VA Medical Care

[Mtn_Infantry]

This has absolutely been my experience.

I’d agree with this. Wait times and getting seen by the specific clinics take forever. Once seen the doctors have for the most part been good, but like everything it’s subjective to who you get and what day you get then on.

The support and admin staff at some of the hospitals and clinics seemingly go out of their way to act as help prevention. I’ve experienced this on numerous occasions. All of which were in the southern locations I listed, and most of those individuals had never served in the military themselves and this was a job to them. Birmingham, might’ve been my worst experience (2016ish) followed by Houston (2019/2020ish - pre-covid)

 

[Ridge Runner]

Ive worked for over 11 years for the VA as a physician. If I could get my care at the VA I would but am a civilian. There have been multiple studies showing that Veterans getting their care outside the VA are many times more likely to have unnecessary or not-indicated procedures.Sadly this is all $ driven. Also the outcomes are statistically better for index procedures done within the VA then outside. Ive had a number of patients see me and Ive told them I wouldn’t recommend a particular procedure then go and have the procedure done in the private sector. Invariably the outside physician tells the patient something to the effect that “the VA just didn’t want to take care of your problem”. The reality is really that the outside provider had boat payments to make. Another issue re bad press and the VA is that it will not aggressively counter false/inaccurate claims made by patients/detractors. In the private sector if a patient is inaccurately (or accurately) criticizing a hospital system they should be prepared for a letter from the hospital lawyer. That never happens at the VA and I can say, having been part of the investigation into some of the complaints, many highly publicized complaints made by patients were absolute fabrications. That said it isnt a perfect system- no system is. All VAs have a patient advocate in place to help patients with issues/grievances and I can say they do avidly advocate in the patients best interests. You wont find that in the private sector.

I had to consider your comment very carefully and overall, I can't agree.

Had the surgery on my back been done, it would have been done through Community Care at the local civilian hospital by a specialist that the V.A. doesn't have. Between the V.A. physicians and administrative I was just prescribed an abundance of pain medications.

The Community Care physician/surgeon was ready to schedule my surgery and to replace the deteriorated disc in my lower spine before my vertebrae fully fused together. After waiting several years. He called to tell me he was retiring and asked if the V.A. was going to approve the surgery. He retired. Everytime I discussed having my back surgery with my 8 different primary care providers over the course of 12 or 13 years at going to Mountain Home V.A. I was just provided higher doses of various pain pills. The specialist surgeon retired, I then went to Nashville, received the diagnosis my vertebrae were to badly fused together and now unable to be operated on and my disc would eventually progressivelycontinue to deteriorate over time.

My step-dad, retired Air Force, Vietnam Vet, worked ariund Agent Orange dispersement aircraft, was only approved 10% V.A. disability, required a heart monitor. The heart monitor wasn't approved by Mountain Home V.A. it took Tricare, Medicare and private insurance to pay for his heart surgery.

After his heart surgery he has been seen by his V.A. primary care who provided blood thinners, he has a V.A. heart doctor at Mountain Home who also prescribed the same blood thinner at a higher dosage, the V.A. heart doctor sent my step-dad to a Community Care heart specialist who also provided under a generic brand name the same blood thinner at a slight reduced dosage. His V.A.primary care physician assistant was replaced by another physician assistant primary care who prescribed the same blood thinner as the other 3 under a different brand name at a higher dosage than the other 3 of his healthcare providers.

The previous is only the starting point. He was taking 30 different prescription meds, 10 of those meds were repeated prescription for the same. 8 of the prescription were for relief of symptoms he never had.

Fast forward, my mom passed away unexpectedly, being the only single adult I was volunteered to look after him. Upon inspecting his meds, I went understatedly ballistic. Between number 3 son and myself getting in contact with all his Healthcare providers number 3 son and I got his meds reduced to 1 blood thinner, and down to 8 needed prescriptions. He is now doing a lot better.

