Shane III<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Full story is here: \u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/11\/08\/for-todays-va-its-the-best-of-times-and-the-worst-of-times\/<\/a><\/p>\n WASHINGTON \u2014 In a White House press conference Wednesday, amid a host of other topics, President Donald Trump stated thatbecause of his leadership<\/a>\u00a0\u201cour vets are doing better than they\u2019ve ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet his critics contend that over the last eight months, the Department of Veterans Affairs has never been in more disarray, with a confusing series of\u00a0leadership scandals<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0management overhauls\u00a0<\/a>further diminishing public faith in the institution.<\/p>\n They both may be right.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is the tale of two VAs right now: It\u2019s the best of times, it\u2019s the worst of times,\u201d said Melissa Bryant, chief policy officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had major legislative victories years in the making. But a lot of what we have seen in 2018 has been political theater, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n This Veterans Day, VA leaders once again find themselves at a critical moment for the department. Trump just signed into law the largest VA budget ever, topping $200 billion. Congress has given him nearly every major piece of legislation on veterans policy he has requested, including new rules that make it easier to fire poorly performing VA workers and reforms that aim to speed up the benefits claims process.<\/p>\n But as deadlines loom for implementing numerous health care and management initiatives, Democrats in the House are already preparing new scrutiny over how policy decisions are being made inside VA and what unplanned side effects those changes will have.<\/p>\n The rest of the article is at the link up above.\u00a0It’s a long article, but well worth a read. It covers all the issues we’ve been seeing for the last 6 years.\u00a0I have yet to have any issues with the VA, but like any other collective health care system, there are many good things about it and likewise, bad things. The FHCC I go to is fine, and the wait times are brief, for now, but it that could be because it also serves an active duty military base. I’d prefer to stick with a known quantity than have to choose a provider whose patient agenda is governed by XX minutes allowed, which does happen in the Medicare system.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"