"The news about VA's delays in care crisis just keeps getting worse," "It's unfortunate I have to introduce legislation to address this problem, because the department has had the authority to offer veterans health care services outside of the VA system for years."Said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who introduced the bill.
Apparently the bill passed unanimously. The question now is how will the Senate pack it up with unrelated baggage.
This is all very odd. The VA always did have authority to do this. I don't know what to make of it. Were they holding back? Not informing their clients? Is this all a political move, or what?
I do know my father was switched to civilian insurance, Tricor, IIRC, and he was so angry about being shifted off the VA when Fitzsimmons was closed and turned over to civilian use. He regarded it a betrayal of a promise that he based his life choices. It took some convincing to assure him his coverage was actually better than most, that his coverage was excellent in fact, more modern and more convenient. He wasn't having it. He preferred staying angry. He wanted Fitzsimmons and that was that. Fitzsimmons was outdated. I went there many times. It looked like something straight out of WWII movie, but that was the system my parents were used to. They walked in and got health service. That is what they wanted to keep. (I suddenly recalled the acres of files one sees upon checking in, and long rows of hospital beds separated by 3/r curtains) Even though the facility was on the far opposite side of town, a real actual trek to get out there, and once there you stepped back in time and were subjected to their ancient ways. I hated it. They loved it. It was a sore point with both parents but especially my dad right up to their final days.
USA Today http://tinyurl.com/nu36qh9
If you care to have your lack of faith in the portion of humanity that comments through Facebook, I dare you, double-dog dare you, to turn off your tracking and read comments to USA Today article. Dumb, dumb, dumb, mean and dumb. Proving once again, where proof is not needed, that misplaced loyalty to Party makes you both mean and stupid (if you aren't already so).
It is a common knowledge that recent wars are overburdening the VA system, another political bone to gnaw, and that does make sense intuitively, but it is not so. Most VA clients are aging vets, the same bulge in demand for medical services as civilian medical care, not young vets returning from recent wars, although there is that too. That is not where the bulge in services is.
Speaking of aging vets. That would be these people. Have a look at these stunning 110 photos of the Pacific and adjacent theaters in WWII that you might not have seen before. They will curl your hair. I am struck by how thin everybody is. And struck too how young everybody appears to be.
Denver Post PLog. http://tinyurl.com/yfl9syg
