The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can’t seem to go a week without being in the news. And usually it’s for bad news.
The latest is denial of services to suicide-prone patients seeking help from the Phoenix facility. Very recently another VA facility made the news because its elaborate phone system constantly drops calls or loses them. I personally would rather call the Social Security Administration or the IRS than to try to call the VA. Its phone system is a joke.
So, why is this? Why, with all the attention being paid to their misdeeds lately, can they not fix their messes? I have heard a lot of excuses, but I have developed my own theories for the causes of such problems.
First and foremost, the VA is a government-run entity. It is staffed by union-protected civil service workers who are employed for a lifetime with little chance of being fired. It doesn’t matter if they are competent – it doesn’t matter if they are even functional – they still keep their jobs. Such job security takes away the incentive to improve.
I am enrolled in the VA health-care system and have been for years. Throughout those years, I have been seen and treated by seven different VA health-care facilities. Some were marvelous; some were absolutely terrible. It all comes down to what is called the “culture” of the facility. That culture is both created and nurtured by management, or lack of it.
The good ones see patients as true heroes who deserve the best their country can give them; they are proud to do their jobs. The bad ones see themselves as charity wards who deign to take care of what they seem to see as indigent people off the streets. They don’t answer the phone or see to the needs of the patients because they just don’t care.
VA health care is not charity anymore than Social Security is. It’s a promise made by this country to her champions and defenders. It’s a payment for the sacrifice some have made for their country. As we all have heard, freedom is not free. It takes sacrifice and that’s exactly what our military does – sacrifice. The very least we can do is keep that promise. To those who say the VA health-care system is too expensive, how much is your freedom worth?
The current VA mess can be fixed very easily. It’s as simple as veterans being given a choice of where to get their health care. Every veteran has in his possession an identification card. He should be able to go to any doctor, hospital or pharmacy that accepts Medicare patients for care and treatment, just like a Medicare patient. Such a fix would improve the care veterans receive as well as relieve the back load on the VA.
The reason they won’t do this, I believe, is because of the union that protects VA workers. This union would rather protect their members than serve the veterans of this country. The union is further protected by the Democrats who, by their actions, are deserting veterans in favor of unions and their political support. If some Democrats, like Hillary Clinton, believe illegal immigrants should be covered by Obamacare, how can they justify this treatment of veterans?
This is a shameful situation and should be fixed immediately.
Scarbro is retired and spends most of his free time with his grandchildren having moved from Sartell to St. Simons Island, Ga. Writing and commenting on the news of the day is a pastime. Visit his weekly blog at ronscarbro.blogspot.com for more commentary.
