Hubby has been very ill several times this last year and recently. Our VA is excellant here. He wld have been gone if we didn't have some good docs on there toes in the ER time before last.

I am sorry you have had such a bad experience. I do have other health care insurance however I do use the VA for services not covered or covered at very low %. and I have had nothing but excellent experiences. I have friends who says the same thing about their their civilian health care.

My VA is fine.
In fact I think that they have improved greartly over the eyars.
Now ,I have a brother (Veteran) in AZ and he thinks the same as you.
Seems like everywhere is differnt.
Hey !!!! Have a good day ..
Timeman

I AGREE STAY AWAY COMPLETELY !!

In 2003 I underwent open-heart surgery in a VA hospital in West Haven, CT. They treated me with the greatest of care and the follow-up over the last 10 years is top-notch. I am also being treated for emphysema by the VA.

Now I agree if you are looking for a VA disability rating you may feel like they do not care but that you can give Obama credit for with sequestration. While I rely on VA for my health needs, I also have ConnectiCare, Medicaid and Medicare.

I am sorry Beauumont, Freedom that your VA sucks, but I have heard bad and good things depending on where you live. I had a friend in Texas who had to drive 4 hours for a VA appointment and usually waited 4 hours to see his doctor. Others like me, I am 20 mins from my main VA facility and about 1 hour from West Haven. I have never waited more the 30 minutes.

Our VA hospital in Iowa City is great. If it was not for them, I would be in very sad shape. I have Parkinson's Disease and sciatic nerve damage which they have helped immensely with. I am in the Move program for weight loss and they are helping me get back into shape. Some VA hospitals might not be as good as the one here but when your like me and have no insurance, even they can be a God send.

I have been using the VA system since 1977 and I have had a few problems with them but overall I would give them a 7 out of 10 in terms of care.

It is too bad that the VA where you are is not very good. We had trouble here for awhile, but now everything is straightened out pretty good. I have been with the VA health care for several years. They have been very good to me. They got me through a hysterectomy, an infected toe and a toenail that had to be removed. They have helped me control my diabetes and high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I feel very fortunate to be able to have the VA benefits.

I've been going to the VA for about ten year in Mobile, Ala and Salisbury, Nc and the Charlotte clinic. I have great respect for all the ones that I've gone to. Have only good things to say about my treatment. Had back surgery in 2005...also being treated for PTSD.
Would be in bad shape without their care. Also have Medicare and AARP. Hope things get better for you.

Unfortunately the VA is a product of Government sponsored Educations since many of the Doctors hired are foreigners who came to America in order to get a Medical Degree. They agree to work off their loans by working for the US Government at VA facilities all over the Country. I have had several who speak very poor English and didn't care that I was Veteran. For instance, I had a doctor from INDIA. A short woman who understood and spoke English rather well with a British Accent. Several years ago I developed a rash along both inner thighs. I had gone to the ER because the pain and itching were horrific. I was given a pill that destroys Yeast infections and it cleared up. Four months later it came back. I was warned that it might happen but not to worry. I was told to contact my primary doctor for a refill on the medication that I had been given. So I sent my doctor a private message explaining that the yeast infection had returned.. She referred me to a podiatrist. A foot doctor. I told her that I didn't need a foot doctor just prescribe the prescription for me and I would be fine. Again she referred me to a Podiatrist. I then asked her if she even looked at my charts to see what I was talking about and AGAIN she referred me to a Podiatrist. I went back to the ER, got my pill and told the ER doctor of my experience with my primary. He shook his head and said that he had heard worse. I requested and was re-assigned to another Health care team.

Please Don't blame the entire system because of a few quacks or Government Employee that takes their job for granted.

You are absolutely correct about VA health care. I strongly urge veterans to get online and look at the notes caretakers and other place in your medical record. It will not take you long to see two serious issues. First those notes, made an official part of your medical record, read like fiction. They will state that you were told things you were never told, that you discuss things that were never discussed, you were provided information and devices you were never supplied with.

Second you will discover that legitimate medical issues you bring up with practitioners do not appear in your medical notes or records. It is as if you never brought issues up that concern you as a patient. You may likely find yourself being diagnosed with issues or conditions that have never been revealed to you by a practitioner. You will also find that practitioners chose to care for issues that are insignificant related to any issues you may have.

If you have been in the system for more than a week it is also easy to get into a loop of having several appointments and labs each month, but nothing ever gets fixed. It is as if you are moving from bureaucrat to bureaucrat with no other purpose than to facilitate justifying their jobs at the VA. When you finally do get the VA to acknowledge any issues you may have you will likely find that they put roadblock after roadblock in front of you to make the simplest of procedures incredibly difficult and cumbersome.

The VA is more than a bastion of a few bad people. It is a culture that has festered over decades to a point that the people of the VA do both even recognize how preposterous things have become. The problem is this joke is at the expense of your life and health.

President Trump promised that when he was elected the veterans would have a choice of going to a civilian medical facility or the VA with the VA being forced to compete. Being able to do this would not only restore confidence in VA health care, but would allow veterans to control the progress of their health care. Now, very early on. it appears that Trump has joined these rest of the politicians in providing great lips service, but abandoning his commitment to the veterans who helped him get elected. It is clear he has no intention of letting ALL veterans choose their fate. Please remember this people. If the politicians refuse to fulfill their promises then it is time for veterans to speak out, vote them out and work to stop this game where we are just the pawns.

I must seriously urge veterans to read the notes that providers put on your record, it is the biggest eye opener on how inefficienct the VA is. They will disagree with diagnosis, change diagnosis, disagree with prognosis etc. It took me years to find out and only after a denial of a condition I have been seeing the VA for years over did I realized how much information they omit intentionally. You may think your getting great care until you file a claim, request a procedure or use another program from the VA that is costly to realize you lack all the medical evidence necessary to get something approved. Getting outside providers is the only way to fix the system I am very disappointed in the VA.

MrMG, your story sounds like my new PCP.
I've been blessed with the same PCP for like 9 yrs but was assigned a new guy due to a move. This new guy is from Iran (which didn't bug me) but he's definitely a quack. I have a long history of severe IBS, gastroperesis, and so on, that all started with a stomach ulcer 16 yrs ago while serving. I complained to this new PCP again and again that I've had this painful flare for like 6 months already. But he refused to give me any medicine, kept telling me to go eat YOGURT. He finally gave me a referral to a GI doc after I told him either help or step aside (through the choice program) and she suspects it might even be IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). OMG, I'm even more ticked at him! I requested a new PCP immediately and it was approved. If this doesn't work out, I will ask for a civilian PCP through the choice program since our VA clinic is only a 3 man operation.

Great.... I have to go tomorrow and Friday.

The VA health care has improved over to be last year's., I personally don't have any problems. I do have some freinds that did have problems Mostly wait times. Now my brother whom is a vet. ( I have three brothers and we all served in the Army. Myself and a deceased brother served in Vietnam). My one brother is in a rehab center being paid for bycthe VA after he had cancer and a colon operation. VA did the operation and everything was fine. I just went to a private optomolgist a me had eye surgery . The VA paid the bill because the wait time at VA was over 30 days. Soooooooo, I guess it's just who you run into there.. I'm sure there are some bad doctors. I would suggest that you don't give up on he VA.....,if you have a doctor or anyone that you don't like... request a different one. Many years ago I did that with a therapist that they gave me. ... Ha ha..I just told him that I would like someone else. He didn't care. But, don't give up... There's a lot of plusses ... Cheap or free pills. For one thing. Free pair of glasses every year. Don't give up. !!!!
Have a good Thanksgiving..... Bob