Bind up the wounds

As we approach Memorial Day, when we’re meant to pause, think about and thank the men and women who’ve made great sacrifices in the defense of our country, it saddens and infuriates me that those on whom we depend can’t count on us for much of anything.

It’s bad enough that the military can’t discharge veterans who have physical or psychological scars from their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan fast enough, so the services don’t have to finance and provide support for them. But it turns out that the Veterans Administration medical system—which is supposed to guarantee them care for life—has apparently been a lot better at delaying treatment and falsifying records than it has at actually providing the care these people deserve.

This isn’t just some rogue facility doing it, either. Administrators in VA hospitals in Washington, Texas, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and other states have systematically instructed schedulers to book medical appointments for months out, but to classify those appointments as having been requested by the patient, so the hospital’s stats look good.

So good, in fact, that facility senior managers get performance bonuses. Monetary bonuses. They profit from these practices.

But veterans, on the other hand, die while waiting for those appointments.

President Obama and Secretary for Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki have pronounced themselves “mad as hell” about the revelations, although it’s not clear how much of a surprise this can be, since these practices have been reported by whistle-blowers for more than five years. And they are preceded by conditions in what should be one of the flagship military care facilities, Walter Reed Hospital, being worse than you’d expect to find in a facility in Central African Republic.

Investigations have been launched. Congress is on its hind legs. And blah, blah, blah.

You know—the harm’s way into which we send our defenders is not supposed to include the systems that were established to support them. I am ashamed that the people we elected to office—Congress and Executive branch alike—think they can cut corners and score points off the wounds suffered by the men and women of our armed forces.

We should keep that in mind on Monday, when our pols show up at Memorial Day parades. On their way to fundraising events.