As Investigations Show Falsified VA Waitlists Existed For Years, the American Legion Steps in to Help Veterans Get Needed Healthcare

With Peter Gaytan, Roger Noriega, Diana West, Gordon Chang

American Legion Executive Director Peter Gaytan describes the rush to help veterans after the VA’s secret waitlist scandal came to light—and the effort to fix the systemic problems that made such a crisis possible in the first place.

“When you have VA employees at every level who are able to manipulate records in order to qualify for bonuses—as opposed to actually inputting that information for appointments so veterans can seek care, so veterans can receive care—you know that the problem is system wide. And we’re seeing that through these investigations and the IG report.”

PETER GAYTAN, Executive Director of the American Legion in DC:

• Full extent of the Veterans Affairs scandal, and evidence showing that DC officials knew about the secret waitlists as far back as 2010
• Efforts the American Legion is taking—some jointly with the VA—to assist veterans who have been unable to get medical appointments
• Fixing the root of the problem by removing the 14-day appointment requirement, and instituting a temporary program that will allow veterans to seek non-VA healthcare in order for the VA to work its way through the backlog of patients

ROGER NORIEGA, former Ambassador to the Organization of American States:

• Security concerns due to a surge of illegal aliens crossing the US’s southern border
• Impact of Colombia’s recent election on the government’s conflict with the FARC
• An update on the continuing unrest in Venezuela
• Riots in Brazil over the high cost of the World Cup

DIANA WEST, author of “American Betrayal”:

• Recent developments in Iraq–should the United States get involved?
• The immigration crisis on the southern border
• Critiquing a theory that the video-maker blamed for the Benghazi attack was an employee of the US government

GORDON CHANG, Forbes.com columnist:

• China’s vital energy interests threatened by instability in Iraq—with growing energy independence, how much focus should the United States give to swiftly resolving the Iraq violence?
• Implications of continued hostile economic behavior by China towards US companies
• 
Chinese fears of a strengthening Japan-India alliance
• International reaction to the Tiananmen Square Massacre’s 25th anniversary