I'm not sure many of us vets would notice if they closed the hospitals, considering how ridiculously hard it is to get an appointment.

 

Beat me to it. I wouldn't notice.

 

Guess while everyone was worried about a flag, they missed this.
[snip]
The VA told Congress that it needs to cover shortfalls caused by an increased demand by veterans for health care, including costly treatments for hepatitis C. The agency also is considering furloughs, hiring freezes and other steps to close a funding gap for the budget year that ends Sept. 30.

The VA said it wants authority to use up to $3 billion from the new Veterans Choice program to close the budget gap, with as much as $500 million going to treat hepatitis C. A single pill for the liver-wasting viral infection can cost up to $1,000. [snip]

The latest Hep C drug is Harvoni, with a "sticker price" of $1350 per pill. They claim a cure rate of 94 - 99% for genotype 1, the most common form of Hep C in the U.S. The full course of treatment is one pill per day for eight to twelve weeks, for a total cost of $54,000 to $81,000 per patient. The VA may have some sort of discount on the price, but I'm guessing that it's still pretty expensive.

Hep C is a "blood-borne" disease, most commonly contracted by illicit drug users sharing needles. Treating Hep C presents the VA with a moral dilemma since the cost of Harvoni may require cutting back services to other patients to treat a condition usually brought on by a patient's own risky behaviors.

 

I know someone who is taking the Harvoni and just before he completed the 12 week course, despite the virus not showing up in his blood by the second week, the doctor told him that he would like to keep him on it for another 12 week course. Apparently, what the doctors are seeing is that 12 weeks isn't long enough and they are seeing a lot of patients have the Hep C come back. Initially the insurance company denied coverage for the second course, but a couple of days later he got a call that his emergency appeal had been approved.

Originally his co-pay was going to be just under $9,000 for each of the 3 months, but he said the hospital pharmacy asked him some questions about his income, made a call, and there is some type of organization that is covering the co-payment.

 

wouldnt notice till i drove down for my 3 month check.... cause they dang sure wouldnt call me. they dont now.

 

Can the VA close treatment facilities without congressional approval?

No

 

Could they reduce the staff to abysmally small levels? Yes.

 

The Veteran's Administration has lost their minds and believe they can get way with anything under the BathHouse Obugger Administration.

I was told the other day by a VA Hospital Employee when the VA gets a Senatorial or Congressional Inquirey they just laugh. They may or may not respond and if they respond, they don't worry about whether they tell the truth or not if the Senator or Rep is a Republikin.....

Jungle Work

 

Meanwhile, the Iran nuclear deal gives them billions......

 

Ok, so we, me and my partner, at work, just had this discussion. You know, the one with the government agency that couldn't do a $2 job with 2 million. Its cool, no really...we just need 3 billion to fix a growing problem, and after you give this to us we'll streamline it by laying people off, freeze hiring, and throw a party with the peoples, especially those who have laid down their lives and those who survived's money. Not we need this money to hire, actually qualified persons to deal with this, and you know that whole big Pharma problem, tell them to back the hell off for at least those who put their lives on the line and give us that drug for cost, you know, may be $1 a pill instead of $1000 pill. This is truly sickening. Remember this boys the next time they ask you to lay your lives down for there bull**** agenda.

 

Close them.


Then the vets can go to civilian docs

 

I am pretty happy/satisfied with VA care. They seem willing to help solve problems rather than just shift you around to more Ivory Tower specialists. Civilian doctors try to limit appointments to 6 minutes. If you do not have a condition that can be diagnosed in 6 minutes or less, it can take years to get it sorted out.

Just my perception. :

 

VA closing and yet the government spends 3 million to study fat lesbians.

 

thats so little Wuss can open his new Muslim A hospitols

his moto Leave no Muslim behind

 

The VA hospitals are as bad as the postal service. I'm surprised that the whole system doesn't collapse collapse in on itself. If you haven't had the luxury of experiencing it, they provide tediously slow service. Another fact that people don't know, is that the VA has the largest health care system with over 1700 facilities. If they can't bring in the money to keep them running, unfortunately, they may need to shut a few down. They have already been failing the veterans... now we know why.

 

Young cousin of mine lived in Surry years ago, under England's wonderful NHS. She nearly died, they let an infection get to bad, sending her home with 'paracetamol', that when she nearly died they had to remove three feet of necrotic intestine that was rotting inside her......

 

Fortunately for me the VA is a non issue. Tricare and Luke AFB work fine for us.

 

SNIP

The VA said it wants authority to use up to $3 billion from the new Veterans Choice program to close the budget gap, with as much as $500 million going to treat hepatitis C. A single pill for the liver-wasting viral infection can cost up to $1,000.

The Choice program, the centerpiece of a VA overhaul approved last year, makes it easier for veterans to receive federally paid medical care from local doctors. Congress approved $10 billion over three years for the Choice program as it responded to a scandal over long waits for veterans seeking medical care and falsified records to cover up the delays.

SNIP

Oh that's rich. In another thread, a couple of days ago I said that the Choice program was nothing but a fallacy and a fake work shift. They are $1 BILLION over budget on ONE hospital in Denver!! ONE HOSPITAL!!!!

