3 Major Vet Orgs fight Choice

[Berta]

(hope links work-I am in high wind alert and will probably lose electric power any minute now---)

 

“Disabled American Veterans (DAV), American Legion (Legion) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) spoke with the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees yesterday. During their respective presentations, each warned about “excessively outsourcing” medical treatment for veterans.”

“According to DAV head Garry Augustine, “The bottom line is, if you open up choice to anyone, and they can go anywhere, it will eventually drain resources from the VA.” He continued, “The VA will eventually whither on the vine.”

( Yeah, the vet orgs might whither on the vine..(I think their VA office space is free)....the Choice program could save lives.

http://www.disabledveterans.org/2017/03/02/veterans-organizations-reject-veterans-right-pick-get-care/

This is very concerning to me, because I get news on a Google alert often every day of malpractice issues against the VA. The figure below does not count the potential 50 Million this vet could get:

https://www.theglobaldispatch.com/veterans-medical-malpractice-case-against-va-begins-12049/

But the VA is fighting this case aggressively.

 

 

 

“The number of medical malpractice payments balloons to 2,483 when you look at all malpractice payments made on the VA’s behalf between 2012-2016. The total amounts to $554.19 million.”

 

http://wncn.com/2017/02/28/veteran-dies-after-medication-error-at-nc-va-hospital/ http://wncn.com/2017/02/28/veteran-dies-after-medication-error-at-nc-va-hospital/

.

[Gastone]

The Vet Choice Program has been working great for me.

Semper Fi

[MikeHunt]

Those organizations are spot on. Once everyone starts going private, the VA system is dismantled- then they will decide that's too expensive and nix it all.

There's tax evader think tanks plying every angle to minimize their contributions- you can bet they have their eyes on the VA.

And to be very clear, anyone who thinks - or implies- it's only the VA where poor care can occur, is a plain fool.

[Prettypantha]

Same here @Gastone!

[Carl the Engineer]

I believe in the free market along with the guaranties that were promised.  I know it's an anamaly but that is the way I think it should be.

That said, there are great VA clinics and hospitals and terrible VA clinics and hospitals.

A true Choice program would make bad clinics and hospitals clean up their acts or they would close.

To say we must keep the good and the bad so we don't lose them all is a terrible way to operate.

Competition is the key, without it you get what we have now, bad VA clinics and hospitals.  It can take years to get rid of bad VA people, but I have seen doctors fired in one day from civilian hospitals.  Big difference when your job is on the line.

I like my VA hospital (Iron Mountain) very much, but don't go there a lot, so can't say what everone else thinks about it.

FWIW,

Hamslice

 

 

[broncovet]

I agree with Berta.  Veterans need a choice.  They deserve the BEST medical care, not necessarily the inferior care offered by VA.    If the VA offers substandard care,  and too many Veterans opt for the private sector, this will mean VA will need to raise its level of care to the private sector, or get dismantled.  I say the VA needs to raise its level of care, the competition between VA care and private care would be a good thing.  

Runners, in training, often like to train with another runner.   Its hard to tell how he is doing if there are no other runners.  Iron sharpens Iron.  The competition is a good thing.  Its sadly lacking at VA, along with no accountability.  

We get to choose where to buy food.  "The government" does not tell us

"You have to buy your food at THIS store".  Health care is even more important, why should we be forced to choose inferior health care, when good care is available in the private sector?

Its true that VA medical care may well "loose" to the private sector, and VA may even have to scale back, at least until the VA level of care gets on par with that of the private sector.    If that happens, so be it, this just means that the private sector is more efficient at providing care than the government.  

It would force the VA to stop squandering billions of dollars, and instead, compete like everyone else.  

Hospitals compete with each other.  You even see ads for some hosptials.  I know, because I have a relative who works for a hospital whoose job it is to get more patients, often transferred from other hosptials, where the patient is not getting acceptable care.  Hosptials often claim to be "non profit".  Dont be fooled.  These hospitals are there to make money, and hospitals that consistently loose money run out of cash and are closed unless somebody "props them up".  

The VSO's want the "status quo" because their jobs are tied to it.  The VA is broken, and the status quo is unacceptable.  

The big reason is VA simply squanders too much money.  Private health care providers can not squander 3 billion on hospital cost over runs.  

Edited March 3, 2017 by broncovet

[john999]

I agree we should be able to choose our own doctors for treatment of at least SC conditions. The VA as it is now is a buggy whip company in the car age.  Just make them hospitals for those that need  inpatient care.    The thing is the VA can booby trap Choice by low balling reimbursement rates for services.  They already do this with dental.   They would not pay the dentist that did work for me his full price.  They gave him a hard time about every cent he claimed and called him and me liars regarding my treatment.    This was some years ago.  I think if the VA has a hand in real choice for vets they will create a program like Medicade  where imbursement rates are so low no doctor will want to participate and then they will say "See, doctors just don't want to treat vets"!   Yeah, if they get paid Medicade rates or even Medicare rates no psychiatrist will participate.  Psychiatrists get paid about  $90 an hour  just for med checks and Medicare pays them much less than half that amount. To make $200 an hour they must see a patient every 15 minutes.   Same with clinical psychologists where Medicare does not even pay half of what the psychologist  normal charge.  A psychologist will not see you for $75 an hour in 2017.  My private shrink charged $225 an hour but he accepted the OWCP rate but not Medicare of Blue Cross.

Overall,   we need real choice with no booby traps or built in planned failure.  Some other agency besides the VA should establish reimbursement rates for a VA Choice program because the VA will kill it on purpose because if people had a real choice the VA would lost about 75% of their staff.  The same would go for the VSO's who get free space at the VA and do nothing.  The VSO's get space at the VARO as well as VAMC.  As far as I can tell they are so in bed with the VA they might as well be the VA's company union.  Have you read Letters to the Editor in VFW or DAV magazines?   90% praise for the VA and the VSO's.