Posted on 06/18/2014 4:13:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
They don't care."
As Obama administration officials pivot like haywire jewelry-box ballerinas to divert attention away from the nationwide Veterans Affairs disgrace, a reader who has been fighting the system urged me to urge Capitol Hill and the American public to stay focused.
This former Special Forces soldier and medic served his country for 25 years. He worked in the health care field managing military field medical clinics. "I know how health care is supposed to run, even in austere or low-budget environments," he says. And in his nightmarish, ongoing experience, the VA is an epic, deadly, monstrous failure. He minces no words: "They're getting billions of dollars, and they treat veterans like s-t. There's no accountability, no buy-in, among civilian unionized employees. We mean nothing to them. It's like going to the DMV for your health care."
Over the past four years, the veteran tells me, he has been under direct VA care for two major line-of-duty-related injuries, including one combat-related injury. One of the medical centers that treated him -- or rather mistreated him and maltreated him -- is the Coatesville, Pa., VA. It's the same facility where four vets died due to medical malpractice, leading to nearly $1.4 million in settlements to vets' families, according to The Center for Investigative Reporting.
The harrowing cases included two fatal failures to monitor patients, improper management of a psychiatric patient, and wrongful diagnosis or misdiagnosis of a patient.
These details are all too familiar to my reader. "I have been misdiagnosed, had a missed diagnosis, and had delays of care lasting months," he says. "My records have been lost, changed, split and mismanaged." He has experienced firsthand the same "slow-walking" of care that millions of other VA patients have encountered and scores have died from -- a systemic modus operandi of "lie, delay, deny."
The vet gets a catch in his voice as he relates a horrible anecdote. After refusing to return to the Coatesville facility and seeking treatment at another VA clinic one day, he became nauseous. Instead of allowing him to lie down on a gurney, a nurse made him vomit outside so he wouldn't soil the bed. He believes the office was open not to treat patients, but as a front for nurses to pick up extra shifts. He has encountered similar degrading and condescending treatment across the VA system.
When he appealed for help and advocacy within the system, the veteran was met with a stone wall of "Not My Job"-ism. Through denials of care, contraindicated medications, repeated mistakes and delays of pharmacy items, he endured callousness, humiliation and stigmatization. "When I get angry, they call me 'crazy.'" Classic blame-the-victim tactics from the VA abusers.
Big Government politicians want to throw more funding at the VA, as usual. The veteran offers a scathing reality check: "There is ample money to address the needs of American veterans," he says. "The problem is far deeper and more dangerous than just secret waiting lists. The VA almost killed me; my health is worse now than it was when I entered care; my quality of life and living conditions have been nothing short of horrific as I have waited years for adjudication of my benefits case, which in the end was botched."
Again, the vet refuses to candy-coat the roots of the festering VA scandal: "The problem is not just waiting lists. It is utter fraudulent expenditure of enormous budgets, not on veterans, but on overpaid lazy, surly civilian employees that often make it clear that a) they do not like veterans and b) that the veteran is actually a nuisance. The problem is endemic, at every level, in the VA. The unfortunate fact of the matter is this: Veterans have become incidental to the process at the VA."
The system is "an enormous cash cow, warehousing tens of thousands of overpaid employees" who "keep the gravy-train rolling." The vet has a plea on behalf of all of his brothers and sisters who are drowning in the VA's "lie, delay, deny" abyss:
"Please, don't let this die."
CORRECTION: In last week's column, I erroneously stated that ProgressNow was responsible for an attack ad against Colorado GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo. The ad was sponsored by Protect Colorado Values, a separate Democrat-linked outfit.
I can feel your negative energy thru the computer. Try (yeah, I know...), try to refocus the sh*t into something positive, or at least less sh*tty.
Welcome to modern Amerika.
Military Waste and Fraud Continue In the Middle of the Government Shutdown HERE IS YOUR PROBLEM : PALM GREASING
Washington’s Blog
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/wasted-military.html
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1
THIS IS THE NEXT SCANDAL to hit, it will not be apparent for several months, as we are still working on the first batch of 90 day scripts. Very cumbersome procedure. 2 wks for a ES fill or refill. Base if it has your meds will fill withing 24 hrs, but refills come out of Pensacola, FL for the TN area. 5 days for refills.
Tricare Life (Ret Military over 65) NO CHOICE BUT TO COMPLY. Only exception is a antibiotic, a 1 time script, or pain med for surgery. Other wise you pick up 100% of cost of your Daily Meds. 4/14/2014!
