Veterans Post by FREDDY GROVES
The Choice program, designed to get quicker medical appointments for veterans at civilian doctors, is a big mess. Changes were made recently to driving distances, delayed appointments at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility, difficulty in reaching appointments due to physical condition, and more, to make it easier for veterans to get care.
But there is a snag: Health Net Federal Services.
Health Net was hired to make appointments. A veteran can’t just call the doctor to make an appointment and have the VA pay the bill. No, this intermediary will make the appointment – eventually. (In New England, there is only one person for the whole region to set up the provider network.)
Health Net must make the appointments within the allotted period, but that doesn’t always happen. Health Net is required to call the correct type of doctor the veteran needs, which doesn’t always happen either.
Health Net processes the bills for the civilian medical providers – eventually. One large medical provider in New England announced that it not only was owed a lot of money, but the burdens of being a Choice provider were just too much to deal with. Veterans are reporting that they’re receiving bills that should have been paid.
Help, or at least disclosure, might be coming soon in the form of a Government Accounting Office audit requested by some members of Congress.
It seems that Congress can sometimes get things rolling, but only if it knows about the problem. This is a call for phone calls, emails and letters. Contact your state’s two U.S. senators. Ask for the aide who handles veterans’ issues. Tell your story in summary form, hitting the highlights: Inability to get a medical appointment. Long telephone wait times. Whatever the problem is, tell them. Go online to www.senate.gov and click Senators to find his or her contact information.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
