For some reason I'm particularly sensitive to the plight of the Veterans Administration. Maybe it's because of the number of homeless veterans I see on the streets of Chicago. Best estimate is that there are just shy of 40,000 homeless veterans (as of January, 2016, there were 39,471 homeless veterans in the U.S., down significantly from 2010; last year, that number went up slightly.)
The fact that there are any homeless veterans in this country -- or homeless people at all -- really, really pisses me off.
At any rate, here's an interesting article at RawStory about what the VA is having to deal with. The author, however, makes what I think is one mistaken assumption:
This assumes that anyone in this regime (I can't really call it an "administration"), or any Republican in Congress, wants the VA to be effective. The goal here is privatization, because that always works so well -- for the owners of the companies that are getting the contracts. Actually providing the services mandated is not a consideration.
(I may have mentioned that I firmly believe there are some things that should not be subject to the profit motive -- schools, roads and bridges, prisons: add the medical care for veterans to that list.
At any rate, read it. There's some good information there.
The fact that there are any homeless veterans in this country -- or homeless people at all -- really, really pisses me off.
At any rate, here's an interesting article at RawStory about what the VA is having to deal with. The author, however, makes what I think is one mistaken assumption:
The VA has long been in crisis. Nevertheless, it has pioneered evidence-based medicine and, overall, gets better outcomes at lower costs than many private health care providers.
As someone who has studied government budgets and the organization of government agencies, I believe Admiral Jackson, like his predecessor, will have to address three major problems if the VA is to be effective in meeting the needs of the millions of veterans who depend on it for their care.
This assumes that anyone in this regime (I can't really call it an "administration"), or any Republican in Congress, wants the VA to be effective. The goal here is privatization, because that always works so well -- for the owners of the companies that are getting the contracts. Actually providing the services mandated is not a consideration.
(I may have mentioned that I firmly believe there are some things that should not be subject to the profit motive -- schools, roads and bridges, prisons: add the medical care for veterans to that list.
At any rate, read it. There's some good information there.
1 comment:
As a retired Marine, I recently produced a music video to highlight the plight of veterans in our Nation's Capital. I thought one of the veteran's groups would have picked it up, but perhaps it's too "unexplainable"--please share. There but for the grace....
https://youtu.be/uFqRL3li7fs
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