In an interview last week Hillary Clinton said the controversy which shook the VA last year that veterans were not getting health care promptly and some died prior to getting treated was overblown. She continued to say the Republicans used it to serve their own agenda.
We have written several stories about it because there have been a lot of incidents in Florida and it is not overblown. Hillary is just insensitive or naive.This was her exact comments:
It’s not been as widespread as it has been made out to be.
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Even the federal government’s own report contradicts her remarks as reported by CNN.
The VA’s inspector general concluded VA medical centers were using inappropriate scheduling practices and it was a widespread problem in 2014. That came after a CNN investigation revealed veterans were dying while waiting for care and were on “secret” lists.
Veterans groups are firing back at Hillary Clinton. The founder and CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Paul Rieckhoff said the following on Twitter:
Clinton blames the media coverage and the Republicans for #VAScandal. That is not a winning argument–or factually correct. #IAVA#IAVAVotes
— Paul (PJ) Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) October 24, 2015
Clinton went on to say:
Nobody would believe that from the coverage that you see, and the constant berating on the VA that comes from the Republicans, in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have.
CNN reported a recent investigation shows the problem is actually getting worse. Veterans continue to wait for months to get care and in a federally funded report prepared for the VA released in September it states the agency remains “plagued” by problems including growing bureaucracy, staffing challenges and unsustainable costs.
Concerned Veterans for America has called for the VA to begin offering subsidized private insurance to veterans, among other reforms. They also condemned Clinton for her remarks calling her out-of-touch:Hillary Clinton has shown that just like the Obama Administration, of which she was a part, she will minimize the deep-rooted problems within the Department of Veterans Affairs and engage in partisan attacks against those who propose real and fundamental reform.