DOD MANDATE is forcing us to use either Base whose drugs are limited by size of base and is not wheel chair or handicap friendly or Express Scripts MANDATED Tricare Life. 4/14/14. Express Scripts is a sorry excuse of a provider. You never know if your order is right, what generic, what manufacture, they will over ride a DAW script at their whim or what country. All stuffed into your mail box UN PHOTO ID SIGNED FOR, making them available to thieves and meth makers to steal. Or Neighborhood kids to access.
READ THE COMMENTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO ALLOW THEM ACCESS TO YOUR BANK OR CREDIT CARD INFO.
Express Scripts Accused Of Defrauding State And Consumers Out Of Millions Of Dollars
http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/express-scripts-accused-defrauding-state-and-consumers-out-millions-dollars
NY attorney general sues Express Scripts, Benefits firm accused of inflating prices, keeping up to $100 Million
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5601076/ns/business-corporate_scandals/t/ny-attorney-general-sues-express-scripts/#.U381ECh7SMQ
Express Scripts Extortion Scheme Widens
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/09/express_scripts_breach.html
Express Scripts complaints
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/express_scripts.html
ES Customer Service ranking
http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Express+Scripts
Express Scripts RIP OFF
https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/express-scripts
ES buys out Medco
29 Billion
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20120402/NEWS/304029961
Senior Vets should be shot
http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/va-supervisor-older-veterans-should-be-shot-in-the-head-to-save-money
1. You can’t fire anybody, no matter how much harm they cause.
2. All you can do is add to staff when able.
What could possible go wrong?
I’d put the tard to sweeping floors all day.
I raised 2 boys by myself, after walking out on their abusive dad for a decade. I ruled. No kid was ruling me. Both are hard working Men today. Just wish I’d had the means to send them for higher ed. No pell grants back then. My youngest hated school, is a hands on learner. But he learns, and does a good job. Constantly complaining about the lazy dem minorities who do less than half the work he puts out and most of it badly done. He can build you a metal cabinet in just a couple of hrs start to finish, not sloppy either. Only thing he doesn’t do is the paint jobs.
I could just strangle this kid. Someone needed to kick this kids’ butt. He’s going to find out if he don’t knock it off! I am trying to not snap. If I had to look at the fat little know it all every day I would have snapped already. But he comes in as relief two days and works weekends.
Ultimately one’s work must be offered to the Lord. If it is offered to the god of self congratulation ultimately that god will stumble some day.
There is an extremely effective radical solution but it requires we all set aside our pride. It is spelled as accepting the Holy Spirit of God given by the Lord on account of what Christ Jesus has done. No government can do it. Nobody can force you to do it against your will. It must be chosen. And no it is not "follow a list of rules." You believe in the ten commandments? Good. What are you calling on Christ to do in your life?
Good points. We’re seeing the effects of having God stripped from public discourse.
And He’s well aware of who’s turning their backs on Him. And there will be Hell to pay. The current state of “society” being a small taste of what’s to come.
And even more, from private recognition. Even people who are believers are yielding to pressure to be nominal about it. Whatever short term gains that gets, the long term result is tragedy.
People are damning themselves for eternity. How else can you look at it?
By damning God out of their lives, they leave themselves without any other choice than a life full of hell.
Or if believers, they are weak about it; they do not appreciate the power that can be had in the name of the Lord to bring goodness to humanity. In one sense, liberals are right to be wishing well to all humanity... but they are looking to the quintessentially wrong source to effect it.
They’re always pressuring me to switch my husband to Express Scripts, “for convenience.” He has multiple health issues, so he has about 18-20 different prescriptions, which are continually changed by his various doctors. I keep track of them in a spreadsheet. I cannot imagine the nightmare of trying manage his prescriptions through the mail.
The same could be said about the entire federal government and most state governments. With unions it is even worse as they are totally in the bag for the Democrats who want to keep the system rolling as it is and make it even bigger and more bloated and they have the unbridled power to do so. One feeds off the other.
It's worse than a leech colony unleashed in a blood bank.
“...“Are we a nation of selfish, Godless, apathetic, corrupt, ignorant, a$$holes?”...” and “...I see why most of the world hates Americans....”
Hmmm... I’d say No. Not a “Nation of”.... But - the Hollywood face, the television face, the media face that the worlds sees, yes. And invariably, I’d say it’s the liberal face that they see, since they dominate those venues.
I’ve not traveled the world; but I’ve been around many parts of this country, and one constant I’ve noticed.
Most people just want to be left the hell alone. Most people just want to live their lives, pursuing their own life, liberty and happiness, without interfering with other folks rights to do same, and they want as little governmental interference as possible - from ALL levels of government (local, county, state, federal).
