Veterens Health Care ID Card Snafu? Anyone with any info?

(Important on edit update: fellow DUers A-Schwarzenegger and pinboy3niner have the whys and wherefores in their responses, please read their links. I will leave this OP up for our fellow Vets who may not already know about this material.)

Veterans participating in the VA Health Care system are issued ID Cards. I am now on my third card since first starting in the program a couple of decades ago. Last summer I applied for a new card, mine being old and in need of up-dating. Usually we waited only a week before the new cards would arrive by mail but this time there is some sort of snafu. When a month went by I went back to the VA Hospital desk where I applied for the card and was given a number to call and a STRONG suggestion to call it to voice a complaint. I was not told why this needed to be done just that it was what we should do if we had any complaints. When I asked if anyone else was having this problem I was told that ALL of the applicants for those cards were having that problem.

When I called the number given I got a recording instructing me to leave a name and number and that they would get back to me. They got back to me in a day informing me that the problem was a technical glitch that should be cleared up in a week or so. A month more went by and still no card in the mail so I asked at the VA Hospital application desk again. This time the person I spoke to informed me that all of my info was still stored in their data system but NOBODY had received a new card in months. Last week I tried there again and got the same story.

Those cards are highly useful to us vets. They work pretty good as a secondary form of picture ID, one I have put to good use at my bank. If it lists a disability the card is good for discounts at many places, I've used mine at Home Depot/Lowes for a 10% discount often. For those with 100% disabilities it gets the Vet into on-base Commissaries and Base Exchanges. Mostly though it is our primary ID at Veterans Hospitals handed over as ID at the pharmacy and at pretty much every single reception desk we go to.

It's getting on close to 6 months and still nothing. I have looked around online and I found nothing regarding any snafu surrounding the issuance of our VA Health Care ID Cards. So what is up? Does anyone here know what the snafu is?

Bestest song with goats.

Who will be in Super Bowl 49?

Who do you predict will be in the next Super Bowl? If this thread generates enough interest, it is my intention to repost it the week prior to Super Bowl 49.

My prediction: The second ever repeat: Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos.


FWIW, at the end of Super Bowl 47 I predicted Seattle and Denver to be in Super Bowl 48 but that prediction was made only among friends. This time, I want to be scoffed at by more than just my friends.