August 14, 2020 10:45 a.m.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio and House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs Chair Mark Takano, have urged Department of Veteran’s Affairs Chair Secretary Robert Wilkie and United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, to rectify reported delayed deliveries of medication to veterans in the wake of operational changes at the United States Postal Service.

A release from DeFazio said the two House of Representative committee chairs are concerned by reports from veterans and VA staff indicating that wait times have doubled or even tripled in some cases, without explanation. They said that they are alarmed that these reports come in the wake of the implementation of USPS’s new operational standards and said, “…this is completely unacceptable”.

A release said approximately 80 percent of VA prescriptions are fulfilled by the mail. In fiscal year 2019 alone, the VA’s mail order pharmacy processed 125.2 million outpatient prescriptions, according to the release.

The release said in July, PMG DeJoy enacted significant operational changes to the USPS that severely curtail measures local postmasters use to ensure consistent and prompt delivery assistance. In addition, last week DeJoy directed an organizational overhaul of USPS, displacing dozens of senior executives charged with the day-to-day operations of the agency. Since these changes took effect, significant delivery delays of veteran’s medications have been reported by both veterans and VA staff, according to the release.