A Step in The Right Direction For Our Veterans: The Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act.

Our veterans who took time out of their lives to serve us, to serve their country out of love and dedication have always been put on the back burner. That is until now that President Trump has chosen to bring their blight to the front of the line for all Americans to see. Disabled veterans go to the VA hospitals for care and have gotten shuffled around for years. Now with President Trump in office things are getting a bit shaken up. Jobs are no longer guaranteed just because you have a government job at Veterans Affairs.

Since President Trump was on the campaign trail he brought attention to the mishandling of our veterans at Veterans Hospitals around the country. He talked about making improvements and holding people responsible because our veterans gave us their all and the least we could do is take care of their needs when they return home.

Many people felt it was the same old campaign promises that nothing will ever be done about at first but as the campaign began to build so did the American peoples belief this man, Donald J. Trump, was going to do exactly as he promised and an important concern for many citizens was about to be addressed properly for once. President Trump took office in January 2017 as we all know, and he hit the ground running on his campaign promises.

Before he was even sworn into office President Trump announced his choice for Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David Shulkin. At the time of the announcement Dr. David Shulkin was the undersecretary for health at the VA which meant he ran the Veterans Health Administration. It was a position he was nominated for by President Obama in 2015. I will admit I had my doubts that he could suddenly turn things around but under President Trump I figured time will tell. A new President, a new way of doing things and new hope for our Veterans.

In May Secretary Shulkin addressed the issues that spanned decades and multiple administrations which is what President Trump had said during his campaign. The problems at the VA didn’t just start it has been a long time brewing and issues brushed under the rug needed to be brought out into the open, investigated and fixed to benefit our veterans. 

Some of the “chronic problems” Secretary Shulkin discussed included barriers to quality health care, rampant drug addiction and at that point and time already a staggering 1,500 disciplinary actions brought against federal employees.  There have been reports the government will open dozens of new investigations into drug and opioid thefts from veterans’ care facilities by employees. What is amazing in all of this is since 2009 only about 3 percent of the reported cases of drug loss or theft which have included doctors, nurses, or pharmacy employees been disciplined. This is what Secretary Shulkin is up against.

Secretary Shulkin admits there is still a lot of work to do but they are now on the right foot and working hard towards improving veteran’s experiences at their care facilities. He has a tough job ahead of him but I do believe he has rolled up his sleeves and will not stop till our veterans are getting the care and consideration they deserve by the country they served to protect.

Now let’s take a step back to before President Trump took office when it was nearly impossible to fire a bad VA employee. It was so bad that even underperforming VA employees received bonuses and executives who had been disciplined in the past still received their full pension benefits yet our veterans were fighting for their benefits.

Secretary Shulkin was instrumental in helping implement a VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. There has been a website created to track and publish wait times at every VA hospital. There has been an increase in mental health services across the system which our veterans are in great need of. Plus they developed a way to electronically transfer veteran’s medical records from the Department of Defense to the VA in order to simplify their transition from service to civilian life. I know you are probably thinking this is a no brainer but let me tell you that is not the way it has been done in the past. You see when a service member leaves the service of this country his medical records stay and if he needed them they had to be requested and it took time, months in some cases, to get the records sent to them. They would then bring them with them to their next VA appointment. So this new procedure will cut out a lot of unnecessary wait time.

This brings me to the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act which President Trump signed on Friday June 23, 2017. It took Congress to pass this bill in order for Secretary Shulkin to have the authority he needs to properly deal with or fire VA employees who are not doing their jobs. I’m stunned because anywhere else if you don’t do your job, you’re caught stealing, or you ignore your responsibilities you are usually given up to three write ups and then let go but somehow that doesn’t seem to be the way the VA has been structured all this time.

So let’s look at the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. It shortens a years-long appeals process for disciplined employees and it ensures these employees will not be paid during their disciplinary appeal. Under this Act Secretary Shulkin is able to deny bonuses to employees who are underperforming seeing to it they get their bonuses on merit not on seniority. He now also has the authority to cut pensions for executives who misbehave. In the past VA employees tended not to report misconduct for fear of retaliation but under this Act VA employees who report such misconduct within the VA will now be protected from retaliation.

It is true that President Trump has been pushing hard for reform of the VA but he hasn’t been alone. As I have said before the President is only one Branch of our government. Even before President Trump took office in January Speaker Paul Ryan and members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee worked towards finding a way to fix the VA but without the proper support of the previous administration there was no way they were going to succeed.

On June 21^st Speaker Ryan said: “We all saw the scandals at the VA. We need to make sure something like this never happens again, and the veterans get the care and treatment that they deserve, that they have earned.” Together with the support of President Trump and Secretary Shulkin this is now possible.

Our veterans gave up so much of themselves to serve their country. Yes they were paid for it but by no means not nearly enough. If they were in the private sector they would have earned a lot more and not had to put their lives on the line and suffer the aliments they now do because of the service they provided to their country. This reform has been a long time coming. I am hoping changes come about quickly and our veterans are able to get the care they deserve in a timely fashion. I am also hopeful VA employees will now be held responsible and start caring about the job they do every day and not just look at it as a pay check. Oh trust me, I know not all VA employees see it that way, but when you have even one bad apple in the bunch it can put a kink in the system that can take a long time to track down and fix.

Veterans and their families need to continue to speak up and see to it those who are taking care of them at the VA are held responsible. If they do not feel they are being treated justly or are being pushed aside then they need to speak up. Call Secretary Shulkin’s office and leave your complaint especially if you feel your complaints at your VA facility are falling on deaf ears. This is a giant step in fixing what is broken at the VA. One that has been a long time coming and well deserved for our Veterans.

May God Bless America and our Veterans past, present, and future.