As for the Patient Advocate, only one piss poor experience. Number 3 son, retired Navy Vet, 10% V.A. rating, Beruit, Gulf 1 and 2. A particularly excellent VSO was helping number 3 son to upgrade his V.A. rating. Number 3 son is also a long haul truck driver. He can only schedule V.A. appointments on his days off, which is only on Mondays. It is in his V.A. records his occupation is a long haul truck driver and can only be scheduled appointments on Mondays. The V.A. meticulously and intently scheduled his appointments on days he is working. Went to the VSO, VSO recommended to go see the Patient Advocate, and we did. He couldn't file a complaint until he was seen by a physician for his claim.

You are correct in that patients in the civilian world won't find a Patient Advocate. That's because in the civilian world patients can hire attorneys to sue the civilian medical administrators and physicians for malpractice. Vets have yet to be given the right to sue or hold accountable V.A. health professionals and administrators for malpractice.

 

[Taylorz1]

There is a lot to unpack in the last post RR and Im sure a lot of sensitive topics that I wont even try to touch on. Ill simply say that the idea that you cant sue the VA is an urban legend. True its called a tort claim process but health care providers at the va are just as accountable as anywhere else to med mal liabilities.

 

[dlmac]

I’ve found it really depends on the VA Hospital/Area and individual doctors or staff you get. The hospital @Denvir Tire mentions has been the best one I’ve been treated at and only one where I didn’t have negative experiences. I believe some of this has to do with their proximity to Yale and the number of Yale Docs who work/volunteer there.

Other VA Hospitals/Areas I’ve used
Providence, RI
Boston, MA
New Brunswick, NJ
Atlanta, GA
Columbus, GA
Nashville, TN
Jackson, MS
Birmingham, AL
Houston, TX
Waco, TX
San Antonio, TX
College Station, TX

I just started using the VA at 72 and have a disability claim in process, so I don't have a long history with them. However, I agree that the VSO is got to be on the ball. I changed to a different county and got much better service. That being said the VA is like a military unit, it may be great for a few years but then the command and soldiers rotate out and in comes the new, maybe better, maybe worse.

 

[dlmac]

There is a lot to unpack in the last post RR and Im sure a lot of sensitive topics that I wont even try to touch on. Ill simply say that the idea that you cant sue the VA is an urban legend. True its called a tort claim process but health care providers at the va are just as accountable as anywhere else to med mal liabilities.

I served in combat arms for 9 years, then got into the Army PA program finished out in the medical corp, never worked in the VA so can't say how it works.

 

[Denvir Tire]

It's discouraging to here about the VA in TN. My wife and I are seriously considering moving to The Volunteer State to escape CT.
We'll be informally scouting TN after the SCI show....

 

[MS 9x56]

My son recently retired after 22 years of service and the VA has taken good care of him. Not the same experience I had in the 70’s and 80’s. I haven’t been back to VA since but my son tells me it is different now that people appreciate vets again.

 

[cwpayton]

I had to consider your comment very carefully and overall, I can't agree.

Had the surgery on my back been done, it would have been done through Community Care at the local civilian hospital by a specialist that the V.A. doesn't have. Between the V.A. physicians and administrative I was just prescribed an abundance of pain medications.

The Community Care physician/surgeon was ready to schedule my surgery and to replace the deteriorated disc in my lower spine before my vertebrae fully fused together. After waiting several years. He called to tell me he was retiring and asked if the V.A. was going to approve the surgery. He retired. Everytime I discussed having my back surgery with my 8 different primary care providers over the course of 12 or 13 years at going to Mountain Home V.A. I was just provided higher doses of various pain pills. The specialist surgeon retired, I then went to Nashville, received the diagnosis my vertebrae were to badly fused together and now unable to be operated on and my disc would eventually progressivelycontinue to deteriorate over time.

My step-dad, retired Air Force, Vietnam Vet, worked ariund Agent Orange dispersement aircraft, was only approved 10% V.A. disability, required a heart monitor. The heart monitor wasn't approved by Mountain Home V.A. it took Tricare, Medicare and private insurance to pay for his heart surgery.

