Maine Highlands News

The VA Maine Health Care System, subsidiary 402HB in Bangor, Maine scheduled 10,701 pending appointments in March compared to 11,896 during the same period last year, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments this March, 9,907 had a wait time of 30 days or less (92.6%) and 794 appointments (7.4%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019, reported that wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar or better to wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 cautioning that the VA's data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who do not have service-connected disabilities and earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA Maine Health Care System - 402HB Appointments Scheduled in March 2020 vs. March 2019

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled in March 2020	Total Appointments Scheduled in March 2019	Percent change in number of appointments
402	Augusta	31,555	37,544	-16%
402GA	Caribou	646	826	-21.8%
402GB	Calais	678	264	156.8%
402GC	Rumford	578	576	0.3%
402GD	Saco	1,429	2,069	-30.9%
402GE	Lewiston	3,018	3,426	-11.9%
402GF	Lincoln	230	405	-43.2%
402HB	Bangor	10,701	11,896	-10%
402HC	Portland	2,896	2,900	-0.1%
402HL	Bingham	226	265	-14.7%
402QA	Fort Kent	25	24	4.2%
402QB	Houlton	19	37	-48.6%

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration