Now, we have to keep going….

As a Veteran, amputee of Vietnam and a user of the V.A. Medical services since 1967, I have a suggestion.

Medical service at the V.A. can be terrible and worse. There are bad doctors and supervisors and when you try and complain you get stonewall by the “Patients Advisory” but officially called the Patients Advocacy”. My suggestion is to start a rating system for Doctors and other healthcare workers in the V.A. System. Something like RateMDs.com.

It’s time for accountability from the V.A. Healthcare system by it’s customers, us. If we can get just one bad Doctor or Healthcare providers out of the system we are saving lives, ours.

I suggest the listing of the Doctors name, Medical Center or Out Patient Clinic where you had the problem, the Clinic, and the problem. This will provide information to our brothers and sisters in arms of Doctors to avoid. The Patients Bill of Rights give use the power to refuse a Doctor or other provider of health services that we are not satisfied with.

I wouldn’t permit the Doctors to respond, I’m not suggesting a forum. Like making a complaint with in the system, it becomes a personal issue and thus confidential, you don’t know if any disciplinary action took place or not. Out here it is for all to see, complete transparency in the light of day.

ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
11ACR, Vietnam 1966

Terry

Now I’m on your side. Can you provide me with some places I can go to substantiate your claims? I am always suspect when I hear the words “conspiracy” and “government” in the same sentence. Our governement (regardless of who’s in power) is not competent enough to manage a conspiracy. But I’d like to know more about possible abuses. To me, serving our country is the most honorable thing any your person can do and I want to do whatever I can to support our Veterans. I have been blessed to not need any of the benefits that are available to me, but I’d like to fight for those Veterans less fortunate than myself.

The earlier article, the ones that hit the papers from the house committee on veterans affairs are based on a flood of admissions of misconduct which are not being adequately addressed.

it is down to human values

we can’t simply destroy people

watching TV last night…the episode of The Beast dealt with this.

it will be rerun

see it

Other than "defense spending" which is coded language for sending money out of the General Revenue Fund into the stock portfolios of the elites, both Right and Left wing, spending on veterans is one of the largest expenditures the U.S. government has.  Only two weeks ago, Senator Akaka blatantly admitted that as head of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, he completely understood that we are so expensive an outlay that money has to be rationed to us.  We cannot get everything the government owes us because we would break the bank.  That is his view.  Correctly or uncorrectly, that is the view of a Senator who is normally one of our strongest backers.  We cost too much.  That is pretty much the whole story here.

Now, what can we do about this?  Well, other than constantly requesting our share of the pie, not much.  But we all must understand that at some point, we are seen as whiners.  I have set in both GOP committee meetings (as a young with my grandfather and other relatives) and in Democratic Party meetings (as an active Left Wing Democrat myself) and the parties are not very different on the subject of veterans’s support. We cost too much and neither party sees us as so essential to their agenda that they care very much about paying us what we are owed.  Trust me, they will not move unless they are embarrassed into it and we threaten their agenda somehow by exposing them.  They must be forced to pay us.  It is really that simple.

Now, with that said, how do we force them?