Veterans with NO CHOICE
Our Veterans have little choice in the health care they receive from the VA. Some are forced to travel long distances and are forced to suffer while waiting long periods of time just to see a doctor. The Veterans choice program has proved to be of little improvement for our Veterans who need quality health care on a timely basis and still does not give them a true freedom of choice in their health care providers. Didn’t they fight for our right to choose?
Current Policy Has Failed To Do Enough
The current Veterans Choice program that boasts making it easier for Vets to get health care close to home is not as easy as it sounds. The program requires a Vet must be waiting at least 30 days to receive care from a VA facility or be at least 40 miles from a VA facility. There is also this disclaimer set forth by the VA. “Care in the community is only covered by VA for medical needs which have been approved by your VA physician. We can happily schedule an appointment for other medical needs, but we can only cover the cost of care related to your VA-approved health needs.” So our Veterans can only have certain medical needs??? Did we give them a choice how much risk they could take while serving in our Armed Forces? It also requires that the Vet needing care contact the VA and allow them to make the doctor’s appointment. The VA then notifies the Vet of when and where the appointment is. This creates an additional step and wait time in the process.
On February 1st 2017 we received a comment from the wife a veteran trying to use this program. Her words are disturbing:
“This program is a joke! My husband has been trying to get an appointment since Dec 19th 2016. They made him one, gave him two days notice and he told them that he couldn’t make it. They told him to make his own and call back. He did that but apparently they never did their part because he got a letter yesterday telling him he has an appointment April 12th 2017. This would be almost 120 days wait. Cannot get anyone in the VA to help.”
Our plan would eliminate all of these issues. A Veteran needing health care would simply pick up the phone, call the doctor and make an appointment. He or she then would go to the health care provider, present his or her health care card and get the care they need. The Vet would need to do nothing further but concentrate on getting well. The health care provider would file a claim just as they would for normal health insurance claims to receive payment.
This plan eliminates the need for our government to pay a salary as well as employment benefits for someone to make appointments for Veterans. This money spent could go toward funding the true needs of the program… Veteran’s health care. Our Veterans are certainly capable of making a doctor’s appointment on their own. The VA requires them to pick up the phone and call the VA now. Why not just call the doctor?
Now to the “behind the scenes part”. Our government is not a health insurance company nor should they be. The federal government currently uses health insurance companies to provide health insurance for government employees. They could also negotiate with the health insurance providers to administer this plan for veterans. This way, health care providers are already familiar with the processes to file claims and once a claim is accepted as “payable” by the insurance provider, the funds are released by the VA to that health care provider. In a sense it is no different than the government using subcontractors for defense or anything else. They simply pay the “professionals” to administer the plan for them. This eliminate so much “administration” costs that has not been successful in helping our veterans.
The Solution
Our government stepped into the health insurance circle in 2014 mandating that all US citizens have health insurance. We suggest that our government create an insurance card given to each veteran that can be used with any health care provider with no cost to the veteran. Thereby giving the Veteran the freedom to choose between health care providers in his or her area.This card would then tie into a VA supported insurance payment program to reimburse the health care provider. As with any health insurance group there would need to be prior agreements made between health care providers and the VA health Insurance agency. Funding for this program can start with the 10 Billion dollars set aside for the unsuccessful Veterans choice program. Additional funding with savings from closing the VA hospitals that can’t keep up with demand. A third option of funding comes from the penalty that citizens are forced to pay that elect not to have personal health insurance. The United States has the best health care options in the world available to the citizens. Why are our Veterans who sacrificed so much held back from those same options that our freedom gives us?