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Morning Briefing

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Tuesday, Apr 14 2015

Full Issue

'Astounding Price Tag' For VA Hospitals, And Costs Still Rising

A $1.7 billion hospital being built in Colorado is just one of several Veterans Affairs construction projects that are far over budget and behind schedule, according to the Government Accountability Office. Meanwhile, VA continues to be flooded with reports from whistleblowers and there are concerns that children of military families are missing important vaccines.

There are hospital doors at the half-built ­Veterans Affairs medical center outside Denver that were supposed to cost $100 each but ended up ­running $1,400. There’s a $100-million-and-still-rising price tag for an atrium and concourse with curving blond-wood walls and towering glass windows. And entire rooms that had to be refashioned because requests for medical equipment changed at the last minute and in other cases the equipment didn’t fit. No one had bothered to measure. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 4/13)

The number of whistleblower cases reported at the Department of Veterans Affairs remains "overwhelming," a year after a scandal broke over chronic delays for veterans seeking medical care and falsified records covering up the delays, a top federal investigator said Monday. Carolyn Lerner, head of the independent Office of Special Counsel said complaints of waste, fraud and abuse — as well as threats to the health and safety of veterans — continue to pour in, even after Congress gave the department an extra $16 billion last year to shorten waits for care and overhaul the agency. (Daly, 4/14)

Military children may be missing out on important childhood vaccines, researchers reported on Monday. A check of their medical records shows many are either missing vaccines, or they are missing the records to show they had them. Either way, it's not good, says Dr. Angela Dunn, who led the study, published in the journal Pediatrics. (Fox, 4/13)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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