SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government is subjecting veterans to long delays in obtaining mental health care and medical benefits, but the power to change the system rests with officials and Congress, not the courts, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday in dismissing a lawsuit by veterans’ advocates. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti said veterans’ groups had failed to show a ‘systemwide crisis’ in mental health care that would justify the courts intervening in the workings of the Department of Veterans Affairs. And he said courts lack authority to order the sweeping changes the plaintiffs seek, such as forcing the VA to make quick decisions on whether veterans are eligible for care and ordering the agency to promptly improve suicide prevention programs and mental health care. Conti conceded that evidence presented during a two-week nonjury trial in April showed that veterans had high rates of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder, and that in some cases were being forced to endure long waits for medical referrals and care. The VA is understaffed and takes an average of nearly 4 1/2 years to hear veterans’ appeals of benefit denials, and a long-range improvement plan the agency adopted […]