John Kerry: “there are now nearly 200,000 American veterans today who are forced to wait at least 6 months for their first visit with…”

“there are now nearly 200,000 American veterans today who are forced to wait at least 6 months for their first visit with a Department of Veterans Affairs physician. Despite having served their country and been promised health benefits, these veterans are receiving deferred and rationed health care because of chronic underfunding and bureaucratic red tape. It amounts to a broken promise with men and women who have served in our armed forces. To help ensure that our veterans receive the care they need and have been guaranteed, today I am pleased to introduce the Veterans' Prescription Drug Reform Act of 2003. Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program are entitled to a prescription drug benefit. This is an essential benefit given the importance of pharmaceuticals in health care today. However, there's a bureaucratic catch: the benefit only applies to prescriptions written by a VA physician, and there are nearly 200,000 veterans who now wait 6 months or longer for their first visit with a VA physician. For those veterans in need of medicine and waiting months on end to see a VA physician, the benefit has little value.”