Sorry, Ben, you are dead wrong to put the VA under DOD.
1. DOD is about winning wars. They want weapons and weapons systems that cost in the megabucks. They will starve hospitals to devise weapons and to train our military. They are right. Generals SHOULD be concerned with winning wars. That's why you don't put them in charge of treatment of FORMER military.
2. The VA is a distinct budget. They have those who campaign for their money in the halls of Congress. If DOD were doing the arguing for money, they would argue more strongly on the side of weapons and training.
Carson is wrong.
Veterans, of all groups in the USA, should have their own special advocates, their own special budgets, and access to specialized health care.
None of this should be taken to mean that the VA is well run. It isn't. It's full of waste, fraud, and abuse. It should be cleaned up.
Who of the candidates concerned with veterans is the best at firing people and not going along to get along?
Trump
Cruz
I think it’s a good idea. The VA sucks.
Ben Carson - gun grabber and now anti-vet.
Just keeps getting better and better...
It’s not injuring vets—it’s getting them into better, mainstream healthcare.
He says that they should maintain provision of specialized care, but for most stuff vets are better off mainstreamed—not only in healthcare, but in life.
If government-provided is better for vets, it’s better for everyone—and we should have communism.
But it’s not.
It’s not injuring vets—it’s getting them into better, mainstream healthcare.
He says that they should maintain provision of specialized care, but for most stuff vets are better off mainstreamed—not only in healthcare, but in life.
If government-provided is better for vets, it’s better for everyone—and we should have communism.
But it’s not.
Which VA do you work in, xzins?
This couldn’t really be anything better than a cosmetic change, I fear.
The DOD would, in effect, be pulling the Veterans Affairs under its roof. And as pointed out, the management of this “cat-dog” agency would have inherent conflicts. I think Carson sees this as a shrink-government move but hasn’t thought through the management issues. I agree that generals don’t need, or want, the headaches. This is an issue for the civilian side of government to manage.
Ok, with very little knowledge of veterans’ needs, I do see what Carson is trying to do, and I wonder if it could be done even simpler.
What if our veterans, and our current military, were given vouchers for the best medical and psych treatment at the health providers of their choice? Obviously we would still need military doctors and providers out in the world, but stateside, why not just give them carte Blanche on our dime (I’m happy to pay) for X number of years depending on the length of service and degree of disability? I think they deserve it.
If someone is done after 4 years and has no trauma, maybe only four more years of medical coverage for free. But someone with severe trauma or a very lengthy service, I’d say give them medical care for life (within reason - no gender transformations and boob jobs).
There always will be medical centers and providers somewhere in the country who specialize in brain damage or burns or limb replacements.
It ran better when it was part of DoD.
And my the distant uncle (on the desire to sell too the Gov't as a client "healthcare" products) says:"You think SSI is ****ed up you should see the VA"
He was an honest liberal!
We all know something is wrong with the VA and kudo's to Dr. Carson to having the cohones for touching another 3rd rail of American politics.
I ask, would our Veteran's accept a Health Savings Accounts and "Direct Primary Care" contract with their primary care as an acceptable replacement to the VA, aka a VA without walls if you will ( with Dr Carson's exception )?
This country owes it vets.
Get rid of HUD, Education, IRS, EPA first.
He’s part right. Not about merging with the DOD but using the VA for certain functions and streamlining it.
Vet’s who are eligible for VA care should just be given a card so they can go to any clinic or hospital for routine services and the bill is sent to the VA. If something more serious is needed then just like any insurance; it will have to be ok’d before treatment unless there is a compelling reason not to wait.
This would reduce people working for the federal government and help the private sector. A win win for smaller government and improving services for the Vets.
As a vet who uses the VA I can see merit in some of his ideas.
We absolutely DO need a VA department.
It needs to be run by better people, who actually CARE about our wounded.
And incompetence needs to be rooted out and fired immediately.
Every government entity needs to continue to exist because there’s no way those duties could possibly be assumed by fewer agencies. I mean, take the Department of Defense and the VA. There’s absolutely no way an entity like the Armed Services could ever take care of people who served, because there are no qualified people to run such an operation.
It’s not like there are even doctors in the Armed Services, or an area that keeps track of people who ever served. Heck, there’s not even an ability to bid and pay for services rendered throughout the Armed Services or the Department of Defense/
We desperately need the VA to ensure our vets are improperly treated, as they are today.
The VA doing a good job now?
It was all established before the federal government was involved in our medical care - it was special for vets.
Now, illegal aliens are getting better services outside the VA.
Time to dump the VA and give vets the better services that are newer and more modern.
Honestly the VA should be relegated to servicing paperwork and process. Who cares what group they are under as long as us Veterans are served our due reward.
Veterans would be much better served if we can simply make appointments at ANY clinic we need to, and present our VA “Insurance Card” as payment. Let private business handle it.
No more VA doctors and nurses, no more long wait times for substandard care. No more being pushed off to the side.
“None of this should be taken to mean that the VA is well run. It isn’t. It’s full of waste, fraud, and abuse. It should be cleaned up.”
I can’t believe a conservative with any knowledge of the VA bureaucracy would think the answer is reforming the bureaucracy. I’ll readily agree that turning it’s functions over to the pentagon is pretty much the worst way possible to solve the issues, but the goal should be to tear down the bureaucracy, not reform it. It’s almost inconceivable that any US institution could spend $170 billion a year to give poor-mediocre health coverage to 6.5 million patients. That’s $26000 per patient for crappy health care service. It’d be far more efficient to shut most of the bureaucracy down and cover the full costs of a private care plan of the veteran’s choice.
V A ping.