I am sure that you have heard all sorts of bad reports about the VA. I’d like to give you a different perspective as I left a VA hospital this morning. The reason why I was there is not important. I would like to tell you about a couple of men I met there. The first man was there with his wife and daughter. He was getting a replacement for his artificial leg. He was really pleased with the service the VA was providing him. The other man was trying out a new artificial arm that did all sorts of amazing things. It really pleased him the VA was willing to provide a new arm for him. I am not sure about his age, but he was injured in the middle east. His face had been destroyed by fire making it hard to identify his age.
There is something you need to understand about the VA. If you were injured in the line of duty, you go to the head of the line. It’s called “service-related” injury or disability. They do treat all veterans. You do not have to be injured or disabled because of your service. They provide full-service healthcare. You will have to pay a co-pay for any prescription, but it’s less than $10 regardless of the cost of the prescription. If the VA does not have the specialty you need at hand, they will refer you to another hospital and pay for it. The draft ended in 1973. Up to that point in time most men served. That means there is a huge number of older veterans and with rising medical costs they are turning to the VA. There are also some interesting things that seem to make the VA unresponsive. For example, a huge number of people retired to Arizona and they overwhelm the VA system. Congress was well aware of that but provided no funds for additional facilities and staff.
We should all be proud of the services the VA provides our veterans. I know that from firsthand knowledge. They have done everything in the world to help me including sending me to the Mayo Clinic when their efforts didn’t seem to provide an answer and where they thought I would get the best possible treatment.
