VA issues (veterans, health insurance, civilian, military)
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Wife has encouraged me to try using the VA again for general practitioners and other treatments. However, I’ve once again run into the same problem that made me stop using them. We have a VA clinic in our city and a VA hospital roughly an hour and a half drive from home. I make an appointment and the appointment gets canceled. New appointment is now a month later than the first appointment. This is why I wish the VA was a health insurance instead of a facility. Though congress has made it easier for veterans to get care outside of a VA facility, the VA has found ways to extremely limit my access to those private providers outside of the VA facility. That’s why our clinic was moved to a new and larger location with expanded services. I went from a decent audiology specialty clinic with easy scheduling access to hit and miss scheduling at the clinic. Sometimes they have an audiologist and sometimes there isn’t one available. Have you experienced this at your VA facility?
I haven’t used Community Care at all but everything I’ve heard about it is that it is super-easy to use and get approved for. I got shuffled around between docs during the pandemic because a lot of them were leaving but the doctor I’ve got now is really good. It’s a small clinic though so almost anything I really want to be seen for requires an hour’s drive to the large hospital. But anyway, that’s why I haven’t tried using a local doc yet.
Hope you get some assistance though. If you they don’t have a specialist available then they definitely need to be letting you go see one on your own.
Wife has encouraged me to try using the VA again for general practitioners and other treatments. However, I’ve once again run into the same problem that made me stop using them. We have a VA clinic in our city and a VA hospital roughly an hour and a half drive from home. I make an appointment and the appointment gets canceled. New appointment is now a month later than the first appointment. This is why I wish the VA was a health insurance instead of a facility. Though congress has made it easier for veterans to get care outside of a VA facility, the VA has found ways to extremely limit my access to those private providers outside of the VA facility. That’s why our clinic was moved to a new and larger location with expanded services. I went from a decent audiology specialty clinic with easy scheduling access to hit and miss scheduling at the clinic. Sometimes they have an audiologist and sometimes there isn’t one available. Have you experienced this at your VA facility?
VAMCs are like Mom & Pop shops. They're all run differently. Some of the VAMC directors are top notch. Others suck.
Audiology is a specialty clinic at all VAMCs. It is a specialty clinic in the private sector. There are wait times for specialty clinics. That's just how it is.
Medical care is expensive for any number of reasons. The VA has to keep costs down because it has a budget. That's why the Cincinnati VAMC does not have neurologists. They're all at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The come to the VAMC on Tuesdays and Thursdays and yes, there's a wait time.
If I went to a private facility, there would still be a wait time, unless I went to Christ Hospital but I wouldn't go there even if I was dying. I'd tell the ambulance to make the 45 minute drive to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington.
For the podiatry clinic at the Cincinnati VAMC there's enormously long wait times because of sloth. Sloth causes Type II diabetes and if the doctors weren't so busy doing amputations all day long they might actually be able to see regular patients. That's just how it is.
DH had the same problem. After multiple attempts he gave up.
On the other hand, our neighbor has had two knee replacements, and upcoming back surgery and he gets in fine.
So perhaps it is the area, and the type of service that is needed.
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As Mircea stated, it’s hit or miss on quality based on the clinics. Dental seems to be one of the most farmed out to community care. So far, community care has been wonderful and even when the civilian providers are poor, the reported feedback to the VA gets them removed from the “list”.
But sometimes the standard of care differs. Not officially but it leans differently. In the military, dental care is usually to keep the teeth good to go where in the civilian dentistry, they often suggest “optional” treatments such as crowns when waiting is a viable option. It seems financially motivated but that’s subjective.
I was on active duty after Korea and before Viet Nam which gives me a low level of eligibility. The local VA clinic moved and is now 6 minutes from where I live. I go there for my hearing aids. I go to a civilian doctor for the rest. My Medicare Advantage plan has served me well. I have had 2 knee replacements and 2 lesser surgeries.
As Mircea stated, it’s hit or miss on quality based on the clinics. Dental seems to be one of the most farmed out to community care. So far, community care has been wonderful and even when the civilian providers are poor, the reported feedback to the VA gets them removed from the “list”.
But sometimes the standard of care differs. Not officially but it leans differently. In the military, dental care is usually to keep the teeth good to go where in the civilian dentistry, they often suggest “optional” treatments such as crowns when waiting is a viable option. It seems financially motivated but that’s subjective.
to get dental care through the VA one has to be rated at 100% "disabled" or have a dental condition with a rating. So they don't have a lot of clinics.
I've had 2 fairly recent horse related injuries. I just go to urgent care or emergency room. While there I've had blood work done etc.
Sometimes the doc will just send you right up to another place.
Not sure about OKC, but B'ham for me, absolutely sucks from the time where you have to park your car, get into a VA bus, take care of business then get back into a VA bus back to your car. One of the worst VA's I'v been to.
I won't even go to the recently new VA in Huntsville, AL due to friends telling me not to go. I go to the Nashville VA right next to Vanderbilt.
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