We must improve Veterans Affairs

Without a doubt, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs to do better by our veterans. The VA claims backlog is inexcusable, delaying a veteran’s access to medical care through the use of “secret wait lists” is unconscionable, and rewarding those who perpetuate these failures is flat-out wrong.

Far too often, a disorganized bureaucracy makes it difficult for veterans to get the benefits that they have earned and the care that they need. The average time it takes to process a claim for benefits is an appalling 164 days, and 53 percent of all claims are “in backlog” — meaning the veteran has had to wait more than 125 days.

{mosads}Although we are still waiting on the results of the VA inspector general’s investigation of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, the IG has already reported delays in care for colon cancer, drug overdoses while patients were in VA facilities for mental health care, increased risk of exposure to blood-borne infections and preventable deaths.

There is, thankfully, a large bipartisan consensus that something needs to be done to address these problems — quickly. Earlier this month, 24 members of the Texas delegation sent a letter to the VA inspector general requesting an investigation of alleged abuses in Waco, San Antonio and El Paso. The well-publicized story from the Phoenix VA is another example: Congress has rightfully urged a full investigation so that we can find out what happened, hold those guilty accountable and make sure that something like this won’t happen again.

The House version of the fiscal 2015 military construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill is another step in the right direction.

The bill, which I sponsored, passed with a resounding 416-1 vote. It includes additional funds for the VA inspector general so that office can continue to spotlight any use of “secret wait lists” until that practice is completely eradicated from the VA. It also includes increased funding for the activities within the Veterans Benefits Administration that have proven successful at reducing the claims backlog. The bill has $30 million more than was requested by the president for the digital scanning of health and benefit files, the new centralized mail initiative and overtime for claims rating — actions that have already resulted in reducing the backlog by more than 40 percent.

Funding is also increased above the president’s request for modernization of the VA’s electronic health records system so that the VA can improve its records as quickly as possible. However, the VA will only be able to access 25 percent of these funds until it can show that this system will be interoperable with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) system.

Interoperability will improve the timely processing of VA benefits claims in the future, but more importantly, it will make sure that medical providers have the information that they need as an individual moves between these healthcare systems. Right now, VA and DOD clinicians have to go through a flawed and cumbersome process to access these records. Now is the time to act: we don’t want to be several years and several billion dollars down the road before we discover that the new health records systems cannot seamlessly share information. Everyone outside of the federal bureaucracy understands this: you need to demonstrate progress and meet milestones if you want to be paid.

That common-sense principle is a cornerstone of the bill, and it’s a principle that we in Congress would do well to remember. Just this week, the House passed the VA Management Accountability Act, which makes it easier to fire or demote senior officials who aren’t living up to their responsibilities, an important step toward increasing accountability in the VA. These are tough budgetary times, but Congress has a chance to make real, tangible improvements in our veterans’ lives with bills like these. It’s a chance we can’t pass up.

Culberson has represented Texas’s 7th Congressional District since 2001. He sits on the House Appropriations Committee.