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Mr. President,

The following is not an attack on you-just a guidepost...

Why is it that Veterans don't always get their claim decision letters?
They can't file for an appeal without those to base it on.

Why is the choice program so flawed?
Why are providers not being paid in a timely way?
Many veterans are having problems because of this.

Why do some VA hospitals have only one surgeon to do shoulder replacements, (waiting time is months- a year? some vets never even get a phone call after their consultation) forcing vets into the choice program which is either being sabotaged or innocently run the wrong way.

Why aren't veterans requiring insulin getting insulin pens instead of having to use the old method of loading up a needle from the stuff in the fridge?

Why is taxpayer money being wasted for (and I'm not making this up) a privacy officer...
And why the waste spending money for ink printing employee time paper and postage to send a letter to remind a veteran of an appointment- which get this...is printed and mailed the same day as the appointment?

And lastly (and it may just appear this way) does it seem like the claims of many Vietnam Veterans are being (imo) incorrectly denied.
Forcing them to file NODS that can and do take years (which many of the vets will never live to see)

Sometimes their illnesses are just chalked up to old age and no one looks further than that, instead of the connection to the Diabetes they've had for years (which is service connected due to Agent Orange), isn't that age discrimination?

Lastly I want to say that it is a pleasure to see your portrait hanging in the VA (although they sure did take their time putting it up)
It seems like everyone is trying hard to make you as ineffective as possible.
Well I voted for you so they'd better get over it.

ps-The VA at FT Monmouth NJ never should've been closed, and the doorways in the VA's I'm visiting are too narrow for wheelchairs.
Not much help to a disabled vet who can't even walk...

Regarding Agent Orange—if any of you have served in Vietnam or otherwise been exposed to Agent Orange make sure your VA provider knows this and that it is clearly documented in your record. The different VA facilities handle the Agent Orange matter very differently—some much better than others. I work VA contracts for research, and we were actually told NOT to annotate in the patient demographics if a vet or physician reported Agent Orange exposure, if it had not already been annotated. Not sure of the reason. Suspect the worst.