After his heart surgery he has been seen by his V.A. primary care who provided blood thinners, he has a V.A. heart doctor at Mountain Home who also prescribed the same blood thinner at a higher dosage, the V.A. heart doctor sent my step-dad to a Community Care heart specialist who also provided under a generic brand name the same blood thinner at a slight reduced dosage. His V.A.primary care physician assistant was replaced by another physician assistant primary care who prescribed the same blood thinner as the other 3 under a different brand name at a higher dosage than the other 3 of his healthcare providers.

The previous is only the starting point. He was taking 30 different prescription meds, 10 of those meds were repeated prescription for the same. 8 of the prescription were for relief of symptoms he never had.

Fast forward, my mom passed away unexpectedly, being the only single adult I was volunteered to look after him. Upon inspecting his meds, I went understatedly ballistic. Between number 3 son and myself getting in contact with all his Healthcare providers number 3 son and I got his meds reduced to 1 blood thinner, and down to 8 needed prescriptions. He is now doing a lot better.

As for the Patient Advocate, only one piss poor experience. Number 3 son, retired Navy Vet, 10% V.A. rating, Beruit, Gulf 1 and 2. A particularly excellent VSO was helping number 3 son to upgrade his V.A. rating. Number 3 son is also a long haul truck driver. He can only schedule V.A. appointments on his days off, which is only on Mondays. It is in his V.A. records his occupation is a long haul truck driver and can only be scheduled appointments on Mondays. The V.A. meticulously and intently scheduled his appointments on days he is working. Went to the VSO, VSO recommended to go see the Patient Advocate, and we did. He couldn't file a complaint until he was seen by a physician for his claim.

You are correct in that patients in the civilian world won't find a Patient Advocate. That's because in the civilian world patients can hire attorneys to sue the civilian medical administrators and physicians for malpractice. Vets have yet to be given the right to sue or hold accountable V.A. health professionals and administrators for malpractice.

Ridgerunner I fully sympathize with you and are sorry for your prolonged agony, my wife is acquainted with a 50ish man that works in a goldmine here , on job back injury, 2 years of insurance and lawyers and competing, drs, result they waited too long, permanent disability and spreading pain ect. to late to operate, all civilian Drs.,
my experience with the salt lake VA is overall positive ,they are hooked up with the university Drs, and so you get the same Drs on or off campus. my broken leg and numerous shoulder dislocations were treated well. I do agree with Tayloz1 that civilian drs are very $$$ conscious VA drs get paid the same regardless I think, anyone knows different I would like to know. I think I am going to drop my Medicare completely and save about 5 grand a year and go 100% VA unless someone hear could tell me that's a bad idea,? ? EAGER to hear.

 

[John Wasmuth]

At 65 I was advised by a veterans advocate that it’s not a great idea to not sign up for Medicare because with a shaky Congress they can pull the funding from the VA any time the get the urge ……., aside from that certain meds are more expensive thru the VA but others are much cheaper and some are no cost thru Medicare.

 

[dlmac]

At 65 I was advised by a veterans advocate that it’s not a great idea to not sign up for Medicare because with a shaky Congress they can pull the funding from the VA any time the get the urge ……., aside from that certain meds are more expensive thru the VA but others are much cheaper and some are no cost thru Medicare.

I think by law you will be penalize if you do not sign up for medicare and use tricare for life as your supplement. Then also for the VA Just my opinion.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Probably so.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . I think I am going to drop my Medicare completely and save about 5 grand a year and go 100% VA unless someone hear could tell me that's a bad idea,? ? EAGER to hear.

I personally would never do that.

 

[Red Leg]

I probably should provide a longer response.

We have been using Medicare and Tricare for Life for seven years and the only similar coverage we have experienced was my executive health care plan prior to Obama Care ruining it. My spouse has had a couple of surgeries and a bit of ER care followed by hospitalization and ambulance transfer for an infection, all of which could have been quite expensive. We have not had a single bill for that service. Copay on medications has been negligible.