To contrast that with the private sector: the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (a world renown research and treatment complex) along with the government are putting up $5 billion over the next 20 years (4 billion by Mayo and the other billion by local and state govs) with the intention of creating 35000-45000 new jobs in the city and generating $3 billion in tax revenue over that time period.

Link to the above stats: https://www.mhta.org/mayo-announces-global-medical-center-plan/

Never let a good crisis go to waste though. Can't wait to hear how the government is the only entity big enough to solve large problems from the liberals on this board. It truly makes me sick of the potential that is wasted daily by the worthless government and its minions. And it's at all levels, not just nationally.

 

Not really giving out much info.

http://vaww.ush.va.gov/

 

The solution would be to create a health insurance program for Vets and the VA simply contracts it out to someone competent(ish...).

They can't seem to manage it on their own. They also have a propensity to hire the lowest common denominator for employees, like many other areas of government. You can call them twice and get two conflicting answers on the same topic.

Our government gives medicaid, including dental, to illegals. And over a year and half since I've been out, I still have no medical provider, no assigned team, etc, even after contacting them several times. That's alright though. We all know where the loyalties of the .gov crowd lay.

 

Our government gives medicaid, including dental, to illegals. And over a year and half since I've been out, I still have no medical provider, no assigned team, etc, even after contacting them several times. That's alright though. We all know where the loyalties of the .gov crowd lay.

I have been out for almost four years and have gotten one appointment scheduled. I could not move that appointment and they (nurse) could not understand that I had an actual JOB I had to show up for.

The VA is a pathetic joke.

 

The only way I'll set foot in one -- is during visiting hours --

 

Maybe the VA hospitals should shut down and the government can start paying for military veterans to get healthcare at private hospitals.

 

Tricare has went up since I retired 20 years ago.

Annually was $460. Now $555.84 (I pay $46.32 a month). Just waiting to see what happens when I hit 65.

 

 

Having worked in a VAH one could describe it as a large hotel with poor service and bad food...
They should close them, give the Vets a CCard type ID to go wherever they want for quality care.
The VA in many cases is just a jobs program for those who do not wish to work...

 

[Vested interest here as I am a contract junk food vendor for USPS]

Hey, at least I get my stuff from Amazon in a timely manner.

I agree, FX. Bad employees.

I think a big part of the VA problems may stem from employees. My sister worked for them, last I heard. She was a terrible employee, engaged in fraud, used to walk off the job and say "Go ahead and fire me", stuff like that.

Admittedly, she does have some health problems but she actually took a week off when, follow me here, her daughters - grandfather in law died. Because she was worried the uncles in law would be MEAN to her when dividing up the estate.

She walked off the job - did I mention the "girl" is a legal student now, in her late 20's? She was all outraged "No one understands" and got mad at me when I didn't, either.

She may have had a write up but nothing significant happened.

When I cut off contact I told her the unethical behavior, ongoing fraud, etc. were deal killers for our relationship, even before we got to the rest of it.

I think the whole fruit is rotten.

If you are a hardworking VA employee, my hat is off to you. It must seem hopeless at times.

It sure looks that way.

 

[Vested interest here as I am a contract junk food vendor for USPS]




If you are a hardworking VA employee, my hat is off to you. It must seem hopeless at times.

It sure looks that way.

Thank you. It IS hard at times. It gets to me when I get phone calls from Vets that are so frustrated that they can't talk to a live person that will help them. I seem to be the default for these calls after they have been transferred 3 or 4 times. I do the very best I can to get them to a real person to talk to. I give them the name & phone number and then give them my name and phone number to call me back if they need further assistance.
I can't even begin to express how frustrating it can be to work for the VA. I have had an internal battle for over 6 months, wanting to transfer or quit. Everyone thinks Civil Service is so great. That is not always the case. As an employee, I get treated like crap as well. So you ask, "why am I still here?" 1 - I need health insurance for my dependents, 2 - I haven't won the powerball yet. 3 - A lot of jobs have been placed on a "freeze", therefore there's no jobs to apply for at the moment, at least in my area.
My Dad is a Vietnam Vet. And I don't want him receiving care from the VA. I know some have great experiences and others not so great.
So yes, it is very frustrating. The best I can do is to treat each Vet as to how I would want my Dad treated and taken care of.

 

This varies by region, and by individual hospital. The one in Fayetteville, Arkansas has preserved a service to the veteran culture so far, fostered by some of the crustiest old doctors still in the system. God help us all when those old men and women retire.

 

Every county in every state has a hospital. Every city has at least one hospital.

There is no shortage of hospitals in the USA.

Anyone who thinks the government should run private hospitals is stupid.

The VA should 'administrate' who the vets are and provide health cards they can use when seeking medical treatment in a hospital. The VA should never operate any hospital.

 

The VA Hospitals grew up at a time when there weren't the kind of medical services that exist these days. And, often there were no medical personnel familiar with some of the problems that came with war gas injuries, or the kind of damage done by artillery wounding. Now, a century later, there are alternatives, but we've built a system that has grown into a very expensive proposition.

 

In 1919 nobody had experience dealing with gas victims, including the Military Medicine.

I understand that was an argument used for the Federal government making VA hospitals. But I do not buy it.

There is nothing that the government can run, as efficiently as private enterprise can run, and in this case there are no shortages of hospitals.

We have lots of hospitals.