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THE V.A.--AN AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAT WORKS
I just finished watching the video "Health, Money and Fear" that was made by members of the U.S. healthcare system who are presenting some viable alternatives to the notion that the solution to our healthcare crisis is to simply throw more money at the system we already have in place. They quite rightly point out that this would only reward a failing system and ensure that conditions will go from bad to worse. I was especially intrigued with the high praise that is given to the Veterans Administration, as presenting a viable alternative to the current healthcare system. As the video points out, the VA gets much higher marks than our current healthcare system in several areas--quality of primary care, medical-record-keeping, affordability, accessibility, patient satisfaction, and other areas. This flies in the face of those who assure us that only our current system can provide the level of care demanded by our citizens, and offers credible evidence that existing government-administered VA care is far better and more affordable than what currently passes for healthcare among the civilian population. Those who claim that government cannot properly administer or provide a high quality healthcare alternative to our current healthcare system should carefully study the VA model and acquaint themselves with the reality of VA healthcare across this country. Certainly, if Medicare were to require all of its recipients to seek care in VA-provided healthcare facilities, it would strain that system beyond its current abilities. However, a government healthcare option which patterned itself after the VA system and made use of VA administrative models and parameters would certainly present a better and more viable alternative than our current system provides. Let's encourage our government to pursue efforts to model our healthcare system after a system which has proven its ability to provide better and higher-quality care at a more reasonable cost than its counterparts in the civilian-administered and profit-driven healthcare system. Any who doubt that government is capable of providing high-quality healthcare should ask friends in the military which system they prefer--the VA, or ours--and listen carefully to their responses. You will be amazed by their answers and better-able to dialogue with government-detractors. Give government-administered healthcare a chance--it deserves a chance, based on its record with the VA system, as so many of our veterans will gladly testify.
Mark Overt Skilbred
