If the U.S. military and veterans’ health care system needs an emergency overhaul — which it does, according to a new report by a presidential commission co-chaired by former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala — the Bush administration and Congress must find the resources and political will necessary for reform, our Friday editorial argued.
At a time of hyperpartisanship in Washington, D.C., the veterans’ care scandal at least has brought political foes together on one point: Those whose time in harm’s way has left them needing medical treatment must not have the insult of penny pinching and bureaucratic bungling added to their injuries.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
-
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in. -
Contact us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Chas on Open thread 7/20
- beber on Open thread 7/20
- Regular on Open thread 7/20
- Pages tagged "winning" on Winning message on personal responsibility
- cosmos_originally on Gore wants carbon-free electricity production
- cosmos_originally on Gore wants carbon-free electricity production
- WSClark on National Guard still lacking equipment
- WSClark on National Guard still lacking equipment
- SquarePeg on Open thread 7/20
- WSClark on National Guard still lacking equipment
22 Comments
I stopped going to the V.A. Med Centers as soon as I got ambulatory.
It is a very odd place that is overladen with contractors, a lot of whom are foreign decent. It feels like you are in the 7-11 ward of medical care. Some are better than others and some not so good.
Plus, it doesn’t help that career civil servant nurses and staff get an attitude on just about everything.
It is convenient if you have minor ailment, but for serious injury they need a lot of improvement.
We need to switch to a national health plan as soon as practical and then the VA will be absorbed into that system.
I read so many great stories about how the omniscient government wisely runs health care for veterans. I can’t wait until they make it illegal for me to see anyone else.
I have a request for all subsequent posters…please be sure to note your personal experience with the VA health system so that everybody will have an idea as to whether you are completely full of shit or not.
I have been dealing with them since I took one for the team in 1971. I know three things.
1. My medical care from then until know has been great…and that includes the care I have received in really big metro market VA hospitals as well as the Dole/Wichita facility. I give them a B.
2. The system is chock full of jerks and bureaucrats on the VA side (who can make the process difficult) and jerks and morons on the patient side (who are too stupid to understand how the system works. These are the same boneheads that when they were in the Army did not know right from left…and anybody who was ever in the service knows who I am talking about). When these two groups collide chaos ensues.3. Yes the system does need constant scrutiny, better management and more resources. Yes the system is chock full of foreign born and trained doctors who are damn difficult to understand. Well guess what…you figure out a way to communicate. (Not too many Harvard Medical School grads are clamoring to work for the VA so deal with it.)
It’s an imperfect system to be sure. I have no doubt that there are real problems, but it’s not as bad as the media has made it out to be. And without a serious funding injection you can bring in Bob Dole and Donna Shalala til the cows come home and nothing will change.
Perhaps medical care for Veterans is one of the social programs that should be done away with.
An all volunteer armed services can buy health insurance like anyone else.
Soldiering is just another job/occupation and should be treated as such.
OK, I will abide by the requests on this post:
VA experience:Once, due to injuries on a USMCR drill, I had to report to the VA, since no Corpsman or Medic was available. That was 29 years ago.”Why are you here?” asked an irritated nurse.”I don’t know, you are the nurse, that is why I am here, to find out what is wrong with me!”You have to be direct and demanding with government workers. Often, they respect you more if you know what you want and insist on it, rather than expecting them to counsel you on all of their services.—–More recently, I have sent several clients to the VA for their prescription program.—-More recently still, I have been trained, by a private company, to sign up some Veterans for the Improved Pension Benefit, a benefit that is hard to qualify for if you are not in an Assisted Living Facility or a Nursing Home.—-Kev,I do think that private health care systems could absorb some of the functions of the VA.Heck, even Medicare uses private contractors for billing purposes and claims purposes.However, you have turned the world on its head, in your comment that some, as of yet unknown, UNIVERSAL system will take over VA needs.It won’t happen.The Vets will be worried about being left out.Politicians will tar and feather anyone who proposes sending Veterans to regular hospitals, on the government tab, even if the treatment is better.”Joe Sleezemore wants to shut down Veterans Hospitals” the TV ads will say.
“Universal Coverage” is a pipe dream.
The VA, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and dozens of other VA service organizations will fight any attempt to cut the VA programs or merge those programs.
The “Part D” prescription program actually PROJECTED that some Veterans would drop VA coverage and opt for Part D, instead. That alone generated outrage and some political attacks, and it was nothing more than a projection!
RVN 71 Cal 75,
I noticed you didn’t give any specific visits or reasons so we can’t tell if you are relating a story or relating a “story.”
I can give one incident. I had some spine problems, soft tissue and nerve damage which could only be seen via cat scan.
On a periodic physical at the V.A., I was seen by a Physician of some persuasion from India I think. Anyway, I go over the same medical details that I’ve been over a hundred times before and including on my Medical Discharge physical. (fifty percent disabled due to trauma injury.)
So, what does this “Doctor” do? He schedules me for an X-Ray to confirm I have these conditions. I told him that they couldn’t see tissue tramua (crushed discs and torn muscles) on X-Ray very well and had to do a Cat Scan. He didn’t listen.
So, I come back six weeks later and a new Physician is assigned to me, which is an Arab I think, don’t recall his name or perhaps Iranian. He looks at the X-Ray and finds no tissue damage. I said, “yeah, that’s what I told the first Doctor, that they won’t see anything with an X-Ray.” He told me that the V.A. doesn’t have the budget for a Cat-Scan and the record entry would have to remain as is.
