Medical Malpractice

If Private Health Insurance is so Good, Why do We Need VA Hospitals and Clinics?

Acidburn: But why not just buy private health insurance for veterans? Why are people so dense? I am asking why can't the government PAY their premiums but let them use private hospitals.

Public Comments

1. VA hospitals and clinics are for Veterans, and not private civilians. It's the government's way of taking care of Vets who became sick or were injured as a result of military (i.e. government) service. Private Health insurance is for the general population.
2. It's all part and parcel of the Military Industrial Complex
3. "facepalms"
4. For Veterans Moran.
5. My guess is you don't understand the term entitlements. Did you even serve?
6. America: The Grim Truth Posted in Truth by lancefreeman76 on April 5, 2010 Americans, I have some bad news for you: You have the worst quality of life in the developed world – by a wide margin. If you had any idea of how people really lived in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many parts of Asia, you’d be rioting in the streets calling for a better life. In fact, the average Australian or Singaporean taxi driver has a much better standard of living than the typical American white-collar worker. Consider this: you are the only people in the developed world without a single-payer health system. Everyone in Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand has a single-payer system. If they get sick, they can devote all their energies to getting well. If you get sick, you have to battle two things at once: your illness and the fear of financial ruin. Millions of Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical bills, and tens of thousands die each year because they have no insurance or insufficient insurance. And don’t believe for a second that rot about America having the world’s best medical care or the shortest waiting lists: I’ve been to hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Singapore, and Thailand, and every one was better than the “good” hospital I used to go to back home. The waits were shorter, the facilities more comfortable, and the doctors just as good. This is ironic, because you need a good health system more than anyone else in the world. Why? Because your lifestyle is almost designed to make you sick. Let’s start with your diet: Much of the beef you eat has been exposed to fecal matter in processing. Your chicken is contaminated with salmonella. Your stock animals and poultry are pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics. In most other countries, the government would act to protect consumers from this sort of thing; in the United States, the government is bought off by industry to prevent any effective regulations or inspections. In a few years, the majority of all the produce for sale in the United States will be from genetically modified crops, thanks to the cozy relationship between Monsanto Corporation and the United States government. Worse still, due to the vast quantities of high-fructose corn syrup Americans consume, fully one-third of children born in the United States today will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives.
7. Because it is the government's responsibility to fix or treat what it has broken. Far from being the typical entitlement, such health care is agreed upon prior to enlistment and is often used as an enticement or incentive to join the military. If more people would visit VA medical centers prior to enlistment, the military would be empty.
8. Because a lot of vets are horribly damaged by their service to the country, and the country must offer at least some kind of care for the men and women who have fought for the rest of us. DUH
9. Shhh! It our only source of live human subjects for experimentation.
10. VA hospitals are for veterans. Who says we need clinics?
11. I really hope you don't vote. The VA is for veterans (people who have served in the military) and it's one of the few benefits of serving in the Military. Military pay is terrible but I don't think you know or realize that. Further more Military makes family life extremely difficult. The VA is also there to make sure those who were injured during their service aren't left out to dry. It's there to insure that they at least have their health. The Veterans EARNED it by serving their Country and to defend it.
12. Have you ever been to a VA Hospital. The quality is terrible
13. I am forced to assume that you have never considered the fact that many of the Veterans (not me fortunately) are totally disabled, cannot work and would be considered uninsurable by the insurance industry for "Prior existing medical conditions". That you haven't, indicates you have never served and don't consider those that have of being worthy of medical care. I'm a Vet, who has used and paid for, VA medical treatment. I had to pay, because I'm fortunate enough not to have received any sort of disabling injury, for which I thank God on a daily basis.
14. Glad to answer your question - one day after Veterans Day. My husband is a Vietnam Vet and last year he was treated for colon cancer at the VA Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. The doctors and staff were so kind to us during a freightening time, and we are forever in their debt. But my husband put his life on the line for Americans he has never met - he has EARNED his VA care.
15. Apples to oranges comparison. They are government-run facilities, places you once never dared go if you were sick. Veterans, many have war-related injuries, best served in one specialty-type of hospital equipped to deal with such needs. I m sure if we turned this over to private companies, the premiums would be far higher than what we see end-cost in VA hospitals. That said, if you want to compare apples to apples, compare why we spend billions on numerous health programs for the private sector (Medicaid, SCHIP, WIC, and Indian Affairs). Why not instead give the 'poor' the option to buy private insurance for the medical needs, instead of spending millions alone in administrative costs. One agency could handle the needs of the 'poor', instead of different multi-million dollar administrations running the same type of program. And more people could be helped.