VA Health Care

The VA is in the news, so I thought I'd comment on that. As a state representative there won't be much I can do to fix the problems with this federal program, but I'll certainly use the pulpit to express my views and help affected vets when I can.  I am in the VA system, so I am familiar with how the system works or doesn't work. I do not have any disabilities, service connected or otherwise, and I have my own insurance, so any problems I have had are tiny compared to those that depend on the VA for vital care. I still feel qualified to comment.  The medical care available to me in the service was very low quality. The best doctor I saw while I was in was, no kidding, a DVM. Yes, a veterinarian. Medical care in the VA is no better. Some get good doctors and good care, but many do not. It is just luck of the draw. There simply aren't enough good doctors in the system to care for everyone, and the management system is so inefficient it makes quality care nearly impossible. The short term solution, I believe, is to scrap the system as it is entirely. Turn VA healthcare into an insurance program, and sell off all the physical assets with the possible exception of facilities to be used for long term/ hospice care. This will allow veterans to use any participating doctor of their choosing. Levels of insurance, deductibles, co-payments, etc... would be based on %disability and financial need, much as they currently are.  This would be a short term fix.  In the long term we have bigger problems. We simply aren't producing enough doctors to meet the needs of our population. The problems in the VA now will soon be plaguing everyone.  Until the healthcare system is drastically changed to adequately reward doctors for their efforts, and our education system is changed to produce people capable of becoming doctors, there will be nothing we can do to prevent this.