Poll: Most blame VA facility officials

Fifty-seven percent of people in a new poll blame officials at Veterans Affairs facilities for the current scandal plaguing the department. 

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday night found only 12 percent of people blame President Obama for secret wait lists created to mask long wait times for veterans’ care at facilities around the country. 

{mosads}Only 10 percent of respondents blame former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

A similar Washington Post/ABC News poll released earlier this week found most people thought Obama should not carry most of the blame. 

When asked strictly about Obama’s role in the scandal, 38 percent in that poll said he held a great dead of the blame. However, 41 percent said he deserved part of the blame. Another 20 percent said he was not responsible at all. 

Shinseki resigned last week, after an interim inspector general’s report found that 1,700 veterans who sought appointments were not included on a Phoenix clinic’s official wait list. The report found the average wait time at the clinic was 115 days.

The inspector general said Thursday at least 18 veterans had died while on secret wait lists, but it is still unclear if those deaths were caused by the long wait times. Next week, it is set to release an internal audit finding more than 100,000 were kept on secret wait lists around the country. 

Sixty-five percent of people said the VA has a history of mismanagement, while 60 percent said the department has been underfunded.

Meanwhile, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) reached a deal Thursday on a bill to address problems in the department.

The online poll surveyed 1,486 people from May 31 to June 4 and has a credibility interval of 2.9 percent.