Reps. Gabbard and Guinta Team to Prevent Veterans Administration Bonuses Without Performance

Statement

Representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Frank Guinta, a Democrat from Hawai'i and a Republican from New Hampshire, respectively, introduced the Veterans Administration Bonus Elimination Act today to help ensure timely delivery of care to United States military veterans.

Their bill denies bonuses to senior Veterans Administration (VA) executives, who fail to ensure that veterans receive care within 30 days under VA guidelines.

"It is unconscionable that senior VA officials are rewarded with bonuses, while hundreds of thousands of veterans across the country are still facing major delays in receiving the care that they need and have earned," said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02). "Even after the VA scandal in 2014, veteran wait times have increased. In October 2015, the VA said there were nearly 500,000 veterans who were waiting over 30 days to receive care. The fact that the systemic problems within the VA that created this situation continue to persist is deeply troublesome. Those who are responsible for ensuring our nation's veterans get the care and services they need should be held accountable, not rewarded for their malpractice. This bill is a step forward in repairing our veterans' trust."

"Bonuses should be rewards for quality work, completed on time," said Rep. Guinta (NH-01), "but revelations of secret waiting lists and subpar care tell a different story about some VA facilities. Even after a nationwide scandal and legislation to fix the problem, securing an appointment remains difficult. The bureaucracy only reluctantly embraces reform. Our bill puts pressure on the VA to meet reasonable goals that Congress instituted by law."

"We should show the same commitment to U.S. military veterans that they have showed our country."

In 2014, whistleblowers at several VA hospitals revealed that employees often manipulated waiting list data to collect performance bonuses. Over a 10-year period, more than 300,000 vets may have died before receiving their appointments, according to reports. A Senate investigation directly linked almost 1,000 deaths to long wait times.

In Hawaiʻi, veterans experienced the longest wait times in the country, averaging 145 days -- almost five months -- for a simple primary care visit. According to VA guidelines, vets should wait no longer than 30 days for an appointment. An internal audit found that over 120,000 vets waited at least 90 days, even after the scandal broke. That same year, the VA paid $142 million in bonuses, ranging from $500 to $13,000, to employees.

"New Hampshire has one of the highest veteran populations in the U.S. but no full-service VA facility or military hospital," said Rep. Guinta. "Granite State vets must travel far and wide to seek care. Congresswoman Gabbard and I teamed to introduce this simple measure to help them and other former military members get the service they deserve -- on time."

Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act to provide more doctors, staff and VA treatment centers, as well as to expand the VA Secretary's authority to fire poorly performing employees. However, after 18 months and billions of dollars, the number of veterans on waiting lists has grown.

Rep. Gabbard is a major in the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard and a veteran of two Middle East deployments. She is a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees. Rep. Guinta, Manchester, New Hampshire's former two-term mayor, is a member of the House Financial Services Committee.

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