Privatizing VA care on the table for Republicans in 2016

[Free Vulcan]

Following up on a story we’ve been following, it was just four years ago when Mitt Romney chose to float a provocative idea on Veterans’ Day. “Sometimes you wonder,” the Republican asked, “would there be some way to introduce some private sector competition” into veterans’ care?
 
A spokesperson for Veterans of Foreign Wars very quickly made clear the VFW “doesn’t support privatization of veterans’ health care,” and Romney backpedaled soon after, saying he was just kicking around a hypothetical scenario he didn’t intend to pursue.
 
Donald Trump says the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health-care system is badly broken, and this week his campaign released some guidelines that would steer changes he would implement if he wins the presidency.
     
While short on details, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee would likely push VA health care toward privatization and might move for it to become more of an insurance provider like Medicare rather than an integrated hospital system, said Sam Clovis, Mr. Trump’s chief policy adviser, in an interview.

Clovis told the newspaper, “We want quality care top to bottom. If that means we have some form of privatization or some form of Medicare, we don’t see anything wrong with that.”
 
Veterans, however, tend to have a very different opinion on the matter.

Read more:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/privatizing-va-care-the-table-republicans-2016

[montanajoe]

I've been in the VA system for a long time and the care I have received is excellent. I don't dispute that there some problems in some of the facilities but scraping the whole system because parts of it might not work as well as the should seems just plain dumb.

I know from experience that the Vet's using the VA system are older and/or sicker than patients in the civilian system. There about 7 million Vets in the system dumping them into already overloaded civilian civilian  will only assure that the quality of care in the US continues to decline and more importantly the care Veterans receive will decline.

I see these proposals as a means to further weaken the military from politicians of both parties.

[Bigun]

I've been in the VA system for a long time and the care I have received is excellent. I don't dispute that there some problems in some of the facilities but scraping the whole system because parts of it might not work as well as the should seems just plain dumb.

I know from experience that the Vet's using the VA system are older and/or sicker than patients in the civilian system. There about 7 million Vets in the system dumping them into already overloaded civilian civilian  will only assure that the quality of care in the US continues to decline and more importantly the care Veterans receive will decline.

I see these proposals as a means to further weaken the military from politicians of both parties.

There is NO way the VA system can ever be fully privatized but everything that can be should be ASAP IMHO!

[montanajoe]

There is NO way the VA system can ever be fully privatized but everything that can be should be ASAP IMHO!

Are the taxpayers willing to go along with the increased cost of all health care as the result  of privatization? I doubt it. The civilian system is far more expensive than the private system. For example even a simple colonoscopy costing a few hundred bucks in the VA system is a thousand bucks or more in private hospitals. There are no cheaper ways to take care of the Veteran population than what we have now.

[Bigun]

Are the taxpayers willing to go along with the increased cost of all health care as the result  of privatization? I doubt it. The civilian system is far more expensive than the private system. For example even a simple colonoscopy costing a few hundred bucks in the VA system is a thousand bucks or more in private hospitals. There are no cheaper ways to take care of the Veteran population than what we have now.

I respectfully and STRONGLY disagree! 

[montanajoe]

I respectfully and STRONGLY disagree!

If there are going to be changes we need people on both sides who respectfully and strongly disagree, then maybe the Veterans Healthcare System could be improved. It's a complex issue with no easy answers.

[geronl]

government-owned healthcare is a failure. Imagine a system where patients are put on waiting lists and then fake waiting lists, meaning they'd never actually get care...

insanity

[The_Reader_David]

I have never understood why our veterans have been provided with an for-veterans-only analogue of the British NHS, and why anyone on the right has ever thought this a good idea.

It seems that a generally applicable insurance plan so that veterans can get health care at any hospital or physicians office they chose, supplemented by specialized facilities dealing with combat-related health problems offering treatment of physical health problems related to combat injuries, PTSD, survivor-guilt for veterans who survived or even didn't see combat but who lost close buddies, and the like, would be more useful than general purpose socialized medicine for vets, and would not need a cabinet-level agency to run.

[Bigun]

I have never understood why our veterans have been provided with an for-veterans-only analogue of the British NHS, and why anyone on the right has ever thought this a good idea.

It seems that a generally applicable insurance plan so that veterans can get health care at any hospital or physicians office they chose, supplemented by specialized facilities dealing with combat-related health problems offering treatment of both physical health problems related to combat injuries, PTSD, survivor-guilt for veterans who survived or even didn't see combat but who lost close buddies, and the like, would be more useful than general purpose socialized medicine for vets, and would not need a cabinet-level agency to run.

That's the way I see it and they deserve nothing less!

[montanajoe]

I have never understood why our veterans have been provided with an for-veterans-only analogue of the British NHS, and why anyone on the right has ever thought this a good idea.

Well, for most veterans it has worked pretty well. I think many vets have the attitude that if its not broke don't fix it.

Also, for me at least it is a culture thing, the Va hospitals remind me of the the military hospitals, they are not the luxury hotels providing expensive medical care that most American hospitals have become. The military has operated hospitals since the founding and they are pretty damn good. In my view if there is a change, it should be based more on the military health care model rather than the outrageously expensive civilian model.

[The_Reader_David]

Well, for most veterans it has worked pretty well. I think many vets have the attitude that if its not broke don't fix it.

Also, for me at least it is a culture thing, the Va hospitals remind me of the the military hospitals, they are not the luxury hotels providing expensive medical care that most American hospitals have become. The military has operated hospitals since the founding and they are pretty damn good. In my view if there is a change, it should be based more on the military health care model rather than the outrageously expensive civilian model.

Ah, but the military no longer runs the VA hospitals, they have their own cabinet-level agency now.  Brits think the NHS works pretty well, but it has parallel horror stories of waiting lists and less than serious approaches to mental health issues to those we hear from the VA.  I guess it's a question of whether it's broke and in need of fixing or not.  From what we've heard the VA is broken in exactly the same way the NHS is (which you won't notice experientially dealing with either, until you're one of the ones one an infinite waiting list or getting ignored because the issue is psychiatric rather than physiological).

[montanajoe]

I guess it's a question of whether it's broke and in need of fixing or not.  From what we've heard the VA is broken in exactly the same way the NHS is (which you won't notice experientially dealing with either, until you're one of the ones one an infinite waiting list or getting ignored because the issue is psychiatric rather than physiological).

I've been in the VA system for years and years, it's not something I've heard about, it's something I have experienced first hand. My father was in the VA system after WW2 for years until he died. If there was a guarantee it would be better and veterans would receive better care with these so called fixes then I would naturally be for them.

I have no faith that the politicians can 'fix' the VA or anything else for that matter. I'd much rather have an imperfect system that works pretty well, than some politician promising (or in Trump's case suggesting) a perfect system that probably won't work at all...