Steven Zimmerman, Reporter, New Mexico

The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking Congress for a substantial budget increase for 2025 but is also looking to decrease its overall healthcare workforce headcount through attrition. The VA is asking for $369.3 billion in fiscal 2025, a nearly 20% increase from enacted spending levels.

Randy French, United States Army (retired), knows firsthand about the Veteran Administration and their overspending on unnecessary or currently nonrequired mobility devices issued to veterans.

We spoke to Randy French about his ramp and what he needed.

Randy French was issued a lift chair, a recliner that helps you go from sitting to standing, in 2015-2016. Over time, the chair began to develop problems, such as the remote shorting out and the lumbar support cushion going flat. Issues that come with time and regular use.

Mr. French went back to the VA to see what the steps were for having the chair replaced.

“This was well over a year ago,” says Mr. French. “I started this process, and it’s gone back and forth, and… a guy did a home assessment.”

Little did Mr. French know, but the home assessment was not for a replacement chair.

After about a month, the VA called Mr. French to come in for a test.

“Finally, I get called in to sit on a scooter and do a test drive on it,” says Mr. French. “And I’m kind of like, why? And they said because your doctor ordered one.”

Mr. French continued questioning the Veterans Administration about why they had issued him a scooter, a scooter rack for his truck, and an aluminum ramp that bisects his front yard. The chair, Mr. French says, allows him total mobility on his own, while the scooter can’t even fit through his front door.

“They did the home study,” says Randy French. They know what my home looks like. I can’t maneuver the scooter around inside my house. There’s no room to park it. I mean, it’s literally crazy.”

When we visited Mr. French at home, we were beside ourselves as to how the VA felt all of this was necessary and would give him added mobility.

Did Mr. French tell the VA he didn’t need all of this? He did, but the response was lacking.

“Kind of got a deer in a headlight look,” says French. “I mean, it’s comical If it wasn’t so serious. The lady said, well, you know, your doctor ordered it.”

The Veterans Administration in El Paso remains a one-star facility. The lack of transparency and communication between veterans and VA staff leaves much to be desired. You can’t, for example, get a straight answer from your doctor, even if you are lucky enough to have more than a few seconds with them.

Non-medical staff are even worse. Mr. French continued to request a new lift chair. While he was still fighting for that chair, they began issuing him unneeded mobility devices. After everything was installed, Mr. French was told they no longer issued lift chairs because they were trying to cut costs. Or so say the vocational rehab department staff.

Let’s look at that cost reduction:

The scooter lift for his truck, about $2,700, retail.

The 20-foot aluminum eyesore of a ramp is $3,200 to $5,400 on the high end.

The Pride Mobility scooter he was given has a retail price of $3,284.

The cost of replacing the lift chair would have been $750.

In the collective mind of the Veterans Administration staff, spending $9,184 is a cost-saving measure, whereas spending $750 on a chair would break the VA’s budget.

So, while the Department of Veterans Affairs asks Congress for a substantial budget increase for 2025, it is also looking to decrease its overall healthcare workforce headcount through attrition. The VA is asking for $369.3 billion in fiscal 2025, a nearly 20% increase from enacted spending levels.

Maybe, just maybe, if the VA hired qualified and licensed doctors and listened to their patients, they might save money and provide better services simultaneously.

Maybe, but we may never know. We did contact the Veterans Administration, but no response was received as of publication. We will update this article should the VA decide to respond to our questions. Not surprising, as the public information officers were reduced under attrition.