Posted on 02/15/2016 6:45:11 AM PST by rktman
Congress is exploring a dramatic transformation of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals that would merge them with Department of Defense (DOD) facilities and treat active duty soldiers and veterans side by side.
Many veterans and lawmakers believe the VA healthcare system is in dire need of complete overhaul, and the idea of privatizing it has been increasingly popular. But lawmakers have also quietly been pondering a fix that would take it in the opposite direction — militarization.
A massive pilot project called Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago just completed a five-year trial, with seemingly positive results. The joint DOD-VA hospital now sees most patients within one day and nearly all within one month of their desired appointments, and ranks in the top five of VA hospitals in overall wait times.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
Trump effect is in FULL FORCE. They’re trying to take the issue away from him.
Whatever, as long as it gets fixed for our vets. Too bad it took Trump to get them off their butts.
Problem being bureaucrats who are primarily in it to further their own power could end up screwing up Active military care.
Some kind of card with an embedded code that, when swiped, pulls up a validation of the serial number, branch, years served and type of discharge .... “OK, Sahj ... your prescription will be ready in 20 minutes”
I’m sure this makes sense to someone, but not to this engineer.
Veterans suffer from different classes of ailments as active duty military (obviously, with overlap). It’s pretty danged rare that a military MD sees an octogenarian, with the attendant maladies that come with such a respectable age.
I’m not seeing how the political solution is a solution for the affected people.
Let them be able to choose their own doctors near home. My buddy has to travel 90 miles.
So military run VA Hospitals might sound great to some, but I think this distracts from the Military Mission of protecting the country, and now I wonder how the funding for these hospitals will occur, do they come out of the DOD budget?
Thank you for the info. right now a full colonel, Army, is getting the runaround from the Army medics as he is retiring. they are saying that he can get the surgeries he needs from the VA instead of Walter Reed or Ft. Belvoir army hospitals, AFTER he is retired. If a ‘full bull’ is getting this runaround, what is happening to the enlisted folks?
IMO, one should not have much of a care about how or by whom an act occurs .... just that it occurs
God blesses the man that doesn't strive for fame or glory .. (except in His Son, crucified)
Oddly enough the only records I had, less DD-214 and assignments, were apparently lost in the fire years ago. Other than what I kept myself like evals etc., nada.
Simple solution: Give every qualified vet a “credit card” that can be used at any medical facility in the country.Bills go directly to GOVCO.
This MIGHT be a viable solution, but my fear is that it could result in military hospitals being dragged down and becoming like VA hospitals.
IMO this will be a disaster—let the government have control over it so everything will be kept in secret from the people, not to mention poorer care, one could go one and on...
It’s not a bad idea, but it won’t be effective for years, and in fact may be a huge detriment in the intrim.
Agree. The idea that if you have a little success in life, you can't have what you deserve from the sacrifices you gave, is utterly ridiculous. This only comes from lawyers in congress that never made the sacrifices. I am of the position that DoD should be the agency caring of Vets. After all it was their decisions that got vets into the necessity in the first place. Combining The VA under DoD (under a high level under secretary) would make both agencies more accountable and make DOD take the consequences of decisions putting soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in harms way or taking risks even in training.
I just posted the article to FaceBook to spread the word there.
I hear you. The VA in Reno has improved but there are a lot of Vets that have to travel quite a ways to be seen here. Plus, they are lacking some specialists and you have to get approval(Choice Program) for to see an outside doc. Gastro guys——one. Rheumotologist——Zero. Dermo-—one.
Vets should be able to visit any doctor or hospital anywhere.
All I have are a basic photo (the one they send home when you enlist) and another (almost identical) taken in Korea a year later
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