Monday, February 25, 2008

VA Benefits Part II: Healthcare

This is the second part of a three part series.
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On the 7th of this month I was watching Bill O'Riley when some rather alarming news caught my attention. O'Riley said that he was teaming up with Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Peter King to help pass legislation on a new bill that is being drafted that would allow for ALL veterans, regardless of time in service, to have health benefits for the rest of their life.

Again, this sounds like a really good idea on paper. But what about the details? How will this be implemented?

As it stands now all Active Duty, currently serving reservists and National Guard, retirees and wounded servicemen get free healthcare. In my opinion, its not that great. As someone who has had both an HMO and military healthcare, I have found that free market healthcare is the better choice. There's something to be said about quality. Most military doctors who get paid the same no matter how many patients they have tend to not care as much. But I digress.

Currently, here in Hawaii, I used to be able to get a same-day appointment. That's pretty good. However, there are not too many military retirees that live here, and the base was pretty small. Lately the base has been expanding, and with an increase in military members and their dependents it is now a next-day appointment. Its still not too bad though, right? But lets look at a couple of other places that I have been. Take for example Langley AFB in Virginia. There are a lot of retirees. On top of that, the base is the headquarters for fighters. So overall, you are now talking about a base hospital that has literally thousands of patients. A same-day appointment or even a next-week appointment is unheard of. Scheduling an appointment with a doctor can take an entire month or two. Now try going somewhere with even more retirees like Macdill AFB in Florida. Now you're talking about an area that has a large population of retirees. It also happens to be the headquarters for CENTCOM. So the base hospital is seeing a large population of retirees, military members and their dependents and even military members and their dependents from other nations. Needless to say the wait to schedule an appointment is incredibly long. In fact, Macdill's hospital is so full that as you enter the base a sign flashes saying they do not have any emergency medical services on base.

The point in all this is that military hospitals, with the exception of bases in more remote locations, are already overcrowded. Aside from privatizing the military healthcare (which I think is an unexplored option), there's not much that can be really done about it. Its bad enough that they prioritize who gets seen, with retirees getting the short end of the stick.

So can you imagine if this bill gets past saying that ALL veterans, whether they served 2 years or 20 years, will get free healthcare for the rest of their life be like?!? Doctors will be overworked, and less likely to care (trust me, I've seen it). It'll take months to see a doctor through an appointment. Sick call in the mornings will become an all-day event like an emergency room.

Lastly, for those of us who do get out, will we even be given a choice? As it stands now, all military members are enrolled in the government healthcare program called Tricare. Now, if my wife, who is a civilian, gets a job with health benefits, Tricare still has to be my primary provider. If I want or need something done, and the private provider my wife gets does a better job, too bad. If I go to them when Tricare could've done it, then I get in trouble with the military.

Is the same thing going to happen if this bill passes and I get out? Am I doomed with social medicare for the rest of my life? Common sense says of course not. But we all know that common sense seems to always elude our government, especially in the legislative halls. I haven't even discussed what this could cost the government, and of course, that means what it will cost the taxpayers.

This bill proposed by Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Peter King is nothing more than a political ploy. I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they might be trying to do what they think is best for veterans. But the fact of the matter is, is that the best help from government can sometimes be no help.

1 comment:

Humbled Man said...

Hey Dave. I was reading this blog entry today (http://www.rootforamerica.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080128-082107) that really reminded me of you. Hope you guys are doing well and look forward to whatever you decide to blog about.