Some Are Saying The New Vets Bill Is A Sham Passed Senate

[john999]

It is like saving 200,000 GM jobs for the obvious political reasons and some good reasons, but it was corporate welfare. The VA employees about 200,000 people and that is welfare as well. How many people would it take to run a Medicare-like system? A few thousand maybe. The senate is trying its best to kill the reform the VA really needs.

[63SIERRA]

union jobs in a federally appointed system should be illegal. Its too prone to manipulation for political gain and corruption.

whats next congress gets thier own union, makes thier own rules and you cant fire them either/

Edited July 4, 2014 by 63SIERRA

[retiredat44]

If you have ever tried to call the VA you know that a regular Doc will not put up with waiting for a long time to get a low fee for their service. Also prior approval and VA having to ok everything is not going to work

I had prior approval form the va for an outside hospital. The VA sent me to the outside hospital in an ambulance. That hospital was not paid, and I had to go to fee *** (I forgot that office name at the va, I think the name is 'fee basis' ?) I received all the bills, and had to submit all the bills to the VA fee Basis office (the Fee Basis office was not an office you could walk into, only by phone, mail, and fax). The bills all rolled into my mailbox, and they rolled in for a year... the va did not pay them so they sent the bills to bill collectors... and I kept send them back to the va... This was when I was in the hospital for 6 months fighting for my life.. it took over one year for the bills to be paid. Only then did the outside hospital and doctors get off my back. and they were the ones who physically sent me there in an ambulance during an emergency when the VA hospital ran out of beds. So, the VA did not pay them until long after they tried to ruin my credit. It was hell trying to do al this while still getting back on my feet after I lost the ability to walk, eat, talk... taking 90 pills a day and morphine.. so I do not trust the va to send us to any outside doctors!

[Barbamatt]

I can see many problems with this. I am not sure how it would work...but it seems to me to put a bigger burden on the veteran. I know how TriCare has a lot of problems with providers accepting care from them....the VA card would be worse than that.

[Berta]

Notorious Kelly asked:

"I am starting to smell the elephant in the room on all this and it is the AFGE (AFL-CIO).



What I would give to find out the union's complicity in all this."

In Part:
"In 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs paid at least $11.4 million to 174 nurses, mental-health specialists, therapists, and other health-care professionals who, instead of caring for veterans, worked full-time doing union business."

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379051/while-vets-wait-va-employees-do-union-work-jillian-kay-melchior

Also
"In the VA hospital that treated Coates in Columbia, South Carolina, a nurse was paid $78,181 for working full time for the American Federation of Government Employees. In the nearby VA hospital in Charleston, a physician assistant was paid $106,369 for working for the AFGE, and two other employees worked full time for the National Association of Government Employees rather than helping veterans.

At the Baltimore VA Medical Center, where the wait to process veterans’ claims is the longest in America, six federal workers are on full-time official time. One nurse earned $96,805 and another $84,698 not to care for veterans, but to work for the NAGE. "

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-veterans-languish-federal-employees-do-union-work-2014-05-25

[Notorious Kelly]

Berta- I notice the AFGE and AFL-CIO are flying below the radar on all this.

My experience with unions suggest they may be the Primary problem veterans are facing.

Let's dig deeper.