carlfense Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 People think Medicare and Medicaid are fantastic. People want our health care to go to a single payer system. What is the difference? Let's do it all the way then. (They already have single payer . . . FWIW) Wait....when I use the term...."single payer system" then you are all in? What changed? What about the bureaucracy and the problems you were asking about? My concern is that what would be sold as a "single payer system" for veterans would be hijacked by the "cut spending" crowd. I.E. We'll take away the VA hospitals . . . but we'll give you a coupon that you can use to reduce your costs at the local hospital. Oh, you have to pay out of pocket? Well, look how great your care is! My concern about the bureaucracy and problems was if we were going to a hybrid system where we retain all of the problems of the current VA and add in an additional private option we'd have twice the problems with no guarantee of better outcomes. I think we need to go all-in in one direction or the other. If we do single payer, let's do it. (For everyone.) If we keep the current VA structure, let's fix it right. I don't think the money/political will exists to do both. Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share Posted June 24, 2014 How wonderful.... LINK My faith in the VA system fixing this is dwindling. Link to comment
HUSKER FREAK Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Yeah, I agree with this. After talking with someone a couple weeks ago that has some medical issues and has for a while and uses the VA it really concerns me with how they handle their patients. I also heard from another person and haven't tried to find any info on it yet but heard that it's not to far away before the vets will be able to use Private practices for their treatment with the same VA benefits. I think this could be a good thing. Link to comment
carlfense Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Yeah, I agree with this. After talking with someone a couple weeks ago that has some medical issues and has for a while and uses the VA it really concerns me with how they handle their patients. I also heard from another person and haven't tried to find any info on it yet but heard that it's not to far away before the vets will be able to use Private practices for their treatment with the same VA benefits. I think this could be a good thing. According to the vast majority of vets, the VA provides very good health care. (But that doesn't mean that there aren't serious problems that need to be addressed now.) The private practice care for vets looks like it might make it through. It's going to be expensive but I think that it's worth it. Link to comment
MidnightRider Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Yeah, I agree with this. After talking with someone a couple weeks ago that has some medical issues and has for a while and uses the VA it really concerns me with how they handle their patients. I also heard from another person and haven't tried to find any info on it yet but heard that it's not to far away before the vets will be able to use Private practices for their treatment with the same VA benefits. I think this could be a good thing. According to the vast majority of vets, the VA provides very good health care. (But that doesn't mean that there aren't serious problems that need to be addressed now.) I truly hope that is the case but I can honestly say, I don't know a single one (personally, and I know a lot) that is happy with the care they are receiving. My few interactions with them (I flatly refuse to use the VA unless it is necessary i.e. disability re-appraisal) have been disappointing and downright depressing, to say the least. Are you speaking regionally? Link to comment
carlfense Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I truly hope that is the case but I can honestly say, I don't know a single one (personally, and I know a lot) that is happy with the care they are receiving. My few interactions with them (I flatly refuse to use the VA unless it is necessary i.e. disability re-appraisal) have been disappointing and downright depressing, to say the least. Are you speaking regionally? Your personal contacts might be an example of anecdotal confirmation bias. I'm not speaking regionally although it certainly does appear that certain regional VA systems (like Phoenix) were engaged in misconduct more often than others. Link to comment
MidnightRider Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I truly hope that is the case but I can honestly say, I don't know a single one (personally, and I know a lot) that is happy with the care they are receiving. My few interactions with them (I flatly refuse to use the VA unless it is necessary i.e. disability re-appraisal) have been disappointing and downright depressing, to say the least. Are you speaking regionally? Your personal contacts might be an example of anecdotal confirmation bias. I'm not speaking regionally although it certainly does appear that certain regional VA systems (like Phoenix) were engaged in misconduct more often than others. Could be, but not on my account. Just hearing them bitch every time they have been, or have to do, is enough for me. Of course, this could be a regional thing. While I think the current state of the VA is incomprehensibly f#cked up, I'm sure there have to be some facilities providing quality care to our vets. Have you ever been to a VA hospital for care? I'm genuinely curious as to what your thoughts are on it. As I said, I found it to be depressing as hell and thoroughly mismanaged. I sat in a waiting room one time for 8 hours only to have them tell me at the end of the day that I would have to reschedule. That was with an appointment. I was misdiagnosed several times as well before a civilian doc got it right. I'm not trying to pile on the VA (they really don't need any help), just conveying my experiences. Link to comment
