Lucas
There are over 8 million veterans enrolled to receive a wide range of
services through the Veterans Administration. In 2013 alone, the VA accommodated
almost 90 million outpatient visits; that's an average of almost 250,000
appointments every day.
Those numbers should help explain why for-profit hospitals and people
like the Koch Brothers are fighting so hard to privatize veterans'
health care.
I served two tours in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I get
great care from the VA. And while we should always strive to decrease
wait times, I am not alone. According to independent polls, over 90% of
veterans approve of their inpatient and outpatient care through the VA.
In 2014 after the VA crisis, Congress passed a large veterans health care
bill that authorized funds to hire more doctors and nurses to keep up
with the influx of veterans recently returned from two new wars overseas.
But the legislation also called for a commission to develop recommendations
for improving veterans' health care (The Commission on Care). And
I am sad to tell you, a number of members of the commission are trying
to phase out all VA hospitals and clinics over the next two decades.
We can stop them.
Sign our petition calling on the "Commission on Care" to stop
trying to privatize veterans health care and instead focus on improving
access to a well-funded, properly staffed VA.
Privatizing the system would severely under-fund the department, leaving
many veterans with service-connected injuries out in the cold. Often times,
VA centers are equipped to deal with specialized care, amputations and
traumatic brain injuries, in a way a local doctor or hospital may not be.
For veterans in need of specialized care, both physical and mental, they
may not have a caregiver to turn to in their area.
But more to the point, as a RAND study recently indicated, "the quality
of care provided by the VA health system generally was as good as or better
than other health systems on most quality measures."
Sign our petition calling on the "Commission on Care" to stop
trying to privatize veterans health care and instead focus on improving
access to a well-funded, properly staffed VA.
This is not only a very real legislative issue, but it will also be an
election issue. The Koch Brothers, who have an employee on the "Commission
on Care," are going to spend untold millions on the presidential
and senate races through their shell organization, Concerned Veterans
for America.
That is why it is so important we stand together to make our voices heard.
All my best,
Rick Hegdahl
Iraq War Veteran
VoteVets