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VA NEEDS LARGER, MORE INCLUSIVE, BONUS PROGRAM --

Bonuses should be increased and also given to doctors,

nurses and healthcare technicians.

 

 

Background on VA bonuses here...
http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfMAY07/nf050407-1.htm 

Story below:

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by Larry Scott

 

As members of the press and some veterans' activists scurry to place blame for the problems in the VA healthcare system, they have found a new target:  The VA bonus system.

This approach to identifying problems smacks of the old battlefield order of, "If it moves, shoot it!"

Unfortunately, they have the wrong target in their sights.

The VA bonus system is designed to get quality personnel into government work where salaries are much lower than equivalent jobs in the private sector.  And, the bonuses help keep them there so they won't be lured away.

In 2006, the VA bonus program for high-level executives gave out $3.8 million.  That was less than 5/1000% of the total VA budget.  And, those funds did not come out of the healthcare budget.

So, to indicate that the healthcare problems in the VA are somehow related to bonuses is inaccurate.  There is no cause-effect relationship.

The AP article (link above) that cites specific bonuses also overlooks the obvious.

The executives who received a $33,000 bonus for crafting what was called a "flawed budget for 2005 based on misleading accounting" did their jobs based on the information they were given.  The "misleading" information came from much higher in the chain of command.  The phony "efficiencies" that didn't exist was something known only by those higher-ups who concocted the scheme...story here...
 http://vawatchdog.org/milcom/cookingthevasbooks.htm

Also cited in the AP article was the deputy undersecretary for benefits whose VBA system is constantly backlogged with claims.

The two examples used by the AP are misleading.  They overlook the two real problems in the VA:  Political pressure and chronic underfunding.

The budget people were hoodwinked by those who "cooked the books" to forward a political agenda.  The head of VBA needs more funding and more personnel.

Bonuses are not the problem. 

But, bonuses can be part of the answer.

These bonuses should be larger.  And, they should be extended into the "hands-on" level of the VA healthcare system.  Doctors, nurses and healthcare technicians should be eligible for large bonuses every year based on their performance.  It is a way to reward their good work and a way to keep them from being hired away by the private healthcare sector where salaries are much higher.

So, while the press and activists look to make headlines out of the VA bonus story, the real problem goes unnoticed, again.

Chronic underfunding!

This problem is created by a Congress who has consistently voted too little money for the VA.  Year after year (even though the budget dollars increase) the VA is left with inadequate funding. 

It's time to take Congress to task, not VA employees.  The Democratic Members of Congress, in past years, have pushed for mandatory funding for VA healthcare.  But, now that the Democrats have the majority in both Houses, where is the mandatory funding issue?  On a shelf somewhere!

Let us not be misled by those who look for headlines when they should be offering solutions to the VA's underfunding problems.

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Larry Scott  --