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The exaggeration of 40 to 1 doesn't help. Is the VA mismanaged sure. The question is do we fix it or just abandon it as I suspect maggie is promoting here in this thread. Abandon it and you think the government is done, can wash its hands of the Veterans and there will be no bureaucrats all of a sudden - seriously? That won't fix anything except to make the already overburdened public health care system more rationed for everyone. And wowza...who you think's going to do the rationing? You've already seen radical leftist on these every forums have no trouble letting people head off to hospice rather then be cared for.
Can the civilian system handle an influx of millions of veterans?
Maggie, I am going to hit on this one more time real quick.
Now let's all think about this. Can somebody please explain the logic here for me?
We have a Cabinet level department, that has been horribly run and in serious trouble for denying individuals the medical treatments they are mandated to provide, and then try to hide this face.
And what is the Government going to do about it? Why, give them even more hospitals and facilities that they can administer just as badly, giving them larger budgets and more personnel!
This is like something straight out of a Lewis Carroll novel. Now imagine this happening in any other Cabinet level position.
Hey, DOT, you have not done any maintenance and aircraft are falling out of the skies. So I am going to give you 4 new airports to administer the same way.
Hey, BLM, you are letting the National Forests burn up with lack of fire prevention measures and millions of Federal land is now sitting fallow instead of being used by ranchers and farmers. So we are going to increase your staff by 5% in the hopes you can stop that.
Hey Treasury Department, our currency has sunk to worthless, in par with the Mexican Peso. So let's build you 10 more mints so you can churn out even more!
Money is not the solution, it is excising the rot of the system and replacing it with one that mandates results and responsibility. Otherwise you might as well flush that $25 billion straight down the toilet for all the good it will do.
Can the civilian system handle an influx of millions of veterans?
Actually, I am being rather generous there I think. The ratio in the VA between Medical and Non-medical staff is likely much closer to 100 to 1.
Remember, this is a Cabinet level bureaucracy that does a lot more then handle medical needs. Housing loans, student grants, educational benefits, pension checks, dependent checks, veteran funerals, maintaining veteran records, the list simply goes on and on and on and on.
Everybody keeps concentrating on the hospital system, but I see the entire organization as broken. From the weenie who keeps throwing my request for enlisted records for the last 7 years into the trash, to the non-medical administrator that fudges paperwork to make them look better when it comes time for their annual review.
However, a good and thorough house-cleaning can do wonders. Nothing will ever completely fix it, but getting rid of a lot of the bad administrators and putting in place a system to ensure that all complaints are handled will go a long ways.
And if your department gets to many complaints that are not resolved, then it is time to clean house in that department. Like in Military Records.
Funny how some random civilian can file a FOIA and get a record brief of somebody in a couple of weeks, but it takes years for a veteran to get their own DD-214.
Thank you, Oozle. Yours is one of the very few posts that speaks to the real problem.
that would actually require us allowing the buracrates the ability to enforce policy without being chained up by excessive legalese meant to keep bureaucrats from using powers.
What makes you think that would happen in the first place?
Only a small percentage of those who served are eligible for any kind of VA medical care in the first place.
And secondly, where do you think we get our medical care otherwise? Last year I had an accident and broke my wrist. Where do you think I went for treatment? Certainly not the VA. Not only would it have taken forever, but I am not eligible for that kind of care from the VA. So I went to my civilian doctor, like 99% of veterans do.
The VA only has to treat around 5 million veterans. And they can't even do that right.
Only 5 million. You say that as if it's a small number. So if they treat 5 million veterans for everything from PTSD to hip problems then why would that not be expected to have any sort of an impact on the whole of the civilian care system?
In a nation with a population of over 318 million, 5 million is miniscule.
Why are you trying to break it down to numbers? It's 5% of the population so it should be no big deal?
Actually, I am being rather generous there I think. The ratio in the VA between Medical and Non-medical staff is likely much closer to 100 to 1.
Remember, this is a Cabinet level bureaucracy that does a lot more then handle medical needs. Housing loans, student grants, educational benefits, pension checks, dependent checks, veteran funerals, maintaining veteran records, the list simply goes on and on and on and on.
Everybody keeps concentrating on the hospital system, but I see the entire organization as broken. From the weenie who keeps throwing my request for enlisted records for the last 7 years into the trash, to the non-medical administrator that fudges paperwork to make them look better when it comes time for their annual review.
However, a good and thorough house-cleaning can do wonders. Nothing will ever completely fix it, but getting rid of a lot of the bad administrators and putting in place a system to ensure that all complaints are handled will go a long ways.
And if your department gets to many complaints that are not resolved, then it is time to clean house in that department. Like in Military Records.
Funny how some random civilian can file a FOIA and get a record brief of somebody in a couple of weeks, but it takes years for a veteran to get their own DD-214.
Do you have any evidence that VA hospitals somehow treat patients cheaper than the private sector? If I'm not mistaken, that's what you're saying. Should we have special hospitals for people suffering from leukemia? Diabetes? Heart failure?
If you're asking me if veterans deserve to be treated as special cases, the answer to that is yes. If you want to know why, visit Arlington National Cemetery or any other military cemetaries. Check the ages of those buried there.
That's why they deserve special treatment.
Are you actually equating care for those with leukemia or diabetes with the hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens dead in the prime of their life because we, as a nation, decided to send them to war?
I agree, I don't see why veterans shouldn't be able to get privatized medical care instead of having a separate system. They can have certain hospitals in certain cities that specialize in treating certain injuries like shrapnel wounds and fly people in if they need it, in other cities veterans could see their local doctor. Although I don't think enrolling people in the AHA will be the same because plans have deductibles and copays, but they can have a voucher system or create a plan that would be accepted in private medical care.Think about it. Why do we have veterans' hospitals? Are not private sector hospitals good enough? Why not simply enroll veterans in the AHA? Depending on a means test, all veterans could be entitled to an "X" subsidy, resulting in many of them receiving it completely free.
Why not?
The clinic I've been volunteering at is small. Staff is about 55 people and there are 3 clerical, and the admin on site is an RN. Not one admin here other then the clerical hasn't got some kind of education be it mental health or medical.
Unfortunately, there are many bad people who try to fake being a veteran. People buy and sell medals, and people can have "veteran ID" cards to get discounts or what ever.
That's my point. They are fake. But your old joe at home depot may or may not. And what is he going to do? yell at a potential Vietnam war veteran? He could just be be old with a bad memory and forgot his actual identification. Trust me- I have seen commercials advertising to veterans to get there cards 'veteranified'. To tired right now to explain how.
Veterans' healthcare and other bennies is a perk of the soldiering job established with the first colonists, and widened and improved on ever since.
The veteran's hospital system was created by Lincoln.
True but the Modern VA didn't come around until the 1930's.
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