The long wait for Veterans Administration home care services is getting national attention, thanks to a VA Office of Inspector General report on the topic issued last month.
The VA OIG found that the Washington DC VA Medical Center facility “had wait times exceeding a year for patients needing homemaker/home health aide (H/HHA) services,” the report says. And “multiple Veterans Health Administration facilities had patients waiting for HCBS.”
“On paper, the VA has a significant set of home care benefits available to veterans,” the National Association for Home Care & Hospice says in its newsletter. “However, in practice, veterans wait far too long for care and providers of home care services are forced to navigate a complex system that adds payment delays and inconsistent payment rates to the burdens that ultimately impact veterans.”
See the report at www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-14-03823-19.pdf.