Turns out the Obama administration was warned more than 5 years ago that the VA hospitals were reporting inaccurate wait times, according to briefing materials obtained by The Washington Times through a FOIA request.
In fact, it was the Obama-Biden transition team that was warned by VA officials not to trust those wait times and to test them to find out if action needed to be taken:
In particular, the 2008 transition report referred to a VA inspector general recommendation to test the accuracy of reported waiting times.
Such tests, the report noted, could prompt action if results reveal “questionable differences” between the dates shown in medical records and dates in the Veterans Health Administration’s scheduling system. It’s unclear whether that recommendation was adopted because VA officials have not responded to request for comment.
Imagine that. VA officials aren’t talking.
It also turns out that the top VA official who resigned last week was already heading for retirement:
Embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the resignation of a senior deputy on Friday, one day after both men testified before a Senate committee about new disclosures of mismanagement in the VA health system.
Problem is, the official, Robert Petzel, the undersecretary for health, had already announced his retirement in September, and his replacement was announced earlier this month.
The administration is clearly trying to make this look like accountability when in reality it’s just business as usual.