In The News
Wenstrup Visits Vet HomeThe News Democrat
Georgetown,
June 20, 2014
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Veterans
United States Representative Brad Wenstrup, R-Cincinnati. visited the Ohio Veterans Home on June 13, speaking for an hour with around 20 veterans.
Much of the discussion centered around health care for the senior veterans through the US Department of Veterans Affairs, with plenty of questions being asked about what Wenstrup later called “glitches in the system.” The VA has been under intense scrutiny recently due to administrative delays forcing veterans to wait weeks, if not months, for care, with some veterans dying during the waiting process. Wenstrup said what he heard from the veterans in Georgetown was very similar to what he had been seeing and hearing in Washington D.C. “Well I think I heard a lot of things that we’re hearing on a national level but it’s good to verify that these are concerns that we have to have locally,” Wenstrup said. “I’m talking about calling and not getting an answer, and various other glitches in the system that we need to work on correcting. I feel right now, especially on the house VA committee where I work, there’s a bi-partisan effort to correct this ship and we have the opportunity to do it. The sad part of it all is the (latest) actions being taken are the results of disastrous acts.” Wenstrup, who is a licensed physician, believes that one of the biggest issues plaguing the system is that doctors in the VHA don’t have the same incentives to see as many patients as they can as a private practice would. In the current system, Wenstrup notes, a doctor or administrator in the VHA is paid the same regardless of how many patients they see in a work day. In a private practice however, Wenstrup said the patient is an “asset” to the doctor, theoretically giving them extra incentive to see more patients. Wenstrup also believes that VA doctors are doing too many administrative duties and it’s taking away from the time they could be spending treating veterans. “I think we’ve got good health care providers within the VA system,” Wenstrup said. “A lot of people will say ‘I’ve been getting great care,’ once they’re through the door. But I’ve known for years that there’s a huge difference in the types of efficiencies within the operating room and in the clinics. “Too often, you have doctors doing things that are far from seeing the patient, that they don’t need to be doing and someone else can be doing. Or, you can have more medical assistants so that more of the work that the doctors are doing is done by someone else in a very professional manner and then the doctor does their thing and patient is being taken care of. What happens? The doctor gets to see more patients and the patients are still well taken care of.” As the Federal Bureau of Investigation opens criminal proceedings against the VA, Wenstrup is now looking forward to working with members of congress on both sides of the aisle to help solve the issues. The issue of veteran health is one of the few that seems to unite both sides and create a bi-partisan effort to pass legislation. Wenstrup is currently working on passing HR3230, a bill that would help expand health care coverage to veterans outside of just doctors within a VA hospital or health center. “The real priority has to be taking care of those still waiting for care,” Wenstrup said. “We passed a bill in the House (of Representatives) to open up and expand the access to care into the private sector. The Senate is doing the same, they did that (last week), and now we have to come together and see what we want that to look like and hopefully we get the President to sign. That has to be the number one priority. “These fixes are considered to be temporary, two years, in the meantime, we need to take the opportunity to fix the system and you see the efforts really coming from both sides of the aisle, to realize that patients have to have a choice for the system to work. “I’m not saying to get rid of the VA system, but make it so that people have a choice about when and where they get care. I don’t see anything wrong with a doctor down the street who has their private practice to be considered a VA provider. Just because they aren’t within the walls of that building, can’t they be a VA provider in their own practice?” Wenstrup recently returned from a trip to Normandy, France, to honor the 60th anniversary of D-Day. He said it was a very emotional trip and upon seeing rows and rows of tombstones in graves at the site overlooking Omaha Beach, he felt that the soldiers’ lives were cut way too short. “It was indeed an honor to be selected to be able to go and represent congress in Normandy for the D-Day celebration as a veteran, especially as someone who gets emotional just thinking of that place,” Wenstrup said. “I actually learned more about the history, especially what the French resistance did and their part in D-Day.” Click here to see the original story. |