Seriously, what would it take to fix the VA???

[Glocktogo]

Here it is, the middle of 2016 and the VA is still punishing whistleblowers. Worse yet, the department charged with preventing whistleblower retaliation, is now handling negotiations for the VA to pay off whistleblowers to resign!!!

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/30/va-offers-anti-corruption-whistleblower-305000-to-go-away/

After ethics officials blocked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from firing a woman who refused to lie for top bosses, the bosses took a different tack: paying her $305,000 to quit and agree not to apply to the VA again.

After ethics officials blocked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from firing a woman who refused to lie for top bosses, the bosses took a different tack: paying her $305,000 to quit and agree not to apply to the VA again.

Her bosses tried to force Rosayma Lopez to write a critical report to be used to terminate Joseph Colon, who had exposed the drunk-driving and illegal-prescription drug arrest of Dewayne Hamlin, director of the VA’s hospital in San Juan.

When Lopez said she would stick to the facts, her bosses filed the termination paperwork intended for Colon against her instead.

After she sought protection from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), a federal agency that investigates whistleblower retaliation in government, OSC ordered VA to restore Lopez to her job. But the VA refused, instead paying her to sit at home for nine months.

When OSC reiterated the demand, VA reluctantly restored her job, but then offered her $150,000 to quit and agree not to re-apply. Lopez declined the offer, which she had never requested, and made clear she just wanted to keep her job.

Lopez’s job involves processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, so VA officials worried she could disclose embarrassing information to future requesters. She was assigned a new boss, who insisted on handling FOIA responses himself, by telling requesters they would be charged thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. To justify the exorbitant charges, he claimed that simple requests that would take five minutes to fulfill would require dozens of hours of top staffers’ time.

Lopez was also moved into a trailer without basic equipment needed to do her job like a scanner. She applied for an identical job at another VA hospital, but was never interviewed. The settlement offer was upped to $305,000.

The $305,000 offer is still on the table, but Lopez must weigh it against the loss of health insurance and a pension, and the moral implications of taking money to go away quietly after witnessing misconduct.

The offer is remarkable, because the VA officials it appears designed to protect — those who are seeking her ouster — have faced no discipline or other consequences, despite repeated declarations by department leaders in Washington, D.C. that retaliation against whistle blowers will not be tolerated.

Financial settlements with employees are generally signed by someone in the department headquarters, but VA spokesman James Hutton would not say if Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald supports the $305,000 payment to Lopez.

Spokesman Nick Schwellenbach told The Daily Caller News Foundation that OSC isn’t a party to settlement offers, and simply relays management offers, so the complainant can decide on their own whether to accept them. He said investigations that would lead to OSC punishing retaliators, in cases where an agency refuses to punish its own managers, are separate and would take significantly longer.

“Our first priority is to try to make a whistleblower whole. For many whistleblowers, that means simply getting back to work and that is what most settlements involve. There are situations, however, where the two parties negotiate the employee’s departure from the agency in exchange for agreed upon terms,” Schwellenbach said.

Colon wrote to OSC expressing disappointment at its handling of the Lopez case.

“I have the utmost respect for your office but I am truly disappointed that your office would accept any agreement that requires a whistleblower to resign from their job to protect unethical employees at the VA,” Colon wrote.

“There should be no discussions that require money in exchange for a whistleblower resignation. We should be embracing whistleblowers, and not trying to get rid of them. American taxpayer money should be used to treat Veterans, and to hold retaliators accountable and not used to silence whistleblowers,” he wrote.

The Puerto Rico facility is among the most troubled VA hospitals in the country. As TheDCNF has previously reported, a convicted sex offender works in the facility’s human resources doling out employee discipline.

In addition, the supervisor of a major purchase office was hired only weeks after being released from federal prison for credit card theft.

And OSC found in 2015 that hospital staff left veterans lying in their own feces for days. The woman in charge of the troubled unit was subsequently promoted.

