Aging veterans will have to wait a little longer to get medical appointments as the new program that was meant to expedite the process proved to be a big disappointment, according to veterans affairs leaders.
The Veteran's Choice program was launched last November with a budget of $10 billion.
Its main purpose was to relieve the backlogs at Veterans Affairs (VA) centers by providing veterans the option to switch to private doctors instead of having to be placed on waiting lists at VA hospitals and clinics.
The quick rollout of the program, however, has caused confusion as to who exactly are eligible and what requirements are needed to coordinate treatment. Officials claim that there have only been 37,648 medical appointments arranged since the launching of the program until April 11. This is only a small fraction of the total number of eligible veterans for the program.
The Veteran's Choice plan was designed for patients who live more than 40 miles from the closest VA hospital or clinic, or who were told to wait for VA assistance for more than 30 days.
Reports say that there are almost 432,000 pending medical appointments in the VA's scheduling system as of April 1.
According to VA leaders, only a few veterans were successful in participating with the Choice program. They were surprised, however, by the new statistics claiming that 45,000 appointments have been completed and that the number of participants has been increasing as of mid-March.
A spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs has stated that the statistics have been corrected to exclude duplicate appointments and "incomplete transactions."
The VA has also announced their plan to loosen one vital eligibility rule. They have also started an analysis of the data to find out why the utilization of the Choice program has been low.
One reason possible reason for this is that many veterans prefer to stay with caregivers at their local VA center because of the long relationship they have with them despite having to wait or travel long distances to receive assistance.
TriWest Healthcare Alliance and Health Net Federal Services, two managed-care companies contracted by Veterans Affairs to administer the program, said that since the start of the Veteran's Choice plan, its dedicated hotline has received about 1 million calls in order to set an appointment to a private doctor.
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