Discussion for article #245512
It is obvious that this nation falls down on the job when it comes to a global-style system for healthcare for those who have served in the armed forces. Itâs sad, sickening and a damn shame. Occasionally, I will run into a veteran at the UVA hospital in Charlottesville. The system is only marginally better now than it was a few years ago when it became a national scandal.
Itâs not spoken of when we discuss our ideas for one-payer systems, but should the U.S. ever venture into a Medicare-For-All type of system where weâre speaking of a holistic/global sort of set-up, if itâs done well (it absolutely can be done but will be a major undertaking) then our vetsâ care can be folded into that system. Iâve worked in administrative medical care for most of my working life, and I know it can be done â and done well. It only takes the desire to do it and a willingness to learn from the process to make it the best possible.
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His tenure as chairman of Veterans Affairs was less than inspiring and a microcosm at to what his administration would be like. He went in hard charging asking for $35B in new money and ended up getting $10B which is about what the GOP would have given anyway, because there wasnât a chance theyâd defund the freaking Veteranâs Administration. And the money has to be asked for again in a short while, there was no âlasting agreement to protect our veteransâ to borrow one of the flourishes do-nothing politicians love to use. âWhat we asked for was too much for Republicansâ he ended up saying. One of his buddies was quoted as saying he had learned by playing with the âbig boysâ and he had struck an agreement that was one people could âlive with for the time being.â
President Sanders: Change You Can Live With for the Time Being.
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Speaking of vets, Iâd like to know how he avoided the draft after his application as conscientious objector during the Vietnam War was rejected.
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Itâs a single payer type health system of which he was, if not in charge, certainly responsible. Iâd like to ask him what heâs learned from this experience and how heâd avoid the many, significant problems when implementing single payer for the entire country. The VAâs performance hasnât been inspiring.
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Stop confusing us with facts, this is the internet, dammit!
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You are right. The VA can be a wonderful source of information about what works an what doesnât work, what worked so-so, etc. The VA can learn a lot from the Medicare system and a universal Medicare-For-All can benefit tremendously by reviewing what works, what didnât, etc., in both the current Medicare system, the VA and the various Medicaid system(s).
Seriously, we have a wealth of information to implement a damned good 21st century American healthcare system. Iâm not going to lie â it will be a massive undertaking and a world of different schools of thought than the current delivery systems. Yes, massive â but I really do believe that if the project is undertaken with the best of intentions and seriously reviewing what worked, what didnât, what was so-so â and the whys â the various modes of delivery and their administration can be quickly folded together with very little interruption in todayâs systems.
The large numbers of folks employed by the various insurance carriers, Medicare, Medicaid(s), the VA, etc., most of those folks and their expertise will be needed in the newer system. Mostly it will be upper-management folks who wonât all be needed ⌠but thatâs okay and to be expected to some small degree when transitioning such undertakings.
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Wasnât McCain on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well? Wasnât the VA that first reported the âwait listsâ in Phoenix, his home town? Would the âwait listsâ have even happened had the VA been adequately funded many, many years ago? No one at the Phoenix VA or anywhere else in the system intentionally made veterans wait for healthcare. There simply was not enough money to hire enough healthcare providers to handle the massive influx of vets returning wounded in body, mind and soul from Iraq and Afghanistan on top of the already overstretched budget. Just a few days after all 43 Republicans filibustered Senator Sanders attempt to add 35 Billion to the VA budget the shit hit the fan in Phoenix. Once the media turned the wait lists into the scandal rather than the Republican Senate refusing to adequately fund care for the veterans that their war of choice created Sanders allowed McCain to come on as a cosponsor, reintroduced the bill and it passed 93-0. My senator Murkowski showed up at the Anchorage VA two days after filibustering Sanders bill with her âIâm so concerned about the veteransâ look pasted on her mug. No shame from the woman at all. Always unlimited money to launch the wars but never enough to take care of the wounded from those wars of choice.
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I donât believe John McCain is --or ever has been-- a member of the Senate Committee on Veteransâ Affairs.
