Physicians are stepping into action in response to the access-to-care crisis for the nation’s veterans, offering their services until the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system can provide health care in a timely fashion. Two states already have developed physician registries.
In the Lone Star State, the Texas Medical Association has created a registry of physicians who are willing to see veterans in their practices. The registry will be shared with community groups that work with veterans and medical directors of VA facilities in the state. Texas physicians who aren’t yet part of the registry can sign up online.
On the East Coast, physicians in the Empire State can make sure they’re part of a registry coordinated by the Medical Society of the State of New York.
Physicians in other states should check with their state and county medical associations to determine whether they will be developing registries to better serve veterans in need of care.
Physicians at the 2014 AMA Annual Meeting voted earlier this month for multiple courses of action to address this crisis, including:
- Asking President Barack Obama to provide timely access to entitled care for eligible veterans via the health care sector outside of the VA health care system until the VA can provide health care in a timely fashion
- Urging Congress to quickly enact long-term solutions so eligible veterans always can have timely access to entitled care
- Recommending that state and local medical societies develop a registry of physicians who are willing to care for veterans
At least 10 percent of veterans have to wait more than 30 days for a medical appointment, according to audit figures the VA released Thursday. The VA earlier reported that 57,000 new VA patients who requested appointments were made to wait as long as three months before they could see a doctor, while another 63,000 patients have been unable to secure appointments.
In a June 10 letter to President Obama, the AMA called these waits “unconscionably long,” noting that the situation is “simply unacceptable.”
The AMA also on Thursday sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and a letter to the U.S. Senate, offering recommendations for resolving differences between bills passed by both chambers that would temporarily expand veterans’ access to health care services outside the VA system.
The AMA continues to press the Obama Administration and Congress to quickly address this issue so the nation’s veterans have timely access to the care they need and deserve.
