VETERANS ADMINISTRATION REFORMS THAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

Donald Trump's web site ^

[SoFloFreeper]

The Goals Of Donald J. Trump’s Veterans Plan

The current state of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is absolutely unacceptable. Over 300,000 veterans died waiting for care. Corruption and incompetence were excused. Politicians in Washington have done too little too slowly to fix it. This situation can never happen again, and when Donald J. Trump is president, it will be fixed – fast.

The guiding principle of the Trump plan is ensuring veterans have convenient access to the best quality care. To further this principle, the Trump plan will decrease wait times, improve healthcare outcomes, and facilitate a seamless transition from service into civilian life.

The Trump Plan Will:

1. Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting for backlogs. No more excessive red tape. Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.
2. Support the whole veteran, not just their physical health care, but also by addressing their invisible wounds, investing in our service members’ post-active duty success, transforming the VA to meet the needs of 21^st century service members, and better meeting the needs of our female veterans.
3. Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down, by modernizing the VA, and by empowering the doctors and nurses to ensure our veterans receive the best care available in a timely manner.

The Trump Plan Gives Veterans The Freedom To Choose And Forces The VA To Compete For Their Dollars

Politicians in Washington have tried to fix the VA by holding hearings and blindly throwing money at the problem. None of it has worked. In fact, wait times were 50% higher this summer than they were a year ago. That’s because the VA lacks the right leadership and management. It’s time we stop trusting Washington politicians to fix the problems and empower our veterans to vote with their feet.

Under a Trump Administration, all veterans eligible for VA health care can bring their veteran’s ID card to any doctor or care facility that accepts Medicare to get the care they need immediately. Our veterans have earned the freedom to choose better or more convenient care from the doctor and facility of their choice. The power to choose will stop the wait time backlogs and force the VA to improve and compete if the department wants to keep receiving veterans’ healthcare dollars. The VA will become more responsive to veterans, develop more efficient systems, and improve the quality of care because it will have no other choice.

The Trump Plan Treats The Whole Veteran

We must care for the whole veteran, not just their physical health. We must recognize that today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the Greatest Generation.

The Trump Plan Will:

1. Increase funding for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and suicide prevention services to address our veterans’ invisible wounds. Service members are five times more likely to develop depression than civilians. They are almost fifteen times more likely to develop PTSD than civilians. This funding will help provide more and better counseling and care. More funding will also support research on best practices and state of the art treatments to keep our veterans alive, healthy and whole. With these steps, the Trump plan will help the veteran community put the unnecessary stigma surrounding mental health behind them and instead encourage acceptance and treatment in our greater society.
2. Increase funding for job training and placement services (including incentives for companies hiring veterans), educational support and business loans. All Americans agree that we must do everything we can to help put our service men and women on a path to success as they leave active duty by collaborating with the many successful non-profit organizations that are already helping. Service members have learned valuable skills in the military but many need help understanding how to apply those skills in civilian life. Others know how to apply those skills but need help connecting with good jobs to support their families. Still others have an entrepreneurial spirit and are ready to start creating jobs and growing the economy. The Trump plan will strengthen existing programs or replace them with more effective ones to address these needs and to get our veterans working.
3. Transform the VA to meet the needs of 21^st century service members. Today’s veterans have very different needs than those of the generations that came before them. The VA must adapt to meet the needs of this generation of younger, more diverse veterans. The Trump plan will expand VA services for female veterans and ensure the VA is providing the right support for this new generation of veterans.
4. Better support our women veterans. The fact that many VA hospitals don’t permanently staff OBGYN doctors shows an utter lack of respect for the growing number female veterans. Under the Trump plan, every VA hospital in the country will be fully equipped with OBGYN and other women’s health services. In addition, women veterans can always choose a different OBGYN in their community using their veteran’s ID card.

