Can the new VA advisory committee prescribe real change?

PHOENIX—Last Friday, on his way back east after a fundraiser and a reading of his “mean tweets” on Jimmy Kimmel Live, President Barack Obama stopped in Phoenix to announce the formation of a committee to advise the scandal-ridden Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Is the committee just an attempt to kick the can down the road, or will it give veterans some concrete help?

The president’s brief stop was a PR band-aid. The Phoenix VA Hospital was at the center of the scandal that broke in 2014 and revealed how VA officials fudged the numbers when tracking the amount of time veterans had to wait for an appointment. For top officials, the numbers meant bonuses. For a reported 40 veterans, the wait times meant death. Obama two months ago received some flack after he spoke at a Phoenix high school and a local journalist photographed a wheelchair-bound veteran on the street outside the VA hospital as the president’s motorcade whizzed past.

And legislation already is in place to make improvements at the VA. In response to the scheduling scandal, Congress passed and Obama last summer signed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. The bill gave $5 billion to understaffed VA health systems around the country to hire more doctors. It also allows veterans to obtain a Choice Card, which gives them access to VA-subsidized private healthcare if they have to wait longer than 30 days to see a VA doctor, if they live more than 40 miles from a VA healthcare facility, or if in traveling to a VA facility they would encounter an “unusual or excessive burden” in the form of “the presence of a body of water … or a geological formation that cannot be crossed by road.” Each of these provisions sunset in three years.

But passing a bill and spending more money doesn’t guarantee improvement. Wait times persist: According to VHA public reports, nearly 7,000 veterans in Phoenix were waiting more than 30 days for an appointment as of Feb. 1. Only 500 in all Arizona have made appointments with private doctors outside the VA using their Choice Cards, according to Phoenix VA Hospital interim director Glen Grippen.

That may be because they’re so difficult to use. Veteran Matt Dobson, local director for the Phoenix chapter of advocacy group Concerned Veterans for America, said vets’ hands are all but tied when it comes to using the Choice Cards. He accused the government of trying to “sabotage” the law. Before using the cards, vets have to obtain approval from the VA, confirming they are eligible either because they can’t get a VA appointment quickly enough or they live too far away. (In Arizona, virtually no one qualifies under the distance rule because there are enough clinics, although some are only open a few days a week.) If the VA permits a vet to use the card, he or she must find a private doctor willing to accept it, which carries the burden of continued communication with the VA about the vet’s condition and care. And if the private doctor recommends the vet see a specialist, will the card cover that? According to TriWest Healthcare Alliance, “not always.”

Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), proposed a radical new bill last month that would bring sweeping changes to the VA. It would allow vets to obtain publicly funded private care from doctors under a voucher-like system, and would convert the VA into a non-profit. It also would limit the number of vets eligible for benefits. Federal lawmakers attended a summit in February to discuss the bill. Sen.r John McCain, R-Ariz., called it “pretty radical” but said he agreed with the basic idea. The proposed bill is making noise, but whether it will gain traction probably depends more on politics than merit.

Still, given the seriousness and scope of their proposal, CVA’s lack of an invitation to Obama’s Friday meeting in Phoenix was awkward. The editorial board of the Arizona Republic predicted the president’s visit would be to an echo chamber, not start a worthwhile discussion. “If there is to be any genuine, lasting and positive reform coming from this failure to care for American veterans, the real reformers need to gain the president’s ear,” they wrote, adding that didn’t happen this time around.

Maybe the new committee will think of something. But if the past is any indication, it may simply be to create another committee.