Bernie Sanders, however, was Chairman of the committee from 2013-2015. At the height of the VA scandal, Sanders tried to avoid responsibility for the problem, saying in an interview with CNN, âDid the delays in care of these people on the secret waiting list actually cause these deaths? We donât know.â
Itâs rich now that he says âWe should have acted sooner,â when it was he himself as Chairman who tried to avoid doing anything at all.
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âSANDERS CONCEDESâ is a somewhat unfortunate beginning of the headline. Good thing Bernieâs not running against Cruz.
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Heâs a real paper tiger, this guy.
He only single sponsored three bills in 25 years and two were for naming post offices in Vermont.
His record for cosponsoring bills in his 25 years falls over 100 short of what Hillary did in just 8.
How do you spell P-H-O-N-Y?
Conservatives finally getting onboard after decades: * * UpGrading and doing their jobs in Helping the VA Finally? Lawmakers {conservatives} & Those They Represent Continue {Decades} Balking * *
âWhy in 2009 were we still using paper?â VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers âWhen we came in, there was no plan to change that; weâve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.â 27 March 2013
DeJa-Vu: âWith no shared sacrifices being asked of civilians after Sept. 11", Decades and War From, All Over Again!!
And that covers much more in the Deficits, like even paying for war policies and the results from and much more, then just the, grossly under funded thus not properly built nor properly maintained, and not conservative obstructionists pols concern, VA budgets!!
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- Lawmakers Blast $1.3 Billion Price Tag for VAâs âAgileâ Paperless Claims System * *
12 January 2016 - The Department of Veterans Affairs may finally have good news to share, but lawmakers are balking at the price tag. >>>
- Lawmakers Blast $1.3 Billion Price Tag for VAâs âAgileâ Paperless Claims System * *
ProPublica and The Seattle Times Nov. 9, 2012 - Lost to History: Missing War Records Complicate Benefit Claims by Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans
âDeLaraâs case is part of a much larger problem that has plagued the U.S. military since the 1990 Gulf War: a failure to create and maintain the types of field records that have documented American conflicts since the Revolutionary War.â>>>
Part Two: A Son Lost in Iraq, but Where Is the Casualty Report?
Army Says War Records Gap Is Real, Launches Recovery Effort
Chris Hayes : âIf you can run a deficit to go to war, you can run a deficit to take care of the people who fought itâ In response to Republican, long ago lost as the party of Lincoln and not just as to us Veterans, opposition to expanding Veteransâ benefits on fiscal grounds.
The VA is the people served Responsibility, not socialized anything but their Responsibility to Actually Sacrifice, as itâs been since it was established but promises never upheld with congressional fixes coming mostly unfunded and peace-meal causing more problems, the way those served seem to really like it that way as they lay blame on the VA personal!!
Sen. Bernie Sanders told Conservatives: âIf you canât afford to take care of your veterans, than donât go war. These people are bearing the brunt of what war is about, We have a moral obligation to support them.â February, 26th, 2014
The conservative ideology: Like our long time, us Vietnam and frankly all Combat Theaters, Veterans Conservative, one of their experts(?), used to shape their policies, very highly compensated Nemesis: * * Sally Satel Still Selling Care for PTSD Veterans is Waste of Money * * There are plenty of others, theyâve got a ready stable full of {experts?}, and plenty of ignored and denied issues!!
Speaking as to conservative ideology to corporatize for corporate profits, little regulation and thus added feeâs: ** âI fight like hell to pay as little as possibleâ: Donald Trump says he avoids all the tax he can **
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71 - Independent**
DeJa-Vu: âWith no shared sacrifices being asked of civilians after Sept. 11", Decades and War From, All Over Again!!
And that covers much more in the Deficits, like even paying for war policies and the results from and much more, then just the, grossly under funded thus not properly built nor properly maintained, and not conservative obstructionists pols concern, VA budgets!!
The conservative ideology: Like our long time, us Vietnam and frankly all Combat Theaters, Veterans Conservative, one of their experts(?), used to shape their policies, very highly compensated Nemesis: * * Sally Satel Still Selling Care for PTSD Veterans is Waste of Money * * http://tinyurl.com/hg37c3r There are plenty of others, theyâve got a ready stable full of {experts?}, and plenty of ignored and denied issues!!
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71 - Independent**