The Trump Plan Will Make The VA Great Again

The VA health care program is a disaster. Some candidates want to get rid of it, but our veterans need the VA to be there for them and their families. That’s why the Trump plan will:

1. Fire the corrupt and incompetent VA executives that let our veterans down. Under a Trump Administration, there will be no job security for VA executives that enabled or overlooked corruption and incompetence. They’re fired. New leadership will focus the VA staff on delivering timely, top quality care and other services to our nation’s veterans. Under a Trump Administration, exposing and addressing the VA’s inefficiencies and shortcomings will be rewarded, not punished.
2. End waste, fraud and abuse at the VA. The Trump plan will ensure the VA is spending its dollars wisely to provide the greatest impact for veterans and hold administrators accountable for irresponsible spending and abuse. The days of $6.3 million for statues and fountains at VA facilities and $300,000 for a manager to move 140 miles are over. The Trump plan will clean up the VA’s finances so the current VA budget provides more and better care than it does now.
3. Modernize the VA. A VA with 20^th century technology cannot serve 21^st century service members and their needs. The VA has been promising to modernize for years without real results. The Trump plan will make it happen by accelerating and expanding investments in state of the art technology to deliver best-in-class care quickly and effectively. All veterans should be able to conveniently schedule appointments, communicate with their doctors, and view accurate wait times with the push of a button.
4. Empower the caregivers to ensure our veterans receive quality care quickly. Caregivers should be able to easily streamline treatment plans across departments and utilize telehealth tools to better serve their patients. As we have seen from the private sector, the potential for new, innovative technology is endless. Abandoning the wasteful and archaic mindset of the public sector will give way to tremendously effective veteran healthcare.
5. Hire more veterans to care for veterans. The more veterans we have working at the VA, the better the VA will be. They understand the unique challenges facing their community. To increase the number of veterans hired by the VA, this plan will add an additional 5 points to the qualifying scores of veterans applying for VA jobs.
6. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural and other underserved areas. The Trump Administration will embed satellite VA clinics within hospitals and other care facilities in rural and other underserved areas. This step will ensure veterans have easy access to care and local hospitals and care facilities can handle the influx of patients without backlogs while tapping the specialized knowledge of VA health specialists.

[SoFloFreeper]

I hear people say Trump doesn't give specifics and just rambles.

Here are specifics.

[darkwing104]

Sounds great.

Only one thing missing

Fire the corrupt and prosecute incompetent VA executives that let our veterans down

[oh8eleven]

Three simple ways to better serve the vets who deserve medical care:

• Close all the VA medical facilities
• Institute a voucher system for medical care
• Only vets with service connected problems get treatment

[spintreebob]

The VA Hospital situation is a direct result of the politics of the VFW and American. The Democrats saw the VA as a way to buy the votes of veterans with FREE STUFF. Republicans competed with Dems in giving free stuff.

The solution is obvious. Sell off VA Hospitals to private investors. Issue vouchers (or whatever) to Veterans which they can use anywhere they want.

My personal opinion: Vets like me who suffered no injury in Vietnam should not get any VA healthcare. Half of PTSD is due to alcohol and drugs and is not the fault of the military. Those who have true service connected issues should receive the benefit.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Proving service connection is the fly in the ointment here, if nothing else is allowed. This can take years, which could put urgently needed care in limbo.

If promises were made to enlistees that were more generous than this, every effort should be made to keep these promises. These people did more than just deliver a vote to a government.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Even if half of PTSD is from purposely careless lives, how do they know the other half is?

Babies are being thrown out with bathwater.

[oh8eleven]

Proving service connection is the fly in the ointment here ... This can take years
Well, if the system were "streamlined" as I suggested, it wouldn't take years.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The problem is getting the government to admit that something is a SRI.

[spintreebob]

Mental issues are very controversial.

Different religions and thelogians have different views.

People who believe in personal resopnsibility have different views.

The goal of all government help should be to get people off government help and self-supporting or supported by family and private charity.

From what I’ve seen of PTSD treatment it is often used as an excuse to not function inspite of the problems. But I’m no expert on PTSD. I deal with healthcare statistics in the Medicaid and private insurance world. Not so much the VA.

