Inside The Trump Plan - The Veterans Administration
On the Trump for President website, there is now a "policy paper" that describes his plan for the Veterans Administration. Here is most of it. I've excised some of the redundant rhetoric. My comments are in italics:
The current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is absolutely unacceptable. Over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care. Corruption and incompetence were excused. Politicians in Washington have done too little too slowly to fix it. This situation can never happen again, and when Donald J. Trump is president, it will be fixed – fast.
The Washington Post gave two out of four possible "Pinocchios" to the claim by Carly Fiorina that 307,000 veterans had died while waiting for care. This claim is highly suspect and definitely misleading. You can read the details here. While there is no question that mismanagement and behavior that might well be criminal caused dozens of veterans who were seeking healthcare to die while waiting for care, the real number is nowhere near that amount.
The guiding principle of the Trump plan is ensuring veterans have convenient access to the best quality care. To further this principle, the Trump plan will decrease wait times, improve healthcare outcomes, and facilitate a seamless transition from service into civilian life.
The transition from military service to civilian life, especially in the case of veterans who have recently served in a combat zone will never be seamless.
The only way to significantly decrease wait times is to spend more money. In this case, a great deal more money. Trump's tax plan is seriously flawed in that he proposes cutting rather than raising taxes on the wealthiest segments of the population. Did we not learn from David Stockman's flawed theories during the Reagan Administration that cutting taxes only increases deficits?
Forbes Magazine ran a piece last year that claims "...the VA healthcare system has consistently out-performed the non-VA/private sector in quality of care and patient safety. In response to criticism in the 1990s about its quality of care, the VA initiated a major reengineering effort, whose principal components included better use of information technology, measurement and reporting of performance, and integration of services. In this respect, the VA system was far ahead of a US healthcare system that was yet to embrace information technology and in the nascent stages of performance measurement." It cites an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association that provides evidence of the accuracy of the claim by Forbes.
The Trump Plan Will:
Veterans Administration Reforms That Will Make America Great Again
The Goals Of Donald J. Trump’s Veterans PlanThe current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is absolutely unacceptable. Over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care. Corruption and incompetence were excused. Politicians in Washington have done too little too slowly to fix it. This situation can never happen again, and when Donald J. Trump is president, it will be fixed – fast.
The Washington Post gave two out of four possible "Pinocchios" to the claim by Carly Fiorina that 307,000 veterans had died while waiting for care. This claim is highly suspect and definitely misleading. You can read the details here. While there is no question that mismanagement and behavior that might well be criminal caused dozens of veterans who were seeking healthcare to die while waiting for care, the real number is nowhere near that amount.
The guiding principle of the Trump plan is ensuring veterans have convenient access to the best quality care. To further this principle, the Trump plan will decrease wait times, improve healthcare outcomes, and facilitate a seamless transition from service into civilian life.
The transition from military service to civilian life, especially in the case of veterans who have recently served in a combat zone will never be seamless.
The only way to significantly decrease wait times is to spend more money. In this case, a great deal more money. Trump's tax plan is seriously flawed in that he proposes cutting rather than raising taxes on the wealthiest segments of the population. Did we not learn from David Stockman's flawed theories during the Reagan Administration that cutting taxes only increases deficits?
Forbes Magazine ran a piece last year that claims "...the VA healthcare system has consistently out-performed the non-VA/private sector in quality of care and patient safety. In response to criticism in the 1990s about its quality of care, the VA initiated a major reengineering effort, whose principal components included better use of information technology, measurement and reporting of performance, and integration of services. In this respect, the VA system was far ahead of a US healthcare system that was yet to embrace information technology and in the nascent stages of performance measurement." It cites an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association that provides evidence of the accuracy of the claim by Forbes.
The Trump Plan Will:
Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it.
No more long drives. No more waiting for backlogs. No more excessive
red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to
our country.How? No specifics.
Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members’ post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
Every single VA Medical Center already has a Women Veterans Program Manager. Every single one. They are there to support all female veterans and ensure they get the care they need. I've seen the one at the West L. A. VAMC. It's one of the newest areas in the facility, kept clean and comfortable (I sometimes have to sit in its waiting room to be seen in an office across the hall).
Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.
Disciplining and terminating the corrupt and incompetent VA employees who engaged in bad practices does need to happen. But the providers in the VA are already empowered to ensure veterans enrolled in the system get the best care available.
It's interesting that the only reason wait times are known within the VA system is that the VA started monitoring and measuring them years ago, without a directive to do so. Given how much complaining I hear about wait times experienced concerning appointment times in the private sector, the VA is at least tracking the issue and trying to improve them. Getting veterans enrolled into the system is a separate issue and does need attention. Mostly because Congress hasn't been funding the enrollment operation at a pace that matches the growth in the population of veterans.
The Trump Plan Gives Veterans The Freedom To Choose And Forces The VA To Compete For Their Dollars
Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked. In fact, wait times were 50% higher this summer than they were a year ago. That’s because the VA lacks the right leadership and management. It’s time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet.
Under a Trump Administration, all veterans eligible for VA health care can bring their veteran’s ID card to any doctor or care facility that accepts Medicare to get the care they need immediately. Our veterans have earned the freedom to choose better or more convenient care from the doctor and facility of their choice. The power to choose will stop the wait time backlogs and force the VA to improve and compete if the department wants to keep receiving veterans’ healthcare dollars. The VA will become more responsive to veterans, develop more efficient systems, and improve the quality of care because it will have no other choice.
