At least 40 veterans died while waiting on secret lists at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, a deliberate criminal scheme that kept as many as 1,700 veterans off official records to inflate reported wait times and protect bonuses. Veterans were forced to endure waits of up to 115 days or longer for basic primary care, a systemic failure that continues to claim lives more than a decade later.
The deadly failures persisted into 2025, with two veterans taking their own lives at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio while attempting to secure mental health care. In April 2025, Navy veteran Mark Miller, who had battled depression and anxiety since leaving service 19 years ago in 2007, killed himself at the facility. Miller, co-author of Suicide Stalks the Sniper, told his father during his final visit that staff were "just like robots handing out pills, poisoning our people." His father, Dr. Larry Miller, explicitly stated, "I lay the blame on the VA system and the psychiatrist who drugged him instead of helping him."
Just five months later, in December 2025, Marine Corps veteran Enrique Ramos Jr. called emergency services from the same parking lot, declared his location and intent, and then ended his life. Both men perished at the very doorstep of the institution mandated to provide them care, highlighting a profound betrayal of those who served the nation.
Elite Priorities vs. National Needs
While veterans face a system riddled with neglect, "Democrats in Washington" have articulated a different priority: leveraging the VA as a blueprint for nationalized health care. Progressive influencer Ezra Klein has endorsed Phillip Longman's book, Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care Would Work Better For Everyone, calling it one of the most important social policy books of the last decade. This push for a centralized, state-controlled health system emerges even as the existing nationalized model demonstrates catastrophic failures in caring for the nation's own. The focus on expanding state control over health care, rather than fixing the immediate crisis of veteran deaths, reveals a profound disconnect between elite agendas and the urgent needs of the native population.
In stark contrast to this vision of expanded state power, two legislative proposals before Congress aim to restore accountability and ensure basic care for veterans. The Veterans' ACCESS Act guarantees timely VA care or the immediate right to seek outside care at no extra cost when the VA cannot deliver. The Veterans' Bill of Rights Act requires the VA to plainly inform veterans of their existing rights to health care, benefits, and community care options. These bills are presented not as mechanisms to dismantle the VA, but to force the existing national institution to fulfill its fundamental obligations to the people it was created to serve.
The People's Demand for Accountability
The public's demand for reform is unequivocal. A new poll conducted by Veteran Action and Rasmussen Reports indicates overwhelming support for these measures, cutting across traditional party lines among the voters most familiar with the VA's systemic failures. Ninety-four percent of respondents back the Veterans' Bill of Rights Act, signaling a broad consensus that veterans must be fully informed of their entitlements. Furthermore, 75 percent of those polled stated they would be more likely to support a congressional candidate who champions the Veterans' ACCESS Act, demonstrating a clear popular mandate for immediate and effective care.
Veterans played a crucial role in securing Republican victories in 2024, and their continued engagement could determine the outcome of the 2026 midterms. While military voters gave President Trump 60% support, the generic Republican congressional ballot currently stands at 57%. This three-point disparity, according to analysis, could be decisive in key districts, potentially determining control of the House. Republicans, therefore, cannot take the loyalty of this vital segment of the native population for granted. Candidates who prioritize and lead on these critical issues of veteran care and accountability will earn the essential support of those who have served, while those who fail to address these systemic betrayals risk losing both veteran backing and their electoral seats. The choice is between serving the nation's own or continuing a path of managed decline under centralized, failing systems.