[Pride in the USA]

This one needs more work. How about do away with VA hospitals and allow veteran’s free access to medical care for service related injuries including counseling for service related PTSD? I think America can find the money to pay for such a program by slashing waste, fraud and abuse in our government.

[oh8eleven]

Can't disagree, however, my guess is that the vast majority of SRIs were documented while the vets were on active duty.
Other claims, e.g., Agent Orange caused cancers, are already well defined and the vet only needs to prove he was in an area sprayed with AO.

[43north]

The VA is a bloated bureaucracy. Typically there are 3-5 pencil pushers for every person involved in direct patient care. Most of what they do is create “metrics” that burden the providers without any contribution to improving veteran’s care. They then use these metrics to create graphs and pie charts to make it look like they are doing something important. If the VA was run like a private hospital 2/3 of these dues-paying union workers would be gone and the contributions to the uniparty would be greatly diminished. THAT is the big problem.

[RitaOK]

Eureka!

You make an excellent point that I have never heard remotely emphasized. It clarifies the conditions and is so simple. Good heaven’s.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Part of the problem is getting a hold of your medical records. Thankfully we did have his. But having it in your medical records and even in your exit exam does not mean that they will not drag their feet on authorizing and paying.

He had private insurance and so did I that paid for the surgery and we paid for the rest out of pocket. It has been five years and they still refuse to reimburse us for our OOP.

According to what the gentleman at DAV said you have to be diagnosed twice before separation for them to call it a SRI without a major fight.

How many times does a broken neck need to be diagnosed? Apparently twice.

How many military doctors do you have to say that you are currently fit to return to duty but to expect problems down the road? Apparently one is not enough.

[oh8eleven]

From what I’ve seen of PTSD treatment it is often used as an excuse to not function
I had a HS buddy who served as a life guard at the Army pool at Long Binh.
He put in for PTSD claiming he was never able to swim in a pool again ... reminded him of VN.

[blueunicorn6]

Build more prisons.

We’re going to need them.

The VA bureaucrats are organized crime. The thievery is astounding.

[lonevoice]

I agree. The only caveat needed, I think, is that we honor our commitments and promises to our veterans. Some may have entered military service based at least partly on those promises. I think we could do something like when prior GOP candidates talked about restructuring either social security or medicare. There needs to be a definite change date, ie, current veterans will not lose any benefits, period.

[airborne]

I guarantee that you will see a dramatic improvement in the VA system as soon as # 3 is implemented -

"Make the VA great again by firing the corrupt and incompetent VA executives who let our veterans down....

I would include any other employee who cares more for their job than the veterans.

But good luck!

The federal government employees union runs the VA right now, and they won't go down without a fight.

[MD Expat in PA]

My personal opinion: Vets like me who suffered no injury in Vietnam should not get any VA healthcare. Half of PTSD is due to alcohol and drugs and is not the fault of the military. Those who have true service connected issues should receive the benefit.

I agree with you. VA benefits should be for service related injuries or service related illnesses only. If that were the case the VA could (and of course without the bureaucracy and corruption) afford top of the line care and treatment for injured vets. While PTDS is real in some cases, I also think some use it as an excuse not to work and to receive benefits. And some went into the military with pre-existing mental health issues and drug and alcohol problems or developed them much later in life.

My late father was a WWII vet and used a combination of private insurance and Medicare after he turned 65.

But he would still go to the VA once every couple of months to see a VA doctor. Why? To get his insulin and insulin needles for free at the VA. His diabetes was in no way service related but he held the opinion – “they owe me”. One day I had to correct him and let him know that I and other taxpayers were paying for his VA provided “free” insulin.

[spintreebob]

re: some went into the military with pre-existing mental health issues

Yes, my brothers and sisters diagnosed me as crazy before I went in the Army. Now my daughters confirm that diagnosis and tell me I’m crazy.

What does the Army have to do with that?