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LISTEN UP, SENATOR CRAIG! -- A message about
dismantling the VA from Veterans'
Advocate Jim Strickland.
Earlier this week, Sen. Larry Craig
(R-ID) proposed legislation that would, in effect, dismantle the VA.
That story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfMAR07/nf030907-3.htm
Some analysts have already weighed in on
the issue. That story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfMAR07/nf030907-6.htm
Now, it's Jim Strickland's turn.
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Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland
provides regular columns for
VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim about
his columns, you can email him here...
The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
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"Outsourcing", the practice of tasking work on
to other contractors by a business, is only ever done for one single
reason: To dramatically cut the costs of services provided.
There is not one single example of any business in this country ever
outsourcing tasks to another vendor so that the customer may be better
served. Not one single example. If a customer comes to your company he
does so for a reason...he expects a better service than he might get
elsewhere. If you go to Starbucks for a cup of high priced Java, you
don't expect to pay them their price, get a receipt and then remit that
receipt across the street at Burger King to get your coffee because they
were too busy to serve all of you.
Obviously, this is slightly different for the Veterans' Health
Administration (VHA) customer who has no other health insurance. Even
so, that customer has earned the right to have his premier health care
when he needs it at his facility.
Many of us do have a choice. I have Medicare, an option to use private
insurance through my wife's company (a hospital and health care system)
and VHA.
I choose VHA for a number of reasons.
First, I am a career health care professional and an expert consultant
in health care. I have been in health care since the 1960s. I know where
I get the best health care and I choose the VHA.
Second, I like being in a quasi-military setting. Our icons are
important to me. I like the flags on the walls, the pictures of our
heroic brothers and sisters, the memorabilia of our sacrifices and the
brotherhood of my fellow Veterans.
I like the men in their caps with the embroidered history of the war
they fought in, the ship they served on or that Marine Division they
were wounded in. Many of us dress a little differently when we prepare
to go to our VA health care facility because we know it's one way we
communicate with each other. Sort of a semaphore of signals with our
pins, buttons, colors and badges. I like the camaraderie of warriors,
young and old.
Finally...I by God earned it. I gave a large part of my life, not so
much in years spent but in terms of what I gave of my heart and soul, to
become a Veteran. I am a special, unique American and I do not want to
be parceled off like a Medicaid patient to some drab facility where I'm
just another old guy being treated like everyone else.
Senator Larry Craig now proposes to destroy this wonderful system, often
lauded as the best of the best, by giving us "choice". The Senator won't
comprehend any of what I said above.
For all his experience as the National Vice-President of the Future
Farmers of America and even though he may have been a wonderful Student
Body President at the University of Idaho and although he was a member
of the Delta Chi Fraternity...this Senator is not a Veteran. Throughout
all his long list of credentials, you won't find anything at all about
"military" or "Veteran" in there.
He has not served a day in boot camp, he never donned the uniform of our
military. He wasn't ever required to stand an inspection. He never had
to face the First Sergeant when he came in drunk and pissed off. Senator
Craig didn't have to ever wonder if his weapon would work because it
came from the low bidder. He never had to sit holding on to a bleeding
brother, a wounded warrior in the field waiting waiting waiting for that
damn chopper to arrive. His ass wasn't going to be shot off, not as a
professional politician.
Senator Craig is now and has always been a professional politician. He
will never be a member of our elite club...membership is closed to him.
Maybe why that's why he wants to rip apart our system. He can't be one
of us so he'll just take it all apart.
Tearing down the VHA is the worst idea that I've heard of this year. I
know, the year is young so there'll be plenty of opportunity for our
"leaders" to make complete fools of themselves with nonsense like this.
Senator Craig cries "Give them choice" in health care and at the same
moment across the hall, Representative Ron Lewis of Kentucky introduces
HR 1318 saying, "Take their choices away from them." As you may know, HR
1318 is titled, "A bill to amend Title 38, United States Code, to repeal
the authority for agent or attorney representation in veterans benefits
cases before the Department of Veterans Affairs. Introduced: March 5,
2007."
Veterans asked the Congress to pass legislation that would allow
Veterans to retain lawyers on a contingency fee basis when filing claims
for disability benefits. A watered down version of that importnat right
was recently passed and is set to become active law later this year. And
now Representative Lewis, bowing to the influence of lobbyists working
against the interest of Veterans, has decided he'll take even that away
from us.
And each of these men, one a medically discharged Navy OCS Veteran & the
other not a Vet at all , wink and nod and smile and nudge their
Congressional cronies while they tell the press how "It's all for the
good of the Veteran". It's plain to see that each of these elected
officials have personal reasons for a built in bias against us.
A few weeks ago, a specialist I see decided I needed some physical
therapy. I agreed and looked forward to that because the physical
therapist who works for our Primary Care Clinic is known as the best in
the city. His reputation in that healing art has been a gold standard
here for many years.
I was shocked when I received a letter authorizing that I was given "Fee
Basis" privileges and could go to any physical therapist in town. This
was supposed to be looked upon by me as a real treat, a bonus if you
will. I am 100% disabled thus the rationale was that I shouldn't have to
wait for my clinic to attend to me. They would instead outsource me.
I contained my anger, bottled it all up and went to my clinic and
explained I didn't want to be shipped off elsewhere. By damn, I would be
treated there, wait or no wait. As well as I'm known there (I'm last
year's "Rising Star" local VA volunteer, an honor of the highest degree
to me.) they had trouble fitting me into the system. Nobody had ever
done this before.
Today I had my first appointment with the finest physical therapist that
I know of and I'm already feeling better. I'm in the hands of a man who
understands me. I sat and talked with brothers who had served before,
with and after me. I had coffee in a canteen. I saw pictures of Medal of
Honor winners on the walls. There were soldiers and sailors and airmen
and Marines there.
I was home.
That Senator Craig wishes to assign me to the ranks of the Medicaid
groups, to put me in line with welfare patients who have just collected
their food stamps, is an unforgivable insult...a betrayal that I should
have known would come from his office.
The fact is I would be in line behind those Medicaid patients at any
health care provider in the nation. Those health care providers are in
the business to make a buck. They are in the "for profit" sector.
Private health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, in that order, are much
better payers than VA.
I'll leave it to you to guess who would receive the better care.
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Larry Scott --
