Why do vets get the shaft so badly just to get their health benefits?

Question

According to the news more vets returning from Iraq are from rural areas.Some have to travel hundreds of miles to get to a Vet Hospital.Why hasnt the government abolished those places and given the Vets who gave their all for our country the equivalent to an insurance card good at any hospital? 1.It would be closer access for them and their medical needs. 2.It would be a better standard for our ailing vets for recieving healthcare. Anyone else have anything to add?

Answer 1

The problem you speak of is just one of the millions of reasons I cringe when people start talking about universal health care.

Seriously, if you want to see how universal health care will be run, take a look at the VA. Actually, I expect that the VA is even more efficient than any universal system could ever be for a few reasons, including the sheer numbers.

And this is how we should solve our problems?

In my opinion, you're onto something. And as for the issue of it being cheaper to do it the way it is now, what's been suggested is no different than what Medicare does. You mandate that the doctors accept what the VA is willing to pay; end of story.

On the other hand, I suspect the real problem is that the branch of the VA that handles health care is being used as an investigative unit to some degree. In other words, they aren't modeling the health care division after Medicare (where you can see any provider for a set price) because they need to be able to test for things that may have nothing to do with the reason the patient came in. (Anyone remember Agent Orange?) They might have to accept responsibility for things like that if they allowed civilian medical staff to run those kinds of tests. But internally, they can run the tests and still keep a lid on it.

There's also the problem of sheer inertia. Once something gets funded and created by the government, it's almost unfathomable to abolish it. And most particularly when there's a political hot-button issue involved.

Answer 2

It's partly because the American people don't see the difference between veterans getting the benefits they were promised when they volunteered and welfare, and partly because we don't have an Al Sharpton to drag out a Tawana Brawley to explain why America owes these heroes anything, and mostly because we just elected a congress too stupid to understand why taking care of the people that made it possible for such zeroes to get elected is even important.

Answer 3

because it is cheaper to let their people treat for less money than to send to any doctor who has their own rates