In a last-minute effort to calm the nerves of skeptical military veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday night that its health care system would remain untouched by ongoing reform efforts.
"The secretary of veterans affairs would continue to maintain sole authority over the system and for enhancing the quality and access for all eligible veterans," VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth wrote on the White House blog Thursday night. The Pentagon's TRICARE program would also continue as normal, she said.
"Those who are covered by TRICARE would meet the shared responsibility requirement for individuals to have insurance, thereby exempting such members of the uniformed services and dependents from being assessed any sort of penalty," Duckworth wrote.
The White House and Congressional Democrats have fought back for months against claims by Republicans -- most notably Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) during his election campaign -- that current health-care legislation would scale back or cut the military health care program. Such claims are a big concern, especially for elderly vets.
In her blog post Duckworth said VA frequently hears from veterans concerned about the fate of the VA health-care system. Indeed The Eye watched her field such questions during an October meeting with older veterans in Virginia.
Rightardia comment: TRICARE is available to military retirees and is similar to Medicare. Most veterans who are eligible for TRICARE, would not use the VA medical system (VAMC) because veterans with TRICARE can be served by private doctors. However, some vets will use the VA's pharmacy services to cut down drug costs.
The VA makes national buys for drugs which requires the drug companies to compete for the VA drug contracts. This substantially lowers the cost of pharmacy drugs. Canada purchases drugs for its citizens in a similar manner.
When the major retired from the Air Force, he was not impressed with VA medical services. Vets often receive medical services from physicians assistants (PA) rather than real doctors.
The Major went to the VA Triage after a night of abdominal pain and was turned away. He eventually went to a local hospital who quickly diagnosed him with a atrophied gall bladder that required emergency surgery to be removed.
The Major used a local VA clinic afterwards and when a tech noticed his low pulse, the PA immediately disputed it. The Major had been diagnosed with Bradycardia years earlier and knew the tech took the pulse correctly.
Eventually The Major was diagnosed by a private doctor with Hypothyroidism. Cardiac problems like Bardycardia are not uncommon in people with hypothyroidism. After the second VA failure, the major stopped going to the VA medical centers and clinics when he was ill.
The Major suggests that any vet who gets medical services from the VA should insist on a real doctor.
source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/03/white_house_to_vets_va_health.html
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