Taxes aren’t the answer, non rocket scientists. Far more money could be garnered getting rid of entitlements and those people would then be able to contribute to the economy. But, I keep forgetting your educations didn’t include economics.
Why do we need the VA? Couldn’t the vet’s be given insurance cards to be paid for by the government at current levels of coverage thru the VA? That is: what ever benefits the veterans are due whether 100% or by percentage of cost.Then the actual cost to the government would be lessened due to not having to build and maintain facilities, personnel with their salaries and incumbent benefits.The payment rates to the providers would be set and the providers would not be allowed to bill the patient more than those rates. Now, I know there will be detractors that will say that as with Medicare many doctors won’t accept those patients. However, I would hope that the rates would be / should be at the level that current insurance companies negotiate.I am sure there are more issues that I am not aware of due to not being eligible for VA services, but I believe this solution would be an improvement to the current horror stories.
Lisa: going back to Reagan and Bush 41, you should speak to your Republican friends who spent all their time screwing vets, from Viet Nam era to today, by denying claims, reducing budgets, starting wars, installing incompetents as political appointees, and yes, ORDERING VA to reject ALL veterans’s claims, making them go to the Court of Appeals (yep, that’s exactly what GHW did, and Clinton reversed that order with his first VA act as President.).
VA is now buried with vets, and yes, a lot of the more recent ones seeking PTSD are only trying for the money, not treatement, and it’s screwing over the legitimate claimants. Hmm, those “fakes” also tend to be of the “get government off my back” types.
Alinsky never said most of what the “righties” quote him as saying. Hmm, yet even though they’re both on tape the righties now deny that Rumsfled and Cheney BOTH said “Saddam has WMDs and we know exactly where they are.”
Making the effort to “quote” someone, out of context, and completely changing the meaning is a key to false propaganda, or “Biblical scholarship”. Oh, wait, same thing for latter day “interpreters”.
^^^ And Wise of course has no answer.Funny that even tho Barrak Hussien has been prez for the past 6 years, the sheep still try to blame Republicans.Too funny.
I can tell that by most of the comments here, you guys have never worked with the VA on anything. I can tell you from first-hand experience it’s an infuriating process. You try to call throughout the day, and you are told, “All service representatives are busy at this time. Please try again later.” And it hangs up on you. If by some chance you get into the hold que, you sit on hold for anywhere between 45-90 minutes waiting to speak to a human being. If you are so lucky to speak to someone who is alive, they are powerless to help you, as they just read the notes in the file. If you need something changed — for instance, if you need your disability payments resumed because you are going to lose your house — you have to submit this specific form, file an appeal, and wait weeks for it to be assigned to a claims processor. You then get to go onto VA.gov and send documents to them 2-3 times before they confirm receipt, and then you get to wait 30-60 days for them to send you a letter explaining their decision. You try to call in, but … well… see above. At no time are you ever able to speak to a claims processor. Everything is done by proxy. And this, my friends, is the problem with the VA. It has nothing to do with funding. It has to do with the very architecture of the VA. You have people making decisions behind the veil of the curtain, and you never get to speak with them. There is no accountability when the mistake is on the end of the VA for making a decision with erroneous information. And when you ask for a copy of the documents they used to make the decision, they refuse to provide that to you. There are corporations like Geico, Progressive, and State Farm (just to name a few) that handle call volume that blows the VA out of the water, and they do it with a smile. You talk to the people who are directly responsible for your claim. Any fix that does not restructure their call centers and claims processes to give immediate feedback and sharing of documentation will not fix the problem. And hence the band-aid portion of this toon.
The left hand tries to giveth through VA to our veterans, and the right hand hath taken away- for decades.
It’s just hilarious to hear “righties” keep attacking VA, when yes, it has been, by a HUGE majority, REPUBLICAN admnistrations and politicians who’ve refused to adequately STAFF the VA, no it isn’t JUST about the money, but also the way Congressional Republicans have micro-managed many agencies into submission with riders on many “must pass” bills.
I’ve run into the frustration of expecially claims processing, as has my son. But, there again, most of the problems I’ve seen with friends and family have been because of interference run by the PENTAGON pencil pushers, not VA.
It is important to note those staff members,how they got their jobs, and whether they’re there to serve their masters, or the veteran. I’ve found VA staff to overwhelmingly be working for the veterans. Pentagon? You’re kidding, right?
