The Overwatch

Year in review: These are the 10 worst #VAFails of 2023

If you’re a faithful follower of Concerned Veterans for America, you’ve read a #VAFail or two this year.   But what is the worst of the worst?  From bullying good employees out of their jobs to actively hiding information from FOIA requests to fatal mishandling of care, it’s been a year of failure at the… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Tuesday, December 26th 2023

I left a country of limitations behind. That’s why I fight for more freedom for veterans in the U.S.

I came to this country like thousands of others, an immigrant from a communist country in search of a better life. My grandfather would come home to Cuba from Florida to visit, and I remember listening to all his stories about this free country so different from my own. As a child, I struggled with… Read more »

By Edrys Leyva
Tuesday, December 26th 2023

#VAFail: Veterans wait for care, benefits, while VA officials get bonuses they were not meant to have

A decade after the country learned about unconscionably long wait times at Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities, in some places things have not improved. Other problems also are cropping up. In Stockton, California veterans are waiting months to get medicine. A Hampton, Virginia veteran who went to the ER with chest pains — and,… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Friday, December 15th 2023

#VAFail: The VA is managing community care for unauthorized migrants while actively creating barriers for veterans seeking community care

This may be one of the worst insults to veterans since the Phoenix VA scandal of 2014.  News recently broke that the Department of Veterans Affairs is managing community care and reimbursements for unauthorized migrants while actively keeping veterans from accessing timely, quality care.  According to reports, Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with the VA’s… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Friday, December 8th 2023

#VAFail: Phoenix VA mismanages veterans’ cancer screenings, resulting in delays

If you can count on the Phoenix Veterans Affairs facility for anything, it’s that it will continue making headlines about mishandling veterans’ care.  This time, the VA delayed colorectal cancer screenings for hundreds of veterans.  Why? Because the VA didn’t pay its postage bills on time.    Timely, accurate testing is vital  Colorectal cancer is… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Friday, December 1st 2023

Two solutions for VA reform, but only one will give veterans more choices over care

Veterans Day may have passed, but we can recognize and honor veterans every day, starting with better health care.  In a recent piece in the Washington Examiner, CVA Executive Director Russ Duerstine shines a light on how the Department of Veterans Affairs is getting around the law and limiting veterans’ health treatment options:  The Department… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Monday, November 20th 2023

Have you heard these 5 myths about the Restore VA Accountability Act? Here are the facts.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a responsibility to serve and care for veterans. But too often, the VA puts its own needs ahead of veterans.  We’ve seen this play out over and over again when the VA doesn’t properly hold its staff accountable or bows to the wishes of unions over the needs of… Read more »

By Emilye Bell
Wednesday, November 15th 2023