Let's forget about the fact that this is happening at all and that the Office of Special Counsel is acting as bagman for VA management, why are these people not in JAIL? So I ask again, if the federal government can openly and willfully retaliate against whistleblowers in violation of federal law, while simultaneously saying they protect whistleblowers and that retaliation isn't tolerated, what's it going to take to end the lawlessness?

 

[Dale00]

Alice in Wonderland.

I am surprised that some still respect FBI Director Comey.

Disbandment of the Veteran's Administration health care system and replacement by some sort of voucher system seems reasonable.

 

[Rod Snell]

"Disbandment of the Veteran's Administration health care system and replacement by some sort of voucher system seems reasonable".

Because of my distance from the VA Center at Lawton, I was offered the current "card and voucher" system as a substitute to furnishing my own transportation to Lawton. I investigated it thoroughly, and without going into all the details, IT SUCKS. I THINK ANY VOUCHER SYSTEM OFFERED BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION WOULD HAVE SO MANY RESTRICTIONS IT WOULD BE A NIGHTMARE.

By the way the current administration has decided that people using Tricare for routine drugs HAVE TO PAY FULL PRICE IF THEY USE A COMMERCIAL PHARMACY. Mail order from Tricare single provider, get it from a base, or PAY FULL PRICE.

What VA and Tricare both need is to FOLLOW THE LAW. All of the administrations efforts are to REDUCE COSTS and DENY SERVICE.
Disband the VA means putting the vets on Obamacare IMHO.

Maybe a new administration that follows the law is the only possible answer? There is an election coming up.......

 

[KOPBET]

Hillary says she will fix it. Woo hoo!!

 

[Decoligny]

Hillary says she will fix it. Woo hoo!!

When Hillary says she will "fix" healthcare for Veteran's, I can't help but think that she is using the same term "fix" that I normally use when taking a dog to the vet.

I am pretty sure that if she gets her hands on the VA Healthcare System, it will be to castrate it.

 

[dennishoddy]

I wish somebody would fix it. My VA Dr. Submitted a prescription to the OKC VA pharmacy on August 3.
To date it still shows "in process" after several calls to the pharmacy.
Since I live over 100 miles from the VA, I got the card that authorizes use of a local Dr. It has to be pre approved before going on a case by case basis.
I used it once three months ago. The VA has still not paid the provider, so I'm getting the bills now. Recently saw a news report that said a lot of providers have not been paid nation wide, so my issue is widespread.
Welcome to socialized medicine.

 

[druryj]

This whole situation just reeks. It shows a huge lack respect for those who laid it on the line.


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[Glocktogo]

I wish somebody would fix it. My VA Dr. Submitted a prescription to the OKC VA pharmacy on August 3.
To date it still shows "in process" after several calls to the pharmacy.
Since I live over 100 miles from the VA, I got the card that authorizes use of a local Dr. It has to be pre approved before going on a case by case basis.
I used it once three months ago. The VA has still not paid the provider, so I'm getting the bills now. Recently saw a news report that said a lot of providers have not been paid nation wide, so my issue is widespread.
Welcome to socialized medicine.

I wonder what would happen if the SSA decided to pay SS benefits months in arrears or not at all?

 

[dennishoddy]

I wonder what would happen if the SSA decided to pay SS benefits months in arrears or not at all?

There would be an army of old farts and their walkers descend on the White House. It would be ugly!

 

[steelfingers]

I worked with a veterans program to house homeless and getting faster service for vets in serious need. It's so messed up that I think a separate new organization, from top to bottom, should be created busting up the old political bone yard the VA has become.
It's horrid and every presidents says they are going to fix it and can't. Every congressman and senator say they are going to fix it and don't. It can't be fixed.
Tear it down and start with a new model with no political appointees or friends. Tier the services and with achievable results in fixed time rates. Fire everyone not getting the job done. They never fire at the VA. They promote.