Latest Trump Plan to Kill the VA

[McCamy Taylor]

http://prospect.org/blog/tapped/trump-administration-moves-forward-on-va-privatization

The plans is simple. Say you want to prevent veteran suicides. Everyone in Congress will vote for that. Then, pass a law requiring the VA to use it’s existing budget to provide unlimited mental health care with the private sector psychiatrist of his or her choice with no VA oversight. That means if the nation’s psychiatrists want to start seeing veterans three times a week for intensive Freudian psychoanalysis the VA pays. If they want to prescribe rest cures at mental health spas for up to 12 months, the VA pays. And since none of the private sector mental health providers wants to have a patient commit suicide, everyone who has ptsd depression and other severe illnesses will be punted back to the VA which will have no money left to treat veterans in need because all of its money will go for private sector waste and fraud. No insurance plan in this nation provides unlimited any kind of care without oversight—-because it is a recipe for grand larceny (Trumps kind of business). We have all seen it with Medicare and Medicaid and they have strict oversight. What will happen when those who send in the bills do not have to prove that anything useful was done? A whole lot of money will be paid to people doing nothing.

If this goes through, the VA will quickly go bankrupt and veterans who rely upon its currently vast mental health service will have no help at all. Right now any veteran can walk into any VA mental health facility and be seen now. There is a well staffed 24 hour emergency line. There are social workers who will find you a place to stay. It is easy to get admitted for inpatient drug and alcohol rehab (try doing that with a private insurance plan)

I’ll bet that some enterprising Wall Street Bro somewhere is already setting up a chain of bogus mental health clinics designed to milk the VA for every dollar it has. Because that is the kind of value Trump stands for—-steal from those in need like our veterans and give to those who write big campaign deals nation checks.

[mountain grammy]

1. K & R and thanks for posting.

Hard to keep up these days.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

2. As you well know...

The VA does not only take care of mental health problems. If what is speculated upon here materializes there will be plenty of sucides from the rest of the veterans being covered for other health conditions. If you can’t afford the care elsewhere and can’t live with your condition it’s an honorable way out.
I’ll be on that list.

[Clarity2]

3. This keeps sending up red flags

that the election fix is in.

Hes alienated:
Minorities
Women
LGBT
Unions
and soon to come all the veterans & current military members

So who is there left to vote for him? Not much.

[world wide wally]

4. One thing you can count on is that they won't increase funding

[braddy]

5. The VA sucks, I use it and it is rife with incompetence and indifference.