Representatives of various branches of the Veterans Administration were at the Kenai Peninsula College last night for a town hall meeting.
Around 25 veterans showed up for the event.
“Long waits on telephones and things like that when you call the 1-800 numbers that’s the main thing in my case. Other than that, the service has been good as far as medical service and I appreciate that.
I’ve talked to somebody and they say they’re going to answer our question. He signed up last November and he’s never heard anything from the VA so he hasn’t gotten his card which he should have gotten in 30 days, that’s what they told us so we’re just here to find out why.”
Many of the participants said not enough notice was given.
Veterans Healthcare of Alaska Director Susan Yeager said that was one of a couple topics that were reiterated to the administrators who were there.
Yeager: “Maybe more fliers or more pamphlets, maybe even more radio spots, getting the word out because as you heard tonight there’s a lot of confusion with veterans on which way to go, how to get the care. Now there’s several ways, so what’s the differences with the VA Care, the Tri-West under their contract, or the Choice Act now that just started in Alaska it really kicked off in November. So the takeaway is the need to continue communication with the veterans. And the other takeaway that I heard was we really need to take a look at the whole billing and payment process.”
2,589 veterans have enrolled in healthcare in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Yeager said of those, 1,710 had actually accessed the VA medical services.