The VA is already moving in this direction and it is probably a bad idea. The Medicare system, which Trump wants to use as a model is rife with fraud and abuse. The federal government works with an acceptable error rate of 5% in processing Medicare claims, more than four times what the private healthcare insurance sector allows. A 2014 GAO report says that more than $50 billion in improper payments were paid out by CMS, the Medicare payment agency in 2013. The same fraud and abuse will happen if Mr. Trump's proposal to give veterans unfettered access to private healthcare providers becomes reality.
The Trump Plan Treats The Whole Veteran
We must care for the whole veteran, not just their physical health. We must recognize that today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the Greatest Generation.
The Trump Plan Will:
Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members’ post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
Every single VA Medical Center already has a Women Veterans Program Manager. Every single one. They are there to support all female veterans and ensure they get the care they need. I've seen the one at the West L. A. VAMC. It's one of the newest areas in the facility, kept clean and comfortable (I sometimes have to sit in its waiting room to be seen in an office across the hall).
Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.
Disciplining and terminating the corrupt and incompetent VA employees who engaged in bad practices does need to happen. But the providers in the VA are already empowered to ensure veterans enrolled in the system get the best care available.
It's interesting that the only reason wait times are known within the VA system is that the VA started monitoring and measuring them years ago, without a directive to do so. Given how much complaining I hear about wait times experienced concerning appointment times in the private sector, the VA is at least tracking the issue and trying to improve them. Getting veterans enrolled into the system is a separate issue and does need attention. Mostly because Congress hasn't been funding the enrollment operation at a pace that matches the growth in the population of veterans.
The Trump Plan Gives Veterans The Freedom To Choose And Forces The VA To Compete For Their Dollars
Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked. In fact, wait times were 50% higher this summer than they were a year ago. That’s because the VA lacks the right leadership and management. It’s time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet.
Under a Trump Administration, all veterans eligible for VA health care can bring their veteran’s ID card to any doctor or care facility that accepts Medicare to get the care they need immediately. Our veterans have earned the freedom to choose better or more convenient care from the doctor and facility of their choice. The power to choose will stop the wait time backlogs and force the VA to improve and compete if the department wants to keep receiving veterans’ healthcare dollars. The VA will become more responsive to veterans, develop more efficient systems, and improve the quality of care because it will have no other choice.
The VA is already moving in this direction and it is probably a bad idea. The Medicare system, which Trump wants to use as a model is rife with fraud and abuse. The federal government works with an acceptable error rate of 5% in processing Medicare claims, more than four times what the private healthcare insurance sector allows. A 2014 GAO report says that more than $50 billion in improper payments were paid out by CMS, the Medicare payment agency in 2013. The same fraud and abuse will happen if Mr. Trump's proposal to give veterans unfettered access to private healthcare providers becomes reality.
The Trump Plan Treats The Whole Veteran
We must care for the whole veteran, not just their physical health. We must recognize that today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the Greatest Generation.
The Trump Plan Will:
Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services to address our
veterans’ invisible wounds. Service members are five times more
likely to develop depression than civilians. They are almost fifteen
times more likely to develop PTSD than civilians. This funding will help
provide more and better counseling and care. More funding will also
support research on best practices and state of the art treatments to
keep our veterans alive, healthy and whole. With these steps, the Trump
plan will help the veteran community put the unnecessary stigma
surrounding mental health behind them and instead encourage acceptance
and treatment in our greater society.
Increase funding for job training and placement services
(including incentives for companies hiring veterans), educational
support and business loans. All Americans agree that we must do
everything we can to help put our service men and women on a path to
success as they leave active duty by collaborating with the many
successful non-profit organizations that are already helping. Service
members have learned valuable skills in the military but many need help
understanding how to apply those skills in civilian life. Others know
how to apply those skills but need help connecting with good jobs to
support their families. Still others have an entrepreneurial spirit and
are ready to start creating jobs and growing the economy. The Trump plan
will strengthen existing programs or replace them with more effective
ones to address these needs and to get our veterans working.
Given that Mr. Trump's flawed tax plan will cut taxes on the wealthiest segments of the U. S. tax base, where in the world will he get all the money for his proposed increases in funding? In fact, VA funding over the last ten fiscal years has more than doubled. Source: VA report
Transform the VA to meet the needs of 21st century service members.
Today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the
generations that came before them. The VA must adapt to meet the needs
of this generation of younger, more diverse veterans. The Trump plan
will expand VA services for female veterans and ensure the VA is
providing the right support for this new generation of veterans.
Better support our women veterans. The fact that
many VA hospitals don’t permanently staff OBGYN doctors shows an utter
lack of respect for the growing number female veterans. Under the Trump
plan, every VA hospital in the country will be fully equipped with OBGYN
and other women’s health services. In addition, women veterans can
always choose a different OBGYN in their community using their veteran’s
ID card.
If there isn't a permanent OB/GYN doctor assigned to a VA medical center, there should be. Other than this, the presence of a Womens Program Manager at every VAMC shows this is an area being address. On the VA website, they claim that any female veteran who is served at a VAMC without OB/GYN services can obtain care at VA expense in the private sector.
posted by me at 4:09 PM
<< Home