As if fighting for our country overseas wasn’t difficult enough, our veterans have to navigate the Veterans Administration when they get back home.
The VA is one examples of socialized medicine we already have here in the U.S.A. The other being Medicare (for seniors), the VA is government health care for those who serve in the armed forces. And it’s a huge reminder that we should never adopt a national system of socialized medicine in the U.S.
The video below by Prager University outlines well the many problems with the VA, from massive wait times just to receive an initial appointment, to wait times for care itself, to the crummy quality of care. The video didn’t mention the 307,000 veterans who died waiting for care from the VA (though not all were seeking medical treatment – it does show that many waited so long for the VA’s services they died before they could receive them).
Barack Obama wouldn’t do anything to help the VA, even after they were the center of media attention back in 2014 when their wait time scandal was made public. That’s probably a good thing – as his “solution” would’ve likely took the form of throwing more money at a failing system.
Luckily, Trump took action within his first 100 days in office.
President Donald Trump signed a Veteran Affairs Choice Improvement Act on Wednesday, extending a temporary program that allows some patients access to private health care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs’ system.
The choice program allows some veterans to apply their federal health benefits for care in the private sector, ABC News reported.
The extension will give Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin time to develop a more comprehensive plan to allow veterans to more easily go outside the VA health system for care. The new law allows the VA to operate its Choice program until its funding runs out, expected early next year.
The program was created in 2014 after the VA attempted to cover up a wait time scandal that happened at more than 100 Veteran Affairs facilities.
H/T: The Washington Free Beacon
In the absence of Trump’s signature, the program would’ve expired in August.
This certainly is a step in the right direction – but what the system really needs is to be privatized in its entirety. Why should our veterans be forced to use some of the worst hospitals our nation has to offer?
They deserve the best of care.
What do you think? Is Trump doing the right thing to move veteran care in the right direction? Let us know in the comments!
