I'm a veteran who is with the VA for a while longer. i will be returning to Asia soon, and in comparison to the VA decent affordable medical care.
The VA is outsourcing somethings, but VA Choice has problems created by the government bureaucracy. You have to be more than 40 miles from a VA
facility, must not be able to get a appointment for 30 days, need a procedure they don't have, or a condition they don't treat. There are other
restrictions as well, pulled out when they don't want to send you out. At this point I meet several of these requirements.
Wait times from the VA put me in the position of what should have been a minor operation turned into a 2 year ordeal where I have now had multiple
surgery's, the last being at a private hospital to begin correcting what the originally done by the VA surgery messed (fubar'd) up. The Dr there was
not allowed to use the best implants and procedures because the
VA wouldn't pay for it! The correct implant would have cost $575 more.
The correct procedure would have added 10 minutes to the surgery. P1ssed off, your damn right. Things still don't work right, I will have to have the
correct procedure and implants done over in Singapore next year, at my own expense.
I am still waiting for my VA Choice card, they have a backlog of request for approval. Wonder why? I have been waiting for 3 months for the VA to
authorize a outside appointment for other problems, they have a backlog of request for approval. Oh and they now want to assign everyone a "case
worker (i.e. social worker)" because you have problems you can't handle. The case worker will evaluate you and insist you go on med's. Nope not
happening for me. One vet is being treated for PTSD and these case workers insisted he go on antidepressants and other meds even after being told by
his psychiatrist they were not to recommend anything or even see him. They were suppose to only help him with transportation and a single legal
issue.
I have seen vet's waiting for years to get treatment. Seen them denied treatment. All because the VA doesn't want to admit their system is terminally
broken.
Single payer system, look at the VA to see what you will be getting. Government run medical (or anything for that matter), look at the VA to see what
you will be getting.
PS I'm Viet Nam, and I always get the feeling that the VA and government want us (Viet Nam era) to all just die or go away, they don't want us
around.
edit on 24/5/2016 by LamontCranston because: (no reason given)