Let's talk about the VA

I am a veteran, though I have always used private health insurance.

I think all veterans should be entitled to make the choice you made. The concept of choice is an existential threat to those who view the VA system as deserving a monopoly on the delivery of veterans healthcare.

I think all veterans should be entitled to make the choice you made. The concept of choice is an existential threat to those who view the VA system as deserving a monopoly on the delivery of veterans healthcare.

Since at least part of the current problem is a lack of funding, it seems extremely unlikely that we're going to buy private plans for veterans any time soon.

We currently spend about $5,000/year for patients in the VA system, which is ridiculously cheap compared to what it costs to cover people in the private sector, and unfortunately it's too cheap. Since congress hasn't played along with at least keeping up with per person costs in the VA system ($8,000 per patient has been suggested as what's needed to provide access comparable to the private sector), it would seem even more unlikely that they would be willing to fund what it would cost to buy veterans private plans, which would run $12,000 and up. If congress won't increase funding by a couple thousand per beneficiary, I'm not sure how we could expect that they would double, triple, or quadruple the current expenditures.

The funding of the VA has tripled since the World Trade Towers fell and we entered into protracted combat. I would not mind tripling it again. When the current administration came on-board, they made sure extra billions (sorry, don't have the figures) were there for the VA. Here's the problem: the service to the vets, the actual patient care... did not expand in relationship to the increases in the budget. And they never do. Even at our VA which as I indicated is pretty d*nm good they somehow don't have the funding to keep their ER open over the weekend. But we get new administrative layers and layers. Last year, the VA (system) spent $500,000,000 on furniture... office furniture. Not MRI machines. Not clinical laboratory services. Not extra doctors and nurses.

I have not heard anyone talking about getting rid of the VA system. I haven't heard anyone talking about buying vets their own health insurance plans. What I have heard people talking about is... each vet has an account or voucher. If their VA cannot see them in X amount of days, the vet gets his health care wherever he/she wants and THAT VA (the one that could not accommodate him or her) picks up the tab.

The VA bureaucracy is doing what bureaucracies do... keeping themselves alive (even if patients die.) This was the finding of the internal VA review done in (I think around 2009?) and it's what the IG is reporting now.

God willing, we will find those VA's that work and those that are crooked. I hope administrators that created two sets of books get investigated by the justice department (a suggestion of Senator Blumenthal from Delaware) and if found guilty of fraud and defrauding the government (their fat bonuses)... I want to see them in orange jump suits and hand-cuffs...

Not that I'm a vindictive person or anything...

Blue cross platinum plan in the state of Tennessee is 7,000 per year.

Very hard to quantify what the VA spends per veteran on direct healthcare as there are 8 priority groups. The cost for each veteran per year in these groups ranges from a low of 869 dollars to a high of 21,110 dollars.

Utilization - NATIONAL CENTER FOR VETERANS ANALYSIS AND STATISTICS

I don't know. I just watched the History Channel presentation on the Chosin Reservoir. Oh, dear, dear, God. How could someone keep a set of double books, putting veterans in a holding pattern so they could get bonuses. God forgive them.

The VA as a whole needs total reform. It is sad that the men and women who put their lives on the line for this country have been subjected to substandard care if they receive care at all. The VA in my experience has not put veterans first and turns a blind eye to the neglect and insubordination of their employees hired to provide care for those who have served.