“Capitol Hill lawmakers sent letters this week to U.S. Postal Service and Department of Veterans Affairs senior leaders, demanding they take immediate action to resolve ‘significant delays’ in veterans’ mail-order prescriptions.”
“In the Senate, Jon Tester, D-Mont., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Gary Peters, D-Mich., ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, along with 29 other Democratic senators, urging USPS to ‘correct operational changes that are needlessly delaying veterans’ access to life-saving prescriptions.’”
“On the House side, Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., and Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., led a similar letter, saying they were ‘gravely concerned’ by the ‘alarming’ delays and citing Connecting Vets’ reporting.”
“Connecting Vets first reported the delays, according to dozens of veterans, VA pharmacy staff and pharmaceutical company leaders, on Aug. 5. By Aug. 14, nearly 200 veterans and caregivers, along with dozens of VA employees, pharmaceutical leaders and USPS staff confirmed that Postal Service issues are delaying veterans’ medications, sometimes by weeks.”
“The vast majority of VA prescriptions are fulfilled by mail from a group of seven massive, automated hub pharmacies across the country, the Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP) system…”
“USPS is now headed by a new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, who took over on June 15. DeJoy, a top donor to President Donald Trump, issued a memo during his first month leading USPS which mentioned the Post Office’s continued financial struggles and announced new policies, including that the Post Office would now accept delayed mail to save costs…” Read the full article here.
Source: Lawmakers demand USPS fix ‘alarming’ delays of veterans’ mail-order prescriptions – By Abbie Bennett, August 14, 2020. Connecting Vets.