So, my spine problems get worse and I put in for additional percentage as I can no longer walk with out wrist canes. The percentage increase is denied because “nothing was found on the X-rays.” Duh!
I put in an appeal, but they lost the paperwork, so had to apply again. They came up with the same answer and I asked the VFW guy if this is common practice, “He said yeah, We volunteers try to help, but some of these claims can take years.” I shook my head and left, vowing to never return to the V.A. which I did only once but again was misdiagnosed.
I told the Physician of my symptoms, light-headed, feeling of confusion, tired and my back hurt all the time. This one was from Pakistan I do believe, something Afanstisanni or whatever spelling. Anyway, he sends me for another X-ray and schedules me for a bio-feedback session because he thought they might be “panic attacks.”
My symptoms didn’t get better, so I paid for a private Physician to see me and he did blood work and told me I had diabetes! I had gone for a year without proper diagnosis and feeling like crap.
It was at that moment I said “screw the V.A.” and enrolled into Tricare Prime and got some additional insurance from Mutual of Omaha and another carrier for catastrophic medical expense. Cost me a pretty penny, but at least now I get very good medical care.
RVN 71 Cal 75,
This is a public forum. You get to have an opinion. By your standards if you are not a women you can’t speak about those issues. If you are not poor you can’t talk about welfare.
Most importantly to you, if you haven’t used a VA hospital you can’t talk about it. I suppose that would include all the staff at that hospital. Do you think they would use their own services or go somewhere else? Do they send their children to the VA hospitals? Or are they ‘full of it’?
It is convenient if you have minor ailment, but for serious injury they need a lot of improvement.
Posted by: Kansas
Aren’t you one of those Republicans that believe in taking care of yourself? Why do you go to the VA for a minor ailment? Just go to your primary care physician and pay for it yourself - or is the government agency of VA good enough for you but no others?
Perhaps fred when I joined the military they told me I would get free medical care for life. The Democratic Congress in the 1980s changed that and screwed millions of Veterans.
When I got injured and disabled I found myself because of my military service out their in the medical wilderness.
Now I buy my own medical insurance because the people of the U.S. broke their promise to me.
WoMay I offer you some French cheese, monsieur K?
Now I buy my own medical insurance because the people of the U.S. broke their promise to me.
Posted by: Kansas | July 28, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Welcome to the real world Mr K.
Or, there’s a sucker born every minute.
I see the Democrits are back to using trolls in spite of their hatred of it.
I wonder why Tom is speaking out on this?
Maybe it’s because he’s doing it along with CapnAmerica who has trouble logging in on his TypePad account.
“Perhaps medical care for Veterans is one of the social programs that should be done away with.
An all volunteer armed services can buy health insurance like anyone else.
Soldiering is just another job/occupation and should be treated as such.”
The VA treats service related injuries. And if you work for any employer and are injured on the job, you are entitled to the same from your employer.
The sooner we get to a universal public health system in the USA, the better off everybody including veterans will be. We can do away with the dual system of VA health care and VA hospitals and they can go to the same doctors and hospitals everybody else uses. And if they need an MRI or a CAT, they can get it.
The VA treats service related injuries. And if you work for any employer and are injured on the job, you are entitled to the same from your employer.
Exactly. Worker’s Compensation covers work related injuries and would also be there for government employees like soldiers.
Turn the va hospitals into nursing homes for the general public.
I worked in the VA system. Take the idea of “We want to do our best to help you.” Unfortunately, the “system” doesn’t allow this.
I met a veteran who was a member of “Pappy” Boyington’s “Black Sheep” Marine air group that conquered the South Pacific. A veteran of the Spanish-American War. A WWII vet nursery-owner who introduced Kentia Palms to the U.S, now ubiquitious in hotel lobbies and found in millions of homes. My great uncle, a WWI vet died in a VA hospital. I got nicked for spending too much time talking with amazing vets, when I was “supposed” to be running urine samples down the the lab.
A senior nurse who saw the time I spent with patients told me, “Don’t ever change.” I loved spending time with my patients. They told me what America was, at her best. America, at her best isn’t sociopath draft-dodger Dick Cheney, or his draft-dodging One World Government masters, or draft-dodging George Bush, the puppet “decider”. America at her best is “the little people”.
I also worked at the va. Something I heard quite often from other workers was “Why should they expect free medical care, I have to pay for my insurance.”
The va also treats non military related illnesses/conditions. It has become a hmo for many, many of whom could also chose to use their medicare or medicaid.
Or, personal insurance. I have seen ‘veterans’ come in demanding their lifetime medical service, I recall one in particular, who didn’t even complete basic before being discharged!
No person who enters the military in any branch (whether Active,Guard or Reserve) had any desire to be injured,maimed,or suffer chronic injury.
All actions which require military intervention come with a cost. No nation has ever been free without indiviudals standing against those who would take that freedom.
America often forgets that the price of freedom has been the blood of those who defend this land.
Our country and Americans have grown busy often forgetting their children,elderly and veterans.
Perhaps ‘The Phantom’ should go spend a few days in the triangle of death in Iraq,and if he/she returns home alive,we should grant ‘The Phantom’ health care for whatever illness as gratitude for faithful service.
Perhaps during the ensuing months & years of psychological counseling ‘The Phantom’ would learn to respect and have compassion towards any who defended freedoms Americans have always taken for granted.
Phantom,if you hate veterans,please find another job outside the VA,you are part of the problem rather than the solution.