Senate Votes 93-3 to Fund VA Expansion

This is one of the largest problems at the VA. They hire many doctors from other countries and once they get some experience and their first job offer from outside the VA - they bolt. I was seeing a pain management specialist at the Wilmington VA who after a 20 minute examination prescribed a medication that totally eliminated crippling neck pain that I had dealt with for over a decade. She left close to a year ago and has not been replaced and now I hear that she is never going to be replaced. The care has been transferred to my already overworked primary care physician at the outpatient clinic. He has confided to me that he has absolutely no extra training in pain management. I told him to just keep my prescription coming and I'd be fine.
There is absolutely nothing more disheartening than that. It's soul crushing.
That's something, at least. If you ever need it, you'll be glad that option exists.
Well, they are beginning to change, now. I'm not trying to be a smart ass when I suggest that you attempt to read at least a synopsis of the legislation to try to ascertain which provisions are going to directly impact your level of care. It is up to you to develop a plan based on the upcoming changes that will allow you to get the most out of them. Knowledge truly is power, but unfortunately you need to be your own best advocate. Truth be told, you need to approach this as if no one else cares whether or not you live or die. That's the reality you must face. If you wait for people to inform you the day may come where you risk your own life simply by not being up on the benefits available to you.

The reason why I continually laud the care I get at the VA is because I learned all I could in how to maximize what the system had to offer me and I make sure that my caregivers know that I am fully cognizant of what is available to me and that I refuse to accept anything less than 100% of what I have coming. I have no problem looking them in the eye and informing them that when I volunteered for Vietnam at the age of 16 that I gave 100% and that I demand nothing less than a 100% effort from them.

Again, today, someone accused me of being a "dick" because I refuse to let anyone get away with things that most people would let go right by them. Damn right I'm a dick. lol You can call me a dick as long as you're giving me what I need. I could care less how I am perceived by another humanoid as long as my needs are met. Until you adopt this stance with the VA you will never get the best treatment available to you. I can assure you of this. Trying to be 'Mr. Nice Guy' is for losers. Don't get me wrong. I treat everyone at the VA with dignity, respect, appreciation, patience and I'm as 'nice as pie,' until the precise second that I know they are falling down on the job. Then I read them the riot act, tell them that their superior will be getting a call, first from me and then from my Congressman unless they immediately get their ass in gear and deliver the quality care that the nation promised me. Yeah - I'm a dick, alright. lol

Most do care - especially if they have served, themselves. Still, they are never going to care as much as you need because they have hundreds of people to be concerned about, but you only have yourself.

Do the math.

Cheers. - Frank

I doubt you'll ever see a figure higher than that in any healthcare survey.
The nation should not make promises that it can't afford to keep. If you can pay for war (which we didn't, actually) you need to pay for the aftermath of war. Plain and simple.
That's totally bogus. I believe in calling out both sides when they screw up. Not placing blame at the feet of those that are screwing around with the lives of millions of veterans is what gives them the moxie to keep doing what they do. I'm sorry, but the folks on the Right are always ready, willing and able to send our troops off to war but they forget about them after they come home.

It ain't BS. It's a demonstrable fact. Those that want to not blame "which party" screwed up, are generally aligned with the party that screwed up. Sorry. From where I sit I see it every day and I call out the Left whenever they screw up, also. Fair is fair. I'm no apologist for the Left.

Bottom line - the Left said, "Yes" and the Right said, "No." Facts are facts.

Cheers. - Frank

I'm afraid this thread is doomed. As soon as it goes red/blue partisan politics, it's not going to live long.

Frank -

If that were going to happen there would have been an immediate shift of investigative resources to the VA when this first became public.

We know that didn't happen - and won't happen. There will be coverups and finger pointing (always pointing away from self, of course).

I don't think there is ONE person responsible. I think there are TWO administrations that share quite a bit of the responsibility.

We have expanded the reach of the VA and the health conditions the system is to treat. It has served admins of both parties to talk up the VA system while not looking too closely into it.

Everyone knows there are people "at fault" but it's not a few people - it's a political culture that makes statements of "we are doing this" and counts on those in jobs beneath them to make it happen. It hasn't been "happening". Placing blame isn't nearly as important as fixing the problems.

I can't help but think if the VA were run like a military unit - it would work pretty well. Instead, it's run like a civilian business with union workers and people take shortcuts and ignore regulations and there is little to no accountability demanded by those at the top.