carlfense Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Could be, but not on my account. Just hearing them bitch every time they have been, or have to do, is enough for me. Of course, this could be a regional thing. While I think the current state of the VA is incomprehensibly f#cked up, I'm sure there have to be some facilities providing quality care to our vets. Have you ever been to a VA hospital for care? I'm genuinely curious as to what your thoughts are on it. As I said, I found it to be depressing as hell and thoroughly mismanaged. I sat in a waiting room one time for 8 hours only to have them tell me at the end of the day that I would have to reschedule. That was with an appointment. I was misdiagnosed several times as well before a civilian doc got it right. I'm not trying to pile on the VA (they really don't need any help), just conveying my experiences. http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/70298-va-system/?view=findpost&p=1368690 Regarding the bold, that's pretty damn common in civilian medicine AND in VA medicine. I could share some horror stories from some very well respected private hospital systems . . . but I probably shouldn't. Haha. Link to comment
MidnightRider Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Could be, but not on my account. Just hearing them bitch every time they have been, or have to do, is enough for me. Of course, this could be a regional thing. While I think the current state of the VA is incomprehensibly f#cked up, I'm sure there have to be some facilities providing quality care to our vets. Have you ever been to a VA hospital for care? I'm genuinely curious as to what your thoughts are on it. As I said, I found it to be depressing as hell and thoroughly mismanaged. I sat in a waiting room one time for 8 hours only to have them tell me at the end of the day that I would have to reschedule. That was with an appointment. I was misdiagnosed several times as well before a civilian doc got it right. I'm not trying to pile on the VA (they really don't need any help), just conveying my experiences. http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/70298-va-system/?view=findpost&p=1368690 Regarding the bold, that's pretty damn common in civilian medicine AND in VA medicine. I could share some horror stories from some very well respected private hospital systems . . . but I probably shouldn't. Haha. I'm sure you can and I'm sure they appreciate you keeping it to yourself. I generally try to avoid the doc but, if I do have a need to go, I'll stick with my private health care and avoid the VA in my area. They did get a new one funded here and will be breaking ground soon so, who knows, maybe things will improve along with the new facilities. Link to comment
HUSKER FREAK Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Oh yeah Carl I just had to get a series of shots in my back and they asked which side I wanted first I told them and it was repeated 4 times before it started and they still managed to put them in the wrong side. I guess being in a hurry is the biggest culprit of mal practice in modern medicine. The person I was referring to about the VA actually thinks he is getting good care and respects the system a lot. Old vet with very good moral values. The problem is though his whole family knows he is not right and he is to stubborn to listen. So we got a list of the meds he is on and they keep adding things for him every check up but don't ever take anything away, and it is all making it 10 times worse. Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I feel kind of intellectually lazy suggesting this, but assuming that there's consensus that 1) the government should provide health care for its veterans and 2) it's currently doing a pretty sh**ty job of that............why not get the VA out of health care and set our vets up with specialized Medicare plans? Link to comment
BigRedBuster Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 Medicine is practiced by humans. Any time you have humans involved, there will be mistakes made. It is inevitable in anything that is done. Link to comment
carlfense Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 House poised to kill VA reform. (Love the troops. Love em.) http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-va-overhaul-legislation-collapse-109337.html?hp=l1 Link to comment
LukeinNE Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 House poised to kill VA reform. (Love the troops. Love em.) http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-va-overhaul-legislation-collapse-109337.html?hp=l1 That article looks like the House and Senate are equally responsible. Link to comment
carlfense Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 House poised to kill VA reform. (Love the troops. Love em.) http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/veterans-affairs-va-overhaul-legislation-collapse-109337.html?hp=l1 That article looks like the House and Senate are equally responsible. How do you figure? The Senate has passed a bill. 93-3 IIRC. Link to comment
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