Quote:
Originally Posted by Munchkin03
Whoa, turn it down a notch. Note that I said I couldn't speak for Tricare, but that the VA is more problematic than most of your typical private insurers. You said yourself that you weren't familiar with how the VA works for those with service-related illnesses and injuries.
My father has combat-related injuries. He has private insurance from his civilian life, but since his illnesses are related to his service, he has access to the VA hospitals which are supposed to treat those specific injuries and illnesses. Sometimes he goes to the VA clinic, but for most of the big ones--including cancer--he has chosen to be treated by his own doctor and pay for it with private insurance, even though the VA would be free. VA clinics are woefully understaffed and often treat many, many people over a large geographic area. If you had the choice between going to a doctor in an office close to your home, and driving at least an hour to go to a crowded clinic to see a doctor (or more likely a physician's assistant) for 15 minutes, which would you pick?
It's not right that it's come to this. My dad can do this because he has private insurance. Many others in his siutation don't have that luxury.
|
I was only speaking from personal experience so that's why I qualified my statements both times by writing "our family" in my posts.
We do choose to use an MTF that is about 45-90 minutes away depending on traffic. Recently I had to go there on a daily basis during rush hour for about 6 weeks. We could go on the economy to our various doctors and specialists but having all our medical needs addressed at one facility where the specialists work together AND not having to deal with insurance paperwork.co-payments, etc was and is the ideal decision for our family.
That all being said, I do not believe that all VA Hospitals are of equal caliber and I absolutely do believe that not all servicemembers are receiving the care they deserve ie the WRAMC expose.