|
|
|
|
ARMED FORCES NEWS |
|
|
Assistant VA Secretary Refused VA Care Gordon Mansfield, assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was sent to test the ability of the VA to care for disabled veterans, and the system failed. Mansfield, in a wheelchair with his legs paralyzed from a combat wound, was turned down by four of six clinics in Florida and two more in Colorado, because they were fully booked, said his boss, VA secretary Anthony Principi. Before October 1998, most VA patients had service-connected disabilities or low incomes. Then, by creating a priority 7, the VA opened treatment to all veterans regardless of disability or income. Principi hopes to arrange scheduling so that enrollees with service-connected disabilities will move to the top of the appointment list. According to Principi, more than 132,000 veterans are on waiting lists just to request care. Another 178,000 are waiting for follow-up appointments, which may be six months or longer.
|
|