I hasten to add that Medicare is not "free", and it takes a meaningful portion of our social security. That cost is based upon annual income, but the rate maxes out after a very short and steep climb. That said, it is still a bargain.

For some of you who may have left the military some years ago with a limited disability rating, that is something I would highly recommend relooking with the assistance of a VSO.

In spite of being a paratrooper, artilleryman, and Gulf War veteran, I was granted only a 20% disability upon retirement after three decades of service in 2003. That physical was conducted at the VA hospital in Washington DC where the term "adversarial" really does not fully describe the review. I grudgingly was granted 20%, and upon leaving, I swore I would never have anything to do with the VA again.

I was so angry that I went and saw the COS, Rick Shinseki at the time, to inform him. I wanted him to be aware that if an O8 was being treated so dismissively, I could just imagine the reception our enlisted personnel were receiving.

A bit over a year ago, a "young" protégé, now retiring as an O6 suggested I make an appointment with the local VSO to revisit that finding. I did, and a few months ago I was granted a 100% service related rating. The VSO could not have been more helpful. For any of you who served in the Gulf War or GWOT, a number of health issues have now been determined to be presumptively service related. The contracted doctors and PAs I saw through that process clearly took it for granted that sucking down dust and oil fire smoke, and rucking and jumping out of tall airplanes likely left residual issues.

 

[DG&Doubles]

As a 'somewhat younger' vet, and having received VA care in Washington state and now in Texas, it's been pretty damn poor. From different VA facilities not being able to access or see what other providers or notes were input at another facility (which doesn't make much sense to me, being in the medical field) to having appointments that occur, and then NOTHING, 18months go by with no followup. I've learned long ago, that if you aren't your own advocate, then it most likely isn't going to get done by the VA.

 

[roverandbrew]

I waited four years to get my first visit with a primary care provider after retiring from the Army in 2020. It was a horrible visit and I never plan to go back. I only use Tricare for medical coverage.

 

[Ridge Runner]

It's discouraging to here about the VA in TN. My wife and I are seriously considering moving to The Volunteer State to escape CT.
We'll be informally scouting TN after the SCI show....

The Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) Covers; mot sure if parts of western Kentucky, from Clarksville, Nashville, down to Chattanooga, eastward to Crossville, not sure how far west of Nashville. Central Tennessee toward southeastern Tennessee.

Mountain Home Healthcare System, (MHHS), Johnson City, covers East of I-75, not sure how far south below Knoxville, to the North Carolina border. Not sure how far or even if it covers parts of southeastern Kentucky.

Western Tennessee is covered through Memphis. I have no first hand knowledge or information on this V. A. Healthcare System. I have heard about an even number of pros and cons.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Ridgerunner I fully sympathize with you and are sorry for your prolonged agony, my wife is acquainted with a 50ish man that works in a goldmine here , on job back injury, 2 years of insurance and lawyers and competing, drs, result they waited too long, permanent disability and spreading pain ect. to late to operate, all civilian Drs.,
my experience with the salt lake VA is overall positive ,they are hooked up with the university Drs, and so you get the same Drs on or off campus. my broken leg and numerous shoulder dislocations were treated well. I do agree with Tayloz1 that civilian drs are very $$$ conscious VA drs get paid the same regardless I think, anyone knows different I would like to know. I think I am going to drop my Medicare completely and save about 5 grand a year and go 100% VA unless someone hear could tell me that's a bad idea,? ? EAGER to hear.

You don't want to totally drop medicare. The reason being is in case of a non life threatening emergency or injury. And distance to V.A.

At most you might evaluate the need for Part B as for the rest Parts C and D as a 100% disabled or as being 100% Total and Complete disabled vet, the V.A. covers the rest.

