No Veteran Should Ever Die Due to Months-Long VA Health Care Delays
- Tom Foreman
- Closed on
- Target:
- The Obama Administration
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.VAPetition.Info
Although it's too late to help the veterans and their families who died prematurely due to delays in health care at the VA, it looks as though both Congress and the Obama Administration are finally giving this issue the attention it deserves. That means there is apparently no longer any need for this petition or other citizen-based activities focused on this issue.
However, it will be reactivated should the need arise.
Although months-long delays causing deaths at some Veterans Administration (VA) Hospitals might seem like an impossibility to anyone who is unfamiliar with this issue, unfortunately it's not:
CNN has been investigating these life-threatening delays at some VA health care facilities for over a year now, and the above report (text included) is just one of a large number they have made. There have also been some reports by other news outlets, but they have been few and far between, so updates to this background section will probably all be from CNN. Here is their latest (text included):
And if CNN's reports aren't enough to tell you that the VA hasn't been aggressive enough in putting a stop to these life-threatening health care delays, then bear in mind that this is "an issue that has endured for more than a decade." (Army Times, on March 15, 2013)
Lastly, in case you might think it's unfair to single out the executive branch in this petition, take a look at how much the legislative branch's House Committee on Veterans' Affairs has already been doing to investigate, publicize, and correct this and other serious problems in the Veterans Administration. And to show just how little control a legislative committee can sometimes have over an executive branch department, look at this excerpt from their web site's Trials in Transparency page: "VA is currently sitting on nearly 100 separate requests for information made by the committee, some dating back more than a year."
Obviously, the time is long overdue for much more than investigations, news reports, congressional hearings, and speeches. It's time for the Obama Administration to put intense pressure on the Veterans Administration, and not to let up until the VA can certify that these life-threatening delays have been eliminated at every single one of its health care facilities!
[NOTE: The Veterans Administration was reformed and renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1988, but its former title has been used here because that's how most veterans still refer to it in this author's experience.]
We petition the Obama Administration to hold the VA accountable for ensuring that no military veteran ever again dies because of months-long health care delays.
[NOTE: There is a duplicate petition at the White House petition site. Please consider signing it as well, because it will be assured of an official response if it acquires 100,000 signatures by June 1 (30 days after its submission). Whereas this one at GoPetition, although it makes a more powerful case due to the ability to include videos and updates, stands a good chance of being ignored even if it eventually acquires a lot more than 100,000 signatures. The White House version may also be reached via www.VAHospitalDelays.Info.]
The No Veteran Should Ever Die Due to Months-Long VA Health Care Delays petition to The Obama Administration was written by Tom Foreman and is in the category Military at GoPetition.