WASHINGTON — On Tuesday Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee, responded to the news that Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald compared VA health care wait times to lines for amusement park rides. According to news reports, McDonald said to reporters Monday, “When you got to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important? What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience?”
Chairman Johnson afterward said this:
“For many veterans, the wait for care is a matter of life and death. It can’t be compared to a day at Disney World, and Secretary McDonald ought to know that. We owe our veterans, the finest among us, the best possible treatment and care. When veterans must wait so long for care that they risk dying of neglect, we are failing them. My committee will continue to work so that veterans do not have to suffer from the VA’s bureaucratic failures.”
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