Why would the VA push back my surgery by roughly half a year?

Did they tell you they'd likely get to you during Jan/Feb back in August, or did they just tell you that (which means they will get to you in 2-3 months)? Could be many reasons. They want you to have adequate recovery time from your first surgery. It could be that they have a backlog that is causing delays. It could be that they are short surgeons and/or OR staff. Without being an insider within the surgery department, and/or knowing your medical history, nobody here can definitively answer your question.

With regards to them not "covering it", VA Healthcare is NOT insurance. Unless and until they set you up with community care for your surgery, they have no obligation to cover it.

I was told last week by ortho that I will not have my second hip replaced in 2025 because they have cut back on operating room nurses. I had my other hip replaced lSeptember 2023 and need my bilateral hip replacement completed.. I’m going to check and see if I can get a community care referral to the hospital across the street from the VA. I was also told that if I fell and broke my hip, I’d get my surgery sooner. Needless to say, I will wait patiently. I have no desire to have a broken hip. But they are triaging cases and taking the absolute worst cases first and hip surgery surprisingly is an elective surgery..