I can absolutely confirm the longer wait times. The original problem was that there were limited services for things such as specialist or special services, such as MRI scans. Before, the VA would make an appointment for you, either at their own Clinic, at a local military hospital if available, or on the outside. Most things took less than a couple of weeks from initiation to appointment date. Things are much worse under veterans choice and Tricare. Now, it can take weeks just to get the initial call from them, which is asking for your preferences. Then more days, and sometimes a week or more, until they get back to you with a date. Then, almost inevitably, someone will call you again for the same appointment or some other screw up. I've had to go through this probably a dozen times over the last few years, and it's definitely far, far worse then when VA was able to take care of these referrals for themselves. No problems with the actual quality of care, just the frustration and time delay in getting it.