Donald Trump Wants To Surrender Veterans Affairs

Trumps Veterans' Care
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 1, 2015

This is not a good way to start my day.  Someone is playing a trick on veterans and passing it off as a treat!

Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin wrote a piece on "Trump releases plan aimed at improving veteran's care" that is nothing more than surrendering veterans to the same "care" for profit.

Under Trump's plan, eligible veterans would be able to bring their veterans' identification cards to any private doctor or facility that accepts Medicare and be able to receive immediate treatment. The change, he said, would help improve wait times and services by adding competition.

OK, and exactly how has that improved anything? Ever see a waiting room filled when you wait to be called only to end up stuck in an empty room until the doctor manages to come in for a few minutes and then end up with a huge charge only to be sent to a specialist? Then you have to wait until they have time to see you. Ever show up at an emergency room and have to wait for hours? Ever call a doctor for the first time and hear "we're not taking new patients" and the nearest doctor for your problem is a couple of hours away? City searches for cure to doctor shortage

The city now has two family practice offices — one run by a nurse practitioner and the other that only serves members who pay monthly dues.

There is a bigger shortage for seniors, but why mention the fact that the majority of veterans ARE SENIORS!

Doctor Shortage: Who Will Take Care of the Elderly? As the number of geriatricians shrinks, the future care of seniors could be in jeopardy.

We are not prepared as a nation. We are facing a crisis,” says Dr. Heather Whitson, associate professor of medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “Our current health care system is ill equipped to provide the optimal care experience for patients with multiple chronic conditions or with functional limitations and disabilities.”

How about hospitals closing?

As rural hospitals struggle, solutions sought to preserve healthcare access
Modern Healthcare
By Paul Demko
May 16, 2015

On March 31, for-profit Parkway Regional Hospital in Fulton closed its doors after more than two decades of business in southwestern Kentucky. Rural Fulton County's only hospital employed nearly 200 and accounted for as much as 18% of the town's tax base.

Parkway was far from alone among rural hospitals struggling to survive. Less than a year before, Nicholas County Hospital, an 18-bed facility in Carlisle in north-central Kentucky, shut its doors, citing “insurmountable” financial challenges. A report issued in March by Kentucky's auditor of public accounts found that 15 of the 44 rural hospitals analyzed were in “poor” financial health. Those facilities served more than 250,000 Kentuckians in fiscal 2013, with about 60% of those patients enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid.

Learn more here

When you factor in the years of politicians complaining about how messed up the Affordable Care Act is, this is an appalling suggestion for veterans. Just because politicians have failed veterans for decades you'd think Trump would actually have a plan to fix the VA instead of sending veterans away.

Trump got the first part right on this.

"Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked," according to the plan.

This is partly right. None on us should trust politicians, or the press for that matter, since they never seem able to remember Congress has jurisdiction over the VA!

"It's time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet."

This is more BS from yet another politician running for political office while unable to believe the office he wants can't do anything to fix anything!