VA Outsourced and Rationed Care for 180,000 Veterans with HepC

VA to outsource care for 180,000 vets with hepatitis C
The Arizona Republic
Dennis Wagner
June 21, 2015

A VA clinician who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation stressed that department leaders "haven't told anybody how it works. They've sent out a solution with no way to implement it."

The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to outsource care nationwide for up to 180,000 veterans who have hepatitis C, a serious blood and liver condition treated with expensive new drugs that are costing the government billions of dollars.

The VA has spent weeks developing a dramatic and controversial transition as patient loads have surged and funding has run out. Those efforts were not disclosed until records were released this week to The Arizona Republic.

Instructions on how to carry out the program show that the sickest veterans generally will get top priority for treatment. However, patients who have less than a year to live or who suffer "severe irreversible cognitive impairment" will not be eligible for treatment.

That provision, and the mass shifting of patients, drew immediate criticism from veterans advocates.

Tom Berger, executive director of a health council established by Vietnam Veterans of America, ripped the VA for launching a "faulty plan" and blasted the idea of medical teams deciding which patients will be denied antiviral remedies.

"They've set up what I would call, in Sarah Palin's words, 'death panels.' ... Maybe rationalization panels is a better term," Berger said.
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