Few vets getting care through $10B program

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A new program that was supposed to get patients off waiting lists at Veterans Affairs medical centers by letting them switch to private-sector doctors is proving to be an even bigger disappointment than initially thought.

The Veteran’s Choice program launched Nov. 5 with $10 billion in funding and the expectation that it instantly would relieve backlogs at VA hospitals and clinics. But after a hurried rollout that has led to confusion as to exactly who is eligible and what they need to do to coordinate treatment, officials now say only 37,648 medical appointments have been made through April 11.

That figure represents only a tiny fraction of eligible patients. The Choice plan is supposed to be open to patients who live more than 40 miles from a VA hospital or clinic or who have been told they would have to wait more than 30 days for VA care. As of April 1, there were nearly 432,000 appointments pending in the VA’s scheduling system involving a wait that long.

VA leaders previously have acknowledged that few vets were successfully using the Choice program, but the new statistic came as a surprise — as of mid-March, officials were saying that more than 45,000 appointments had been completed and that participation had been rising.

A VA spokeswoman said data analysts recently corrected that count to exclude duplicate appointments and “incomplete transactions.”

The VA already has announced plans to loosen one important eligibility rule, and an analysis is underway to pinpoint why utilization has been low.

One important factor is that many vets have a long-standing relationship with caregivers at their local VA and would prefer to stay in the system, even if it means having to wait or drive long distances.

Yet, it is unlikely that vets have been bypassing the Choice program solely due to lack of interest. Since the program’s launch, approximately 1 million phone calls have come into a hot line that patients can use to schedule a private-sector appointment, according to the two managed-care companies hired by the VA to administer the system.

Those contractors, TriWest Healthcare Alliance and Health Net Federal Services, said many of those calls were from vets who didn’t need care right away and simply wanted information. But advocates for veterans have also raised concerns that some veterans interested in the program were deterred by bureaucratic hassles, confusion about procedures or a lack of available, participating doctors.