At I Am Simon Jester, “prof” who is a disabled vet, describes his “free” VA healthcare:
The VA had no agenda here. They weren’t deliberately trying to make my life miserable. They just didn’t care. They are trying to handle a gigantic mass of patients, some of whom cannot be fixed without surgery that they don’t have the budget to perform. They have to deal daily with patients who may not have finished high school, might be senile due to old age, could be drug addled or mind melted from illicit drugs or alcohol. So they are forced by neccessity to treat every single one of their patients the exact same way. They are forced to assume that anyone who comes through their doors is the lowest common denominator just to save themselves some precious time for the next 50 burned out old vets who come through the door today.
I’ve recently spent two years in the care of VERY advanced and caring private doctors. And they got it wrong for about half that time. But I could try other doctors, and so could they when they were stumped. I’m not eager at all for this “free” stuff.
The VA should act as private insurance for those in its care. Only in cases where special knowledge related to veteran (perhaps certain types of trauma or psychiatric) should they develop very excellent expertise and directly serve this population.