Perry seeks credit for fixing VA

Governor Rick Perry posted an opinion piece in Texas Insider last month touting the progress made in fixing the broken VA system in Texas.  He mentions the addition of staff at the Texas Veterans Hotline whose job is to assist veterans navigate the “all-too-confusing” VA system.  Perry mentions routing high-priority cases to the Texas Veterans Healthcare Strikeforce, which would assist veterans in “getting the answers and care that they need and deserve.”  Finally, Perry proposes a short-term solution to the VA backlog in which providers would be reimbursed from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who would then be reimbursed from the Veterans Health Administration.  Perry argues that by allowing providers to receive payment from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, providers will be able to see more patients and reduce the backlog.  

A good friend of mine served in the military during the 1980’s and was injured during an operation in South America.  He has been dealing with the VA healthcare system since and has no problem navigating the system, as VA counselors are there to do that for him.  His biggest problem, as has been widely reported, is the amount of time it takes to get an appointment with a doctor or surgeon.  Despite having grave injuries from a bullet wound sustained 30 years ago, this veteran must wait in line for months, just as hundreds of thousands of other veterans do across the country.  While Governor Perry pats himself on the back for adding staff to call centers, his proposal to reimburse one huge bureaucracy via another huge bureaucracy is not only foolhardy, but it goes against the very conservative principles of small government which his party stands for.  The VA system is mismanaged due to a lack of funds and accountability, and decades of complacency towards veterans.  Rather than paying lip service to the issue and attempting to take credit for adding a few staff, Governor Perry should be lobbying Congress and the President for concrete proposals to completely overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Governor Perry’s piece in the right-leaning Texas Insider contains no new information to add to the discussion other than his proposal for reimbursing providers.  He does not elaborate on the proposal or cite any studies that would attest to its viability, and his opinion piece comes off as a pre-cursor speech in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election.  While conservatives might appreciate hearing him talk about veterans and how much Texas does for them, I’m sure they would rather see concrete, quantifiable results showing our veterans receiving better care in the hands of an overhauled VA system.