I believe that this is part of our human nature, and applies to most people in other countries too. They love their children, weep when they lose a loved one, struggle to pay the bills, are concerned about keeping the electricity and water running and food stocked up. They cry when their dog dies, laugh at a good dirty joke, they’re happy when the daughter or son gets married, they love good food and a fine beer or wine, and they celebrate the birth of a grandson or granddaughter...
And they bitterly resent when some one - ANYONE - messes with any of those things and tries to tell them HOW to live, WHAT to think, WHAT to believe, what they can and can’t own, think, feel, love, hate, say, do, etc.
And the other constant is that no matter what city, state, country you’re in, there’s always a small group of complete and utter assh*les determined to MESS with ALL of those things you love and hold dear, and invariably, they are drawn to power and the means to wield it. And they do.
How different is your average Iraqi father and mother, wanting the best for their children, from a father and mother in West Virginia or Pittsburgh PA, wanting the same thing?
Or an elderly retiree in France or Macedonia waiting on his or her pension check, trying to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer from the same in Cleveland Ohio?
We’re all held hostage by lunatics, ultimately. I’ve always said that ALL governments suck; ours just sucked a little less than others for a lot longer. It was only a matter of time until that same psychotic ideology got control of ours.
I’ve worked with people from all over the world over the course of my life - Vietnamese, Laotian, Polish, German, Rumanian, Estonians, Ukrainians, Russians... EVERYONE of them just wanted to be left the hell alone to live and have a chance to be the success - or the failure -that they have the right to be.
So no, we’re not a “Nation of...” but we have a GROUP OF people who are, as every country does, and they are a miserable waste of oxygen, life, and deserve nothing but contempt for the misery and conflict they create for everyone else. And they need to be resisted and fought by every means necessary until the knock it the hell off.
Some day, people will wake up and push back. All over the world. And make those miserable creeps who won’t leave them alone wish they had...
Naive? Yeah... maybe. But it doesn’t change the way I see it.
My two cents, anyway.
You’re good! You’re good! Amen.
Not a “Nation of”....yet. But it’s getting there and this POTUS is accelerating it. Real Americans see this.
“Most people just want to be left the hell alone.” AMEN! But, like I posted earlier, “they” exist and have to be dealt with - they can’t just STFU and keep to themselves. You can only isolate yourself so much and then it becomes: “Why TF should I shut up? THEY’RE wrong!”
“Some day, people will wake up and push back.” Since “they” are pretty much in control of everything and there’s no way “they” will relinquish power, it going to have to be taken away. And we’ve seen proven ways how to do it. And that’s the type of grotesque, but effective effort it’s going to take to defeat “them” permanently.
America is worth it. To me, the end would justify the means.
“...Real Americans see this...”
More and more every day. And that is a good thing.
“...“they” exist and have to be dealt with -..”
And in the grand, immutable scheme of karma and nature, they will be. It’s inevitable. Life is a wheel. Goes round, comes round. The ironic thing is, it’s BECAUSE they are who they are that it will.
“...America is worth it. ..”
You betcha.
Same page, brother.
IF you are not TRICARE LIFE it does not apply to you. BUT if you are it is a DOD MANDATE! With that many meds having to pay 100% for them would wipe out your income.
We deal with about that many between the 2 of us. All of mine I can get at the base. Only 2 of his has to come from ES. They just stuff $600 3 months of Whelcol in our mailbox. But the one from my Gastro is about due, I called them for a paper script to be mailed to me. ES does not have me in the system yet. And the base does not carry Linzess which is a fairly new drug.
My stuff changes too, I an allergic to so many, I see a ENDO, GASTRO and the PCP. I have 1 script each from the specialist. The ENDO I see more often, as I am hypothyroid. And I have to watch what meds I take as the interfere with the Synthroid. That is a DAW name brand. I have NO guarantee, that even base reorders will be DAW name brand. But at least I can inspect and refuse those. My script is still good at my private pharmacy if I run into that. When I see the ENDO I will have to get a new one to have on file at the private pharmacy. Might have to pay full price for it, but I am allergic to the generic.
Biggest way to get rid of him is CUT his hours to 1 day or 4 hrs a week cleaning toilets. He will soon find greener pastures. Others will have to pick up the slack until you can make it happen.
What ever you do don’t touch him, you will be the one in trouble behind bars, while the turd is smirking.
I’ve worked with turds like that. So does my youngest. But he is not boss and they can’t fire minorities easy. They just don’t get a good pay raise, while Chris will get the $2 raise.
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