Seventy years ago before most of us were born, many in Congress were sure that the way to provide WWII vets necessary healthcare was to privatize the Veterans Administration health care system. The private sector can do everything better at a cheaper cost the Republicans argued. Truman and the Democrats put a stop to that argument.
Today the VA is under the strongest attack against it since that time in 1945.
But this time the Koch boys are behind it with their paid Ph. D’s and hack reporters and their front organization – the Concerned Veterans of America (CVA). See this article for more info. http://www.thenation.com/article/how-koch-network-exploited-veterans-affairs-crisis/
A small group of VFP and union members from WI have been fighting to stop the VA privatization effort for the last two years with limited success.
HERE IS THE SITUATION: The future of the VA is now being decided by the right wing Republicans in control of Congress.
In 2013 or so the Koch brothers entered the picture and once again the VA is on the operating table. The Koch brothers bankrolled the Concerned Vets of Am., a privatizer front group for the 1%ers.
The Privatizers Success: In 2014 the VA got $10 billion to set up the Choice program, which sends vets to private care, if they live more than 40 miles from a clinic or have an appt. more than 30 days out.
If you know much about the VA you know that it already had 4 or so "Community Care" (CC) programs that spend billions each year sending vets to private care. BUT the CC decisions are based upon the best interests of the patient not arbitrary standards like 40 miles or 30 days. I.e. if you need an immediate heart by-pass operation and the VA hospital cannot do it, you get sent to a private usually university hospital and get it done fast. This is common sense. The Choice program is not common sense. Its purpose is to privatize and kill the VA.
In 2015 Congress appointed a VA healthcare study commission. Its report is due in June. It has 7 or the 15 commissioners in favor of closing down the VA entirely within 20 years. All care would be provided by the private sector.
In 2016 to House has approved, and the Senate may approve next week, busting the AFGE union. The Am. Fed. of Government Employees represents 300,000 federal workers who mostly work in the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.
Think about how Reagan destroyed the air traffic controllers union. This effort to destroy the AFGE could be just the start of destroying all federal unions.
Does the VA have problems? Absolutely.
Yet VA healthcare is a very high quality, cost efficient, effective single payer and single provider health care delivery system. Nearly 7 million of us vets use it. It costs about 20% less than private care and provides in overall terms superior care to the private sector.
Thus it is a threat to the private sector because it shows government can work.
Thus the Koch bros. and their pals want to get rid of that damn government and push all the work into the private sector where they will rip off vets and the taxpayers with much higher monopolistic prices for lower quality care. Does it sound familiar? Think of what they are doing to the US Postal Service.
WE HAVE TO STOP THIS EFFORT TO PRIVATIZE THE VA!
he Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is surveying veterans on health care received from the VA. They surveyed their membership and have received 4,332 responses as of Monday. VFP HQ sent out a recent EMail Blast and VFP members clicked on the survey 138. Thank YOU!! But we want hundreds more VFP members to take the survey!
If you have NOT completed this short survey please clink on this link.
http://org.salsalabs.com/o/826/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1343446
The DAV analysis of their first 4,332 responses reveals that 83% of the vets rank their overall experience with VA health care positively while 17% rank it negatively.
When ask will you continue to seek health care from the VA, 94% said yes.
Please add your views to the survey and a note on your experiences at VA hospitals and clinics. http://org.salsalabs.com/o/826/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1343446
The major group fighting to stop VA privatization is the DAV and I hope you will help them gather information to help them fight back by completing the survey. Thank you! Please email Buzz Davis at dbuzzdavis@aol.com if you would like to help fight back to save the VA.