 

[Taylorz1]

I have to say that it is hard to understand some of the reports that people have on here. The VA has a mandate that, at least for specialist care, a patient has to be scheduled within 28 days or they are offered care in the community. The comment about the different VAs not sharing patient records is just not true. I can access a patients records from any VA visit anywhere in the country. Its a little cumbersome but no big deal. For my specialty, and many others, the average wait times in the private world is several months. The delays I have been seeing are actually most often related to the 3rd party scheduler the VA uses-triwest- to arrange care in the community. In my area, And getting my care in the private sector, I generally have to wait 10months or more to see a routine pcp, 6-8 months for a specialist. I had a severe issue with my spine that coincidentally occurred at the same time that one of my staff, who is a vet and gets their care at the VA, had the same problem. She was seen in a week or two while I waited 3 months. She was recovering from surgery while I was doing physical therapy mandated by blue cross and was back at work fully recovered when I finally had surgery nearly a year later. The unfortunate reality with medical care is that not everyone gets better, not everyone is going to be happy with even the best of care, no matter what system you are in it will be imperfect, when you are hurting its easy to blame the system you expected to cure you.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

As a 'somewhat younger' vet, and having received VA care in Washington state and now in Texas, it's been pretty damn poor. From different VA facilities not being able to access or see what other providers or notes were input at another facility (which doesn't make much sense to me, being in the medical field) to having appointments that occur, and then NOTHING, 18months go by with no followup. I've learned long ago, that if you aren't your own advocate, then it most likely isn't going to get done by the VA.

I’ve run into similar issues where different VA Hospitals, especially different regions don’t talk or share info. When I moved to Texas this was a major issue, but my local clinic has a great office staff (one of them being a veteran himself) worked tirelessly to fix it after Waco told me I needed to sign-up, but the system wouldn’t let me because I was already a VA patient. It was explained to me this had to do with different regions/systems. It took about 90 days but they got it fixed, and had a “work around” for that time period.

I also had a similar issue in Birmingham, AL and when I went to one of the Patient Advocates she actively worked against me and accused me providing false medical/military records. She ironically did the same thing to a buddy of mine from 160th and another from 5th around the same time. After the complaints we filed, I sincerely hope she no longer works there since she personified the image of a DEI minority female government civilian employee/leech.

Biggest thing I’ve noticed with so many moves is doctors in different areas don’t continue with the same treatment plan or approach as other doctors. On the same issue I’ve had ones that want to throw pills at you, ones that want to do surgery, ones who want to do a holistic/outside therapy approach, and others who want to do some of all the above. Either way, you’re 100% correct about needing to be your own advocate, and I’m glad I keep digital and hard copies of my medical records .

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I have to say that it is hard to understand some of the reports that people have on here. The VA has a mandate that, at least for specialist care, a patient has to be scheduled within 28 days or they are offered care in the community. The comment about the different VAs not sharing patient records is just not true. I can access a patients records from any VA visit anywhere in the country. Its a little cumbersome but no big deal. For my specialty, and many others, the average wait times in the private world is several months. The delays I have been seeing are actually most often related to the 3rd party scheduler the VA uses-triwest- to arrange care in the community. In my area, And getting my care in the private sector, I generally have to wait 10months or more to see a routine pcp, 6-8 months for a specialist. I had a severe issue with my spine that coincidentally occurred at the same time that one of my staff, who is a vet and gets their care at the VA, had the same problem. She was seen in a week or two while I waited 3 months. She was recovering from surgery while I was doing physical therapy mandated by blue cross and was back at work fully recovered when I finally had surgery nearly a year later. The unfortunate reality with medical care is that not everyone gets better, not everyone is going to be happy with even the best of care, no matter what system you are in it will be imperfect, when you are hurting its easy to blame the system you expected to cure you.

I just ran into it where the VA didn’t reach out to schedule me for a month, only to tell me they were 6mo out and would have to refer me to community care who was another month plus out. This was after being told by one clinic that because of my location, i needed to get a new referral to a different VA hospital (Houston vs Waco) which took another month plus. First referral from PCP was in June, with the first community care visit not happening until 10/14.

As stated in my other post, I’ve run into it more than once with the VA not sharing records or system aligning. Each time has been when get set-up with the local VA for the first time or get a PCP.