Oversight Hearing! VETERANS DYING AGAIN WAITING ON APPOINMENTS!

FOIA documents revealed wait-time manipulation was even worse than initially feared.
VA training documents call for extra layers of administrative review before a veteran can be deemed eligible for community care. That review is not required by the VA MISSION Act. The VA uses it to erect one more barrier to community care. Documents also included incorrect wait-time calculations that did not follow the VA’s own community care access standards and made waits appear shorter than they really are for veterans.
An audit example from the FOIA documents shows an appointment with a 48-day wait time, but because the VA is using a manipulative method for calculation, a “patient indicated date,” the appointment appears in the system as having a 0-day wait time