“There are only two possible reasons why we would need a special medical system for vets. One would be to give better health care to vets, and one would be to give worse health care.”
I guarantee it wasn’t designed for the latter. When it works out that way, just remember that it’s a government run program with all of the frailties of every other government run program. I know plenty of people who work very hard within the VA system to make it work for veterans, and who are absolutely committed to veterans. When they are prevented from doing so by bureaucratic complexity and incompetence they are very upset, and very frustrated.
I’m not saying that the VA cannot and hasn’t suffered from politicians who aren’t fans of the military, but it definitely wasn’t designed with that in mind.
“I guarantee it wasn’t designed for the latter.”
Let me say that I’ve been treated good by the VA. It is hard to get an appointment and it’s inconvenient to go there though. The level of coverage you get is based on your net worth, and as a senior on medicare, medicare pays first anyway. I also have retirement insurance as well. Their coverage is crap, but that’s not part of this discussion. I happen to have a high net worth, (90+ percentile) So the VA doesn’t pay much for me...
You can also get the best of care in a hospital if you have the right coverage. Why not just issue a card to vets, and just let them use regular hospitals instead of having to wait so long?
The opposite is true... I got a letter from the VA the other day that stated that unless it was life threatening, they would not pay if you went to a Non-VA hospital. This makes no sense if there are waiting lists at the VA. That equates to substandard coverage.
I know plenty of people who work very hard within the VA system to make it work for veterans, and who are absolutely committed to veterans. When they are prevented from doing so by bureaucratic complexity and incompetence they are very upset, and very frustrated.
Yup. The doctors and nurses for the most part are good. But almost everyone in here is dumping on them for the screwups of the bureaucrats.