On Thursday night, the top English and Spanish broadcast networks made no mention of the latest surrounding the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal as an Associated Press (AP) investigation found that the number of delays for veterans seeking care has not improved as the scandal approaches its first anniversary.
In the article, the AP’s David B. Caruso reported that “VA statistics show that the number of patients facing long waits has not declined, even after Congress gave the department an extra $16.3 billion last summer to shorten waits for care.”
According to Caruso:
Nearly 894,000 appointments completed at VA medical facilities from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28 failed to meet the health system's timeliness goal, which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days. More than a quarter of those appointments involved a delay of longer than 60 days.
Since the summer, the number of vets waiting more than 30 or 60 days for non-emergency care has largely stayed flat. The number of medical appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled.
Those delays were not spread evenly throughout the VA's vast network of hospitals and clinics.
Many occurred in a handful of Southern states, often in areas with a strong military presence, a rural population and patient growth that has outpaced the VA's sluggish planning process.
While English-language networks ABC, CBS, and NBC combined with Spanish-language networks MundoFox, Telemundo, and Univision, the Fox News Channel (FNC) program Special Report with Bret Baier did cover the troubling development in a news brief.
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Host Bret Baier stated the following in a 25-second brief:
A year after Americans learned of massive delays for veterans at VA health care facilities, the Associated Press says things have not gotten better. AP reports since last summer, the number of medical appointments delayed 30 to 90 days has stayed flat. The number of appointments delayed even longer has nearly doubled. VA officials cite efforts to build both capacity and staff at their facilities.
The transcript of the brief that aired on FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on April 9 is transcribed below.
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
April 9, 2015
6:22 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Veterans Affairs Scandal; No Improvement Backlog]
BRET BAIER: A year after Americans learned of massive delays for veterans at VA health care facilities, the Associated Press says things have not gotten better. AP reports since last summer, the number of medical appointments delayed 30 to 90 days has stayed flat. The number of appointments delayed even longer has nearly doubled. VA officials cite efforts to build both capacity and staff at their facilities.
