WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner says the Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki (shin-SEHK’-ee) resigned. Shinseki had stepped down amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays.
In a speech on the House floor Wednesday, Boehner said the VA has made little progress since Shinseki resigned, despite a new law that overhauled the agency and authorized $16 billion in new spending.
Boehner said the number of patients facing long waits is about the same, and the number of patients waiting more than 90 days has nearly doubled.
Boehner said the VA’s problems are so deep it can’t even build a hospital. That was a reference to a half-finished project in Denver that is $1 billion over budget.
