Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General McCain Plan Moves Some Out of VA Care

I was pointed to this thread for my opinion. I think that there are several ways of looking at this topic, but hysteria is probably not the right way to do it. My personal interaction with the VA medical system has been very limited. The VA was a great assistance with my mother while she was declining, and then again when she was moved to hospice care. But having been through that experience, it would have been very helpful for us to have been able to work with the hospice folks and the local pharmacy to get what she needed to pass comfortably, than drive an hour to the VA, sit in lines for hours, then get what we needed and go back to the nursing home. A VA health card, similar to the medical insurance card that I carry, would have been great.

I don’t think that the idea of a VA Medical Card, that worked like an insurance card, wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. And I can understand Senator McCain’s desire to limit the burden on the VA staff so that they can care for their in-patient responsibilities. You have to remember, the care that each of us receive is driven by the organization paying for it. Your health insurance company dictates what you get. If the VA handles care for their patients through the CA Card the same way that they do at a VA facility, then the patient should receive the same level of care.

So, pending more details on this plan, I will withhold judgment until those details are available. Hopefully the lessons learned when Tri-Care was put in some years ago would result in a better start to this program. But as usual with anything the government does, I’m not holding my breath.