Veterans need Mission health care plan to deliver

Sept. 02--Frustrated by the Veterans Health Administration over difficulties in getting needed medication and angered by frequent delays getting access to medical specialists, Valley veterans have not been happy with their health care program over the past few years.

John Fromille, of Selinsgrove, a Marine wounded in Iraq, and judged 90 percent disabled, has to wait nine months to see a specialist for several medical issues, including heart palpitations; Joseph Hoffman, of Freeburg, a Korean War veteran diagnosed with dementia, has had a hard time getting his supply of medications.

"It's not right," said Fromille, who served from 2003 to 2007. "The waits, the delays, veterans shouldn't have to put up with delays to get their critical medication."

Despite these challenges Fromille and others have hope. A new program, VA Mission, begins on Oct. 1. No one, not even doctors, know much about VA Mission. But veterans are nevertheless hoping the new program will be an improvement over the phased out Veterans Choice.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 was intended to give veterans more leeway in choosing their doctors, said Army veteran Bob Heckrote, of Hughesville, but vets like Heckrote and Fromille got bogged down in too much bureaucracy.

Phone calls made and not returned; lengthy delays in reaching doctors, the veterans agreed. VA Mission -- passed on June 6, 2018 -- hopes to fix that, according to Snyder County director of veterans affairs Tony Korzenaski, by eliminating the middle man, which in this case was a company called Health Net Federal Services.

In the near term, according to the Veterans Administration, the VA Mission Act of 2018 appropriates $5.2 billion in mandatory funding to continue to provide care to veterans until the new, consolidated Veterans Community Care Program is operational -- approximately one year after the enactment of the Act.

Delays, cancellations

Fromille was wounded twice in Iraq and has two Purple Hearts. "I have vision loss in my left eye, complete hearing loss in my left ear. I have 30 to 40 pieces of shrapnel inside me. I've been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury as well as PTSD."

When he first got out of the service in 2007 he got his disability rating in three weeks. Normally, it can take up to a year, he said. "Things moved well because U.S. Rep. Chris Carney took care of me and streamlined the process," he said.

Once he had to use the VA health care system it was a different story. "For the past two years my health care has gotten worse," Fromille said.

Fromille goes to the Lebanon VA because of their specialists. "For me, that is an 85-mile trip one way. Then, for eight, nine months I've had problems getting in for a physical and an echocardiogram because I was having pains in my chest. They (the VA) would call me and schedule an appointment 28 days out. Then 27 days later, call me and say they'd have to cancel the appointment and then schedule another one 28 days out.

"And they literally did that to me eight, nine months in a row," he said. "It's frustrating. What can you do? I'm trying to get in for these specialty treatments, to the traumatic injury team or a heart specialist. They kept pushing me off."

Clarity, frustration

Hoffman, 81, has dementia. He was in the Army from 1951 to 1953. His wife, Marian, is now doing the best she can as caregiver, but recently she has been frustrated trying to get Joseph the medication he needs to survive.

Hoffman has moments where his thinking becomes crystal clear, and at times his frustrations come out, mostly when talking about health care. "I'm just so angry, I could scream sometimes," he said, getting upset.

Joseph doesn't get much exercise, his wife said. "He is supposed to get up and use his walker," she said, "but he doesn't. I'm not going to push him but I wish he would." Her frustration with the VA is palpable and she is not very optimistic about a new program being initiated about which she knows very little. She tried to deal with officials at the Wilkes-Barre VA herself, but that got her nowhere, other than making her more confused and frustrated.

In desperation, the Hoffmans called on Korzenaski for help.

Anyone who called the VA Choice phone number got a recorded message saying they are no longer doing authorizations, and they referred people to their local VA health care centers. Authorizations are needed by patients to see specialists, Marian said.

"I think one of the problems the Hoffmans had was this new Missions Act" starts Oct. 1, he said. "And Veterans Choice, who used to do the authorization, stopped doing that on July 3."

Knowing that the Hoffmans were confused and needed medication, Korzenaski called Wilkes-Barre Care, which participates in the Community Care Program for vets. Community Care exists for vets if they need care that the VA cannot provide.

VA Choice specifically refers to a vet needing specialty services available at VA hospitals, such as the one in Wilkes-Barre. If the vet lived more than 40 miles from the hospital, or if an appointment could not be made in less than 30 days, the vet could go to approved community doctors, such as Dr. Rodney Companion, the local approved doctor in Shamokin Dam.

Korzenaski was told that before any medical services could be provided a contract between the VA and Dr. Rodney Companion, the local approved doctor, in Shamokin Dam, had to be signed. He then called Companion's office to let them know a contract would be on its way. Authorization by the VA is needed before a community doctor outside the VA can treat a vet and be paid by the VA.

"The Hoffmans were eligible for community care based on discussions with their VA provider, but they had to obtain pre-authorization from VA before seeing a community care provider," Korzenaski said. "In addition, care needed or recommended beyond the scope of that authorization had to be approved by the VA facility that authorized the care.

"Trouble was, the middle man, health net, was no longer in business with the VA."

"We have been given three months supplies of meds," said Marian. "So we're OK for now. But I am a bit nervous since they'll run out. I hope we can work things out."

Korzenaski isn't sure how VA Mission will work. He said he's hopeful, "but it will have it's growing pains."

Vets: Cut out middle man

Navy veteran (2005-2015) Bradley Beda, of Danville, hopes the new program cuts out the middleman as promised. That was the problem with VA Choice, he said. Beda has not had need of a specialist, so he has remained outside of the VA Choice program. But a fellow vet, a friend of his, has had nightmarish dealings with the VA.

"I have a friend," Beda said, "who had a heart issue and he was not allowed to go outside and see a heart specialist for a second opinion. He had to first go to Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital, and then to Philadelphia before the VA would approve him to see a heart specialist."

It was scary, Beda continued, "because my friend was having mini-strokes as this was happening. He was told to go through VA people and he told me he just didn't believe what was happening to him."

Heckrote, who served in the Army from 2003-2015, works for student services at Bloomsburg University, but helps run the space reserved for students who are also veterans.

Before talking with The Daily Item he emphasized that he is speaking for himself and his views do not represent the university.

His health insurance is now through his wife's plan, he said. "I haven't been to the VA at all because I was a little soured on it. My initial experience with the VA was quite lengthy and complicated. Things are now more efficient and I don't have to deal with the frustration of the VA."

In his dealing with student veterans, he said, "I've experienced the students going through a plethora of experiences and I recall two students that I helped submit VA claims and they were through and done in a very short amount of time, which was astonishing. But on the medical side of the house, I'm still seeing people waiting a long time to get into doctors. One student was trying to get in for mental health services and it took him several months to get that initial appointment. It's experiences like that that are all over the place, that have soured me personally. But for me, I have other options. For those who don't it is a very frustrating experience."

Meanwhile, Fromille's hope is that with this new program things will work out. "If we could take what we have with the VA Choice program, let the veterans choose and yet streamline the process I think that would be the best process for veterans all the way around."

___

(c)2018 The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.)

Visit The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.) at www.dailyitem.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.