"The person in charge"

Question:

Jim why would it take so long to get ChampVA card. I submitted the required information in April and am told they have everything but to call back in 30 days that they are still working on submissions from January. I've been told the same story every 30 days. Would love to get the name and number of the person in charge.

 

Jim's Reply:

There is no 'person in charge'. This is your federal government and for any given action you may name, there is no single person who can be held accountable for that action. The worker bee would refer you to a non-existent supervisor where their voice mail was full. That person's boss is on leave for an unnamed medical condition and their boss is in DC for meetings this week. If you want to get the real boss you have to look to Congress and talk with them.
 

CHAMPVA is terrific health insurance once you're settled into using it. My wife has had CHAMPVA for 20 plus years and it's as good as it gets. Getting to that point may take a while and for sure it takes a lot of patience. 
 

The CHAMPVA offices are probably representative of how short-staffed your overall VA is today. To get anything done requires that you spend hours on the phone and learn how to use a fax machine. Believe it or not, much of the operational efficiency there relies on a dated fax machine and if you'll begin to fax messages, you may get a quicker response.
 

Never express anger or frustration at a CHAMPVA contact who may be trying to help you. They're in a bad spot as your VA is so very short handed...it seems not many young folk are flocking to work at VA these days.
 

Keep at it...be patient, it'll be worth the wait and frustration. Good luck.