Trump team is about to screw up health care for 75,000 veterans a day

Thanks to the Trump administration’s push to privatize the VA health care system, 75,000 military veterans are about to have their health care services chaotically disrupted — every day.

The U.S. Digital Service conducted an independent review of a software tool about to be deployed by the Trump team, which revealed major problems with the program. The review recommends scrapping the software altogether, ProPublica reports.

The software is supposed to determine which medical services veterans qualify for. If the program malfunctions, as the report indicates is likely to occur, veterans will be left in the lurch while they need medical care.

The new system is tasked with integrating data from six separate VA systems, but those connections are not ready yet. The lag in connecting all those systems is likely to lengthen each appointment with VA doctors by five to 10 minutes, creating a ripple effect that would exclude 75,000 veterans from treatment every day.

“By suggesting that VA’s planned IT solutions are inadequate, and that VA has not given itself enough time to develop a workable system, this report raises real concerns that implementation may be delayed and could even disrupt healthcare for 75,000 veterans every day,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, in a statement.

The faulty system and its implementation can be traced directly to Trump and his underlings.

ProPublica, which broke the story by obtaining the U.S. Digital Service report, noted that the VA’s IT division “was led by a Trump campaign alumnus” for most of 2018 while the VA was without a permanent IT chief (one finally joined in January).

That Trump crony also worked with the “Mar-a-Lago Three,” three friends of Trump’s and club members of his Mar-a-Lago resort who held improper influence over VA policy.

Together, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago cronies pushed the VA toward privatization — and toward the implementation of the flawed software system.

Congress is currently investigating the VA and how Trump’s friends were given a wide range of unaccountable power over the system.

Trump professes to be a supporter and advocate for veterans and the military. But on a vital issue for them, their health care, he instead did what he always does and gave his cronies and underlings free reign to screw things up for their own profit.

Veterans will be hurt, and face delays in their health care. That could lead to further sickness and even unnecessary deaths.

Once again, Trump is throwing veterans under the bus.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.