An example: Diabetics not on insulin are only provided the testing materials to test their blood sugar every other day – not every day, or multiple times a day. Wouldn’t it be a good thing for diabetics to know their blood sugar throughout the day? Before, you know, it gets worse and they have to go on insulin?

Another example: during a scheduled visit a patient complains about knee pain. The doctor says, “Well, we can take an x-ray – if you really want to.” X-ray comes back negative. Patient goes to an orthopedist, outside of the VA system – on his own, has an MRI done, and is put on a course of treatment to alleviate the symptoms (arthritis).

Long waits for appointments, prescription formularies set up by drug costs, appointments that are more like moving cattle through the facility…on and on. Once Obamacare goes fully into effect we can all take part in the glorious clusterfark that is socialized medicine! Can’t wait for you guys to join us!

If you don’t have one of the VSO’s or a lawyer familiar with the system running your case for you, then be prepared to wait years for a decision.

The VA seems to have all sorts of money for fancy posters, flyers, handouts and trimmings, for ads and commercials and videos, and parties and retreats for staff. But when it comes to the things they are supposed to be doing, they fall flat on their faces.

I’ll add this much: I’ve NEVER had anything less than wonderful and competent treatment by the medical staff or volunteers. It’s the bureaucracy, the levels of redundancy, of one side not talking to the other, that is so damned frustrating. It can take weeks to get appointments, and it’s almost impossible to see anyone without a referral from your primary care physician.

If you want to know what ObamaCare is going to be like, just take a good hard look at the VA. It’s going to be worse than that.

…I’m sure the media is following this closely!…

KOOLAID2 on November 12, 2012 at 10:41 PM

PBS NewsHour dedicated a segment to this and there is a reason not mentioned in this article. The military has been destroying service records in Iraq and Afghanistan. Often units will scrub hard drives before returning stateside. This impacts vets because those records are often how they correlate health issues with events. It’s also a huge blow for military historians.

Why? I don’t know the extent of the problem, but military retirees have come to find out that to the extent they can “document” a partial or full disability, that portion of their taxable retirement pay can be recast as nontaxable disability pay. I learned this while looking over the shoulder of my sister’s divorce lawyer. The non-military spouse needs to address the effect of a post-retirement disability claim when establishing the non-spouse’s interest in the retirement pay.

Just sayin’.