Opposing Views said that in a bid to show the failure of US President Barack Obama's healthcare, some Republicans have resorted to using the latest scandal in Veteran Affairs to give warrant to the blocking of a landmark bill that would have expanded health care for veterans.
A CNN investigative report had blown open to a supposed waitlist crafted by administrative officials of VA-backed medical facilities, which prompted a bipartisan response from both side of the political parties.
Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders, wo had authored the bill, said that although there are incompetent administrators in the VA healthcare system, there is still a need to address the lack of funding issue in the VA.
"They're treating 6.5 million people a year, 230,000 people every single day. Is there waste in the system? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, when you have 2 million new veterans coming into the system, some with very difficult and complicated problems, I do think we have to take a hard look and see if we have the resources."
Sander's bill never saw the light of day as it lacked four votes for a 60-vote requirement that would allow a final vote on the bill. The bill, said the opinion blog, would have ordered an opening of 27 additional VA health facilities, aside from expanding dental and medical care for veterans and funding for caretakers. Moreover, the bill would have also repealed an earlier cut to cost-of-living adjustments for future veterans.
In the meantime, the lawmakers are addressing the most pressing matter in relation to the health care waitlist scandal. On Sunday, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers called for the Justice Department to probe on whether VA employees were involved with falsifying records to cover up long waits at VA facilities, The Los Angeles Times said.
On CBS's "Face the Nation," member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said, "Only the Department of Justice and the FBI have the resources, the expertise and the authority to do a prompt and effective criminal investigation of the secret waiting lists, potential destruction of documents, falsification of records, in effect, the cooking of books and covering up that may have occurred."
