DOGE closed shop last month (July, 2026).

I was just on the receiving end of wasted taxpayer money. Small, in the overall scheme of things, but multiply it by the number of instances and it adds up.

Specifically, a company that is contracted by the VA -- Optum Serve -- is coordinating my appointment with a VA contractor for medical benefits.

They made an appointment for me, that's fine.

What is not so fine, is the package that was delivered by FedEx this morning. A bunch of paperwork just confirming the appointment, giving directions to the facility, etc.

Everything in that package could have been send by email, but Optum Serve chose to spend the money to send it by FedEx. Total waste of money!

And God forbid if you don't want to sign up for their "portal" to get information.

I have made a few complaints over the years to the VA regarding Optum Serve and their inability to actually perform an examination. Went in for a COPD claim (presumptive condition for Desert Storm vets) and the nurse practitioner didn't listen to my lungs or have me perform a pulmonary function test; nor did she ask any relevant questions regarding symptoms, onset of symptoms, quality of life issues, and so on.

They seem to think offering a C&P exam that is three hours away is totally okay, but they have a provider an hour away, and a truck/semi-trailer that makes rounds to within 30 minutes away.

VA itself does the same thing. Also, every damn letter contains a page or two of shit about different languages and sexual harrassment, etc. Every prescription comes with a stack of paper, each page with my data on it I have to shred.

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:

They seem to think offering a C&P exam that is three hours away is totally okay, but they have a provider an hour away, and a truck/semi-trailer that makes rounds to within 30 minutes away.

More foolishness: the appointment that they made for me is with an audiologist in a neighboring city. There are several approved audiologists closer, in the city where I live, but Optum Serve is sending me further away.

The documentation in the FedEx package stated that they would automatically (no need for me to submit a request) send me a check for travel at 41.5¢ / mile, so they're gonna pay me six or seven bucks of taxpayer money to go to this appointment.

I am truly happy that the VA is serving its clientele, but that sure is wasteful.

Thomas Sowell iirc described the hierarchy of financial efficiency. The most efficient is spending your own money for yourself. You want the best match for your needs at the best price. There are intermediate permutations, then the least efficient is spending other people's money for another group of other people. You neither care about suitability of the product nor the cost.

I had a CMP in a city about 3 hours away, in a VERY tony town in Oldham County, KY. I asked the ENT, who evaluated my hearing, why I was sent there. He told me that he was the only ENT within the northern part of the state with the equipment needed to properly evaluate my hearing. I kind of believed him, as we didn't do the traditional "push the button" test, but something that did not depend on my responses. At any rate, they pay 42 cents a mile both directions and there was a really good pizza parlor in town.