http://twitter.com/#!/fortyXninetysix/status/405177365153988608

There appears to be a serious security flaw in the ID cards currently issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. According to several reports, anyone with a smartphone and bar code reader app can read the owner’s Social Security number.

http://twitter.com/#!/PogoWasRight/status/401860468060348416

TCPalm.com reports:

Anyone with a smartphone and a bar code app can scan any VA identification card issued since 2004 and the cardholder’s Social Security number immediately pops up on the screen.

No one from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would go on camera to answer questions.

A VA spokesperson did respond, saying they’ve begun work on the next-generation ID card, which will not contain a Social Security number.

However, it’s not being rolled out until next year.

http://twitter.com/#!/BruceDemarest/status/402500392116056064
http://twitter.com/#!/Doctrine_Man/status/406426784142745601

Until a fix is in place, TCPalm recommends that veterans “treat their current ID cards as they do their Social Security card and leave home without it, unless it is needed for a day-of appointment.”

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2013/11/29/smartphones-and-bar-code-readers-pose-security-risk-for-veterans-id-cards/

http://twitter.com/#!/kerpen/status/482692272522141696

We had expected this Friday night’s news dump to center on the IRS scandal, but instead, it’s the White House’s review of a “blistering assessment” of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

http://twitter.com/#!/cnnbrk/status/482658330868199424

The AP reports:

In a scathing appraisal, a review ordered by President Barack Obama of the troubled Veterans Affairs health care system concludes that medical care for veterans is beset by “significant and chronic system failures,” substantially verifying problems raised by whistleblowers and internal and congressional investigators.

A summary of the review by deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors says the Veterans Health Administration must be restructured and that a “corrosive culture” has hurt morale and affected the timeliness of health care. The review also found that a 14-day standard for scheduling veterans’ medical appointments is unrealistic and that some employees manipulated the wait times so they would appear to be shorter.

http://twitter.com/#!/newsbusters/status/482706739020963841

Just another “phony scandal.”

 

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2014/06/27/blistering-assessment-of-veterans-affairs-scandal-quietly-issued/

The terrible story of the Phoenix, Arizona VA’s secret waiting lists continues to cause jaws to drop:

Nineteen months of paid leave must have been considered enough “accountability”:

Two Department of Veterans Affairs administrators in Phoenix who were suspended at the outset of a crisis over delayed patient care will return to work Monday, 19 months after they were put on paid leave and given termination notices.

Lance Robinson, associate director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, will be assigned as a strategic planner at the VAs southwest regional office in Gilbert, known as VISN 18, according to spokeswoman Jean Schaefer. Brad Curry, the systems chief of Health Administration Services, will serve as a health systems specialist.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2016/01/09/unreal-phoenix-va-bosses-return-to-agency-monday-after-19-months-paid-leave/