The phrase “Over my dead body” doesn’t really apply to the VA.
According to a leaked internal VA document, the Department of Veterans Affairs processes pending healthcare benefits so slowly that one third of veterans have died waiting for care that never came.
Flip to page 13 to find the numbers in unequivocal black and white. In April 2015, the VA’s backlog stood at a staggering 847,000 veterans. Of those stuck in that perpetual hospital waiting room, 238,000 veterans were already dead and buried.
Scott Davis, a VA employee and whistleblower, sent copies of the document to the House and Senate committees that oversee the VA and sent letters to various policymakers.
Davis told the media that the VA has no system for weeding out healthcare applicants who have already passed away. Essentially, if there is a deceased veteran ahead of you in line, the VA will try to serve the dead guy first. The VA will still serve them before you because it has no way of knowing if an applicant is dead or alive.
In the VA’s eyes, all applicants are Schrodinger’s Veteran.
There are also 34,000 combat veterans stuck in waiting list purgatory despite being granted five years of guaranteed eligibility for VA health care.