Yellowstone Times

The VA Montana Health Care System scheduled 42,528 pending appointments across its 17 locations in May 2020 compared to 45,685 the same month the previous year, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments in May 2020, 36,237 had a wait time of 30 days or less (85.2%) and 6,291 appointments (14.8%) 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 to or better than wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 that cautioned 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 one of eight priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Location	Total Appointments Scheduled in May 2020	Total Appointments Scheduled in May 2019	Percent change in number of appointments
Fort Harrison	13,718	14,724	-6.8%
Miles City	281	794	-64.6%
Anaconda	1,377	1,789	-23%
Great Falls	3,325	2,744	21.2%
Missoula	5,871	7,031	-16.5%
Bozeman	1,387	1,593	-12.9%
Kalispell	4,521	4,376	3.3%
Billings	4,623	9,524	-51.5%
Glasgow	207	253	-18.2%
Glendive	215	201	7%
Cut Bank	181	181	0%
Lewistown	171	423	-59.6%
Billings	3,990	14	28400%
Havre	344	340	1.2%
Hamilton	1,161	386	200.8%
Plentywood	32	14	128.6%
Helena	1,123	1,298	-13.5%

Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration