This Vet Filmed Himself Trying To Get A Doctor's Appointment At VA. It Wasn't Pretty., Army adept Dennis Magnasco spent two canicule aggravating to get a doctor's arrangement at his VA dispensary in Bedford, Massachusetts, but he couldn't get through to anyone on the phone. So he and his boss, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), came up with addition idea: filming.
They set up a camera, put the alarm on speakerphone and dialed in again. For about 5 beeline minutes, their video shows Magnasco accepting swept up in a bend of automatic choir cogent him to columnist altered numbers, which beatific him to added automatic voices, which beatific him aback to the alpha of the aboriginal recording. Over. And over. And over again.
Moulton, an Iraq War adept himself who's alien several bills aimed at acclimation problems at VA, capital to put a animal face to the boundless botheration vets accept in accessing care. He acquaint their video on his Facebook page endure week. It went viral.
More than 2.1 actor humans apprehend Moulton's column and watched the video. Added than 20,000 humans aggregate it. Within a few days, the VA anchored the buzz arrangement at its Bedford ability and Magnasco was able to accomplish an appointment. And Moulton al of a sudden had a dozen new co-sponsors on his bill, the Faster Affliction for Veterans Act, which would accomplish it easier for vets to agenda their own VA appointments. He's up to 19 co-sponsors, both Democratic and Republican.
"We had a acceptable amount of co-sponsors before, but several of my colleagues said they heard from capacity about the video who encouraged them to get on the bill," Moulton told The Huffington Column on Friday. "We're just delighted."
His bill would crave VA to run an 18-month pilot affairs that lets veterans in assertive networks use an app on their buzz to agenda or abolish VA accessories themselves. If it sounds simple enough, that's because it is: these apps already abide in the clandestine area and accept been successful. Moulton said it makes way added faculty for VA to accept this technology than to do what he apparent the bureau was advancing to do.
"They were planning to absorb $623 actor developing their own app," said Moulton. "This is accessible today. God knows how continued it would yield them to absorb that."
VA has collapsed abbreviate with its technology systems for years. A computer arrangement annihilate has been abstinent bloom affliction to tens of bags of action vets , who are advantaged to chargeless bloom care. A certificate leaked to HuffPost in July appear that about one-third of 847,000 veterans with awaiting applications for bloom affliction had already died. Added recently, a February address by the VA's Office of Inspector General begin that a VA suicide hotline beatific callers to voicemail and did not acknowledgment some calls.
Moulton said he hasn't been able to get an acknowledgment from VA on why they would absorb hundreds of millions of dollars developing an app to let vets agenda their doctors' accessories if these kinds of apps already exist. He said it seems like VA just prefers to accept its own proprietary systems.
"They gave a array of asinine excuses," he said. "None of it makes sense."
A VA backer did not anon acknowledge to a appeal for comment.
Moulton's legislation may be one of the few bipartisan bills that moves this year in an contrarily chock-full Congress. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who is a affiliate of GOP leadership, is an aboriginal co-sponsor of the legislation. The bill is on clue for a audition in a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee soon.
Moulton and Magnasco both emphasized that admitting problems they've faced in accepting VA appointments, already they're in, the affliction is excellent. To that point, Moulton says he still gets his bloom affliction at VA, even as a affiliate of Congress.
Asked how he didn't accident his buzz into tiny $.25 during the two canicule that he couldn't get anyone to acknowledgment at VA, Magnasco said it was "aggravating" but he approved to break focused on the bigger picture.
"I was cerebration about all the added vets ambidextrous with the aforementioned issue," he said.
They set up a camera, put the alarm on speakerphone and dialed in again. For about 5 beeline minutes, their video shows Magnasco accepting swept up in a bend of automatic choir cogent him to columnist altered numbers, which beatific him to added automatic voices, which beatific him aback to the alpha of the aboriginal recording. Over. And over. And over again.
Moulton, an Iraq War adept himself who's alien several bills aimed at acclimation problems at VA, capital to put a animal face to the boundless botheration vets accept in accessing care. He acquaint their video on his Facebook page endure week. It went viral.
More than 2.1 actor humans apprehend Moulton's column and watched the video. Added than 20,000 humans aggregate it. Within a few days, the VA anchored the buzz arrangement at its Bedford ability and Magnasco was able to accomplish an appointment. And Moulton al of a sudden had a dozen new co-sponsors on his bill, the Faster Affliction for Veterans Act, which would accomplish it easier for vets to agenda their own VA appointments. He's up to 19 co-sponsors, both Democratic and Republican.
"We had a acceptable amount of co-sponsors before, but several of my colleagues said they heard from capacity about the video who encouraged them to get on the bill," Moulton told The Huffington Column on Friday. "We're just delighted."
His bill would crave VA to run an 18-month pilot affairs that lets veterans in assertive networks use an app on their buzz to agenda or abolish VA accessories themselves. If it sounds simple enough, that's because it is: these apps already abide in the clandestine area and accept been successful. Moulton said it makes way added faculty for VA to accept this technology than to do what he apparent the bureau was advancing to do.
"They were planning to absorb $623 actor developing their own app," said Moulton. "This is accessible today. God knows how continued it would yield them to absorb that."
VA has collapsed abbreviate with its technology systems for years. A computer arrangement annihilate has been abstinent bloom affliction to tens of bags of action vets , who are advantaged to chargeless bloom care. A certificate leaked to HuffPost in July appear that about one-third of 847,000 veterans with awaiting applications for bloom affliction had already died. Added recently, a February address by the VA's Office of Inspector General begin that a VA suicide hotline beatific callers to voicemail and did not acknowledgment some calls.
Moulton said he hasn't been able to get an acknowledgment from VA on why they would absorb hundreds of millions of dollars developing an app to let vets agenda their doctors' accessories if these kinds of apps already exist. He said it seems like VA just prefers to accept its own proprietary systems.
"They gave a array of asinine excuses," he said. "None of it makes sense."
A VA backer did not anon acknowledge to a appeal for comment.
Moulton's legislation may be one of the few bipartisan bills that moves this year in an contrarily chock-full Congress. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who is a affiliate of GOP leadership, is an aboriginal co-sponsor of the legislation. The bill is on clue for a audition in a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee soon.
Moulton and Magnasco both emphasized that admitting problems they've faced in accepting VA appointments, already they're in, the affliction is excellent. To that point, Moulton says he still gets his bloom affliction at VA, even as a affiliate of Congress.
Asked how he didn't accident his buzz into tiny $.25 during the two canicule that he couldn't get anyone to acknowledgment at VA, Magnasco said it was "aggravating" but he approved to break focused on the bigger picture.
"I was cerebration about all the added vets ambidextrous with the aforementioned issue," he said.
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