VA goes from Biden backlog to Trump turbo
with claims cleared and clinics opened
Just the News,
by
Amanda Head
Original Article
Posted By: ConservativeYankee,
1/12/2026 8:55:11 AM
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is touting significant reforms in serving America's veterans, arguing the Trump administration is reversing Biden-era trends by increasing visits while reducing backlogs and wait times.
Collins spoke exclusively to Just The News, No Noise television show Friday and said, "It is simply that the veteran comes first at the VA.
"We put back the only reason for us to exist. We put back at the very focus of what we do, is a veteran walking through the door or making a phone call or making an inquiry. And so, when you take a bureaucratic organization that for the lot of its time and energy
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
Scrubber 1/12/2026 9:11:03 AM (No. 2053643)
My daughter, an Afghanistan veteran, uses the Wilkes Barre, PA vet hospital. She has received wonderful care there, with no problems whatsoever. Thank you good folks.
16 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
felixcat 1/12/2026 9:23:24 AM (No. 2053650)
Their Community Care program sucks. MY husband is 100% service connected disable veteran. The bureaucracy involved with getting treatment, er, just the appointment, is mind boggling and unnecessary. The veteran cannot call the healthcare provider directly but must rely on and wait for some VA employee or contractor to call the provide and then call the veteran within a date and time. And if that date and time doesn't - better be patient for a new date/time. In many ways, the VA treats the veteran as if he/she is a child and or on the verge of suicide. I speak from experience having worked at the VA for five years at their HQ in DC. And some of the worst employees are veterans themselves.
5 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DiegoDude 1/12/2026 10:05:35 AM (No. 2053666)
Since moving to PA 5 yrs ago, I was reluctant to transfer my VA file to PA, based on the b.s. I had to contend with from the VA where I lived before. That said, I can say that between the VA hospital in Lebanon and the local, VA outpatient clinic, I have received excellent, timely care.
11 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
padiva 1/12/2026 10:25:54 AM (No. 2053676)
#3 Welcome to PA.
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
hershey 1/12/2026 10:28:48 AM (No. 2053682)
Thank you Trump..do good for the VA and stuff the illegals into a planes and send them home...and a few democraps with them..
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
MickTurn 1/12/2026 12:57:56 PM (No. 2053767)
When Democraps run things one of the first things they do is TOTALLY DISRESPECT VETERANS.
SO where are the charges and PRISON for all VA employees that participated in THAT SCAM????
5 people like this.
In spite of glitches like poster #2 outlines--I have had the same experience--it is amazing what happens generally across the system when you have a SECVA who demands performance and requires that the main purpose of the DVA be the point of concentration for VA employees. The backlog of filed but unadjudicated claims, which has been truly, sometimes mortally, scandalous, has been dramatically reduced while shedding 30K DC VAHQ time-servers. Many kudos to SECVA Doug Collins and those who have fallen in step with him to make these gains.
4 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
preciosodrogas 1/12/2026 2:13:34 PM (No. 2053797)
I'm a P&T (100%) service-connected disabled veteran. I filed a back pay claim in 2013. All my evidence is from VA records. They drag it out piecemeal. The initial request for records took almost two years. It was incomplete, so I made another request, it was incomplete, and it keeps going. The vets have a name for it, the hamster wheel.
Appointments with doctors are 3-4 months or more in advance. Once I get there, the people are nice enough. Some install confidence, others not so much. Community care is a joke. The concept was great, but the execution was not so much. The idea that if you live more than a 30-minute drive from a doctor, the veteran is entitled to use a doctor in their community. However, the VA will approve the doctor and decide the treatment and the cost. A substantial discount is required, and the wait for approval is months, 3-4 or more, which has been standard. It is a very exasperating ordeal to make requests. Due to my level of disability, I am in the priority #1 group, which helps. I imagine it is worse for the other guys. The daily average number of suicides has remained high. From talking to other vets, I believe the VA's actions do contribute to that number. I have seen an effort by the VA to do better, but I haven't seen a significant drop in numbers. It is interesting to note that they trimmed 30,000 workers and instantly improve by a magnitude.
I certainly appreciate what benefits I receive, and I would jump at the chance to serve again. I am grateful, and so is my family.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
chumley 1/12/2026 4:18:34 PM (No. 2053864)
Overall I'm not unhappy with it, but for the last year or two every appointment I make will be cancelled within a week of the appointment and rescheduled, and if an appointment needs to be made outside the VA system they will forget to make it at least once. But they sure smile a lot and thank me for my service.
1 person likes this.
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