Veteran's Health Care

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  Posted by Jimmyacorn September 16, 2014 - Filed in Personal Journal - 1,238 views
  

   

   

  With the recent VA scandal has come the push for private sector medical care for Veterans. While there may be a number of inherent problems in doing so, opponents (OMB) have over-estimated the cost; as their way of thinking has assumed that all Veterans should have an open door to private sector care (at government expense).   That mind set comes from progressives (Liberals) who want the measure to be an emergency where the costs be added to the national debt, a tool to keep us all under the thumb of government. Conservatives on the other hand want the final bill paid for; naturally at the expense of other programs.   With their (Congress) inability to come up with a viable plan Veterans will continue to suffer.

  Another concern is that the Veterans Administration would lose managed control over patient care. But I have to tell you from personal experience that the VA doesn’t “manage” Veteran health care, they simply “control” it; thereby using Veterans to exploit tax payers. God forbid relinquish control of our lives.

  The most recent audit of wait time concluded that it is caused by a shortage of doctors.  For whatever reason, and I have my theory, being a doctor under the thumb of the federal government may be as bad, if not worse, than being a private physician having to deal with Medicare regulations, Obamacare, and insurance companies. 

  More doctors seeing more patients is not the solution. “Managed” care, informative care, and some degree of hope that you are truly getting the best care would be a good start. Without managed and informative care the Veteran is left to decide when he wants to die; only because he doesn’t know what to do and he feels abandoned.

  I have a solution which includes guidelines for receiving private sector medical care. The main thing is to get the government out of the doctor business. Obviously we can’t just shut down the VA and turn everyone lose in private sector. But we can open up one or two states to the private sector in order to actually see the results of the independent variables, (“wait times”, level of care, and costs) instead of meaningless projections by meaningless, dollar-signs-in-the-eye bureaucrats.  

  So who would be entitled to private sector care? Disabled Veterans receiving disability benefits would be the place to start. This alone would ease the wait time at VA facilities for other Veterans and/or dependents. It’s just a suggestion but it’s at least a step. One step is better than months/years of debate.

  Though I’m not in the best of health, I am not a horror story. I use the VA for my health care. That being said, I’m sure glad I’m not a horror story because I truly believe the VA health system doesn’t care; the system, not the doctors. They are what they’ve been programmed to be. The best I can say is, “detached”.