How much money has been, and will be spent on the political campaigns during the next 18 months? How much money are these wealthy people giving to the many privately-funded groups who help combat veterans, who have been hurt overseas, looking after their interests?
sw10mm about 9 years ago
Taxes aren’t the answer, non rocket scientists. Far more money could be garnered getting rid of entitlements and those people would then be able to contribute to the economy. But, I keep forgetting your educations didn’t include economics.
whiteheron about 9 years ago
Why do we need the VA? Couldn’t the vet’s be given insurance cards to be paid for by the government at current levels of coverage thru the VA? That is: what ever benefits the veterans are due whether 100% or by percentage of cost.Then the actual cost to the government would be lessened due to not having to build and maintain facilities, personnel with their salaries and incumbent benefits.The payment rates to the providers would be set and the providers would not be allowed to bill the patient more than those rates. Now, I know there will be detractors that will say that as with Medicare many doctors won’t accept those patients. However, I would hope that the rates would be / should be at the level that current insurance companies negotiate.I am sure there are more issues that I am not aware of due to not being eligible for VA services, but I believe this solution would be an improvement to the current horror stories.
superposition about 9 years ago
http://qz.com/74271/income-tax-rates-since-1913/
Dtroutma about 9 years ago
Lisa: going back to Reagan and Bush 41, you should speak to your Republican friends who spent all their time screwing vets, from Viet Nam era to today, by denying claims, reducing budgets, starting wars, installing incompetents as political appointees, and yes, ORDERING VA to reject ALL veterans’s claims, making them go to the Court of Appeals (yep, that’s exactly what GHW did, and Clinton reversed that order with his first VA act as President.).
VA is now buried with vets, and yes, a lot of the more recent ones seeking PTSD are only trying for the money, not treatement, and it’s screwing over the legitimate claimants. Hmm, those “fakes” also tend to be of the “get government off my back” types.
Dtroutma about 9 years ago
Alinsky never said most of what the “righties” quote him as saying. Hmm, yet even though they’re both on tape the righties now deny that Rumsfled and Cheney BOTH said “Saddam has WMDs and we know exactly where they are.”
Making the effort to “quote” someone, out of context, and completely changing the meaning is a key to false propaganda, or “Biblical scholarship”. Oh, wait, same thing for latter day “interpreters”.
38lowell about 9 years ago
AZ vets still have problems.Why join/fight, if you don’t get needed care?A national shame!
ConserveGov about 9 years ago
^^^ And Wise of course has no answer.Funny that even tho Barrak Hussien has been prez for the past 6 years, the sheep still try to blame Republicans.Too funny.
Wraithkin about 9 years ago
I can tell that by most of the comments here, you guys have never worked with the VA on anything. I can tell you from first-hand experience it’s an infuriating process. You try to call throughout the day, and you are told, “All service representatives are busy at this time. Please try again later.” And it hangs up on you. If by some chance you get into the hold que, you sit on hold for anywhere between 45-90 minutes waiting to speak to a human being. If you are so lucky to speak to someone who is alive, they are powerless to help you, as they just read the notes in the file. If you need something changed — for instance, if you need your disability payments resumed because you are going to lose your house — you have to submit this specific form, file an appeal, and wait weeks for it to be assigned to a claims processor. You then get to go onto VA.gov and send documents to them 2-3 times before they confirm receipt, and then you get to wait 30-60 days for them to send you a letter explaining their decision. You try to call in, but … well… see above. At no time are you ever able to speak to a claims processor. Everything is done by proxy. And this, my friends, is the problem with the VA. It has nothing to do with funding. It has to do with the very architecture of the VA. You have people making decisions behind the veil of the curtain, and you never get to speak with them. There is no accountability when the mistake is on the end of the VA for making a decision with erroneous information. And when you ask for a copy of the documents they used to make the decision, they refuse to provide that to you. There are corporations like Geico, Progressive, and State Farm (just to name a few) that handle call volume that blows the VA out of the water, and they do it with a smile. You talk to the people who are directly responsible for your claim. Any fix that does not restructure their call centers and claims processes to give immediate feedback and sharing of documentation will not fix the problem. And hence the band-aid portion of this toon.
Dtroutma about 9 years ago
The left hand tries to giveth through VA to our veterans, and the right hand hath taken away- for decades.
It’s just hilarious to hear “righties” keep attacking VA, when yes, it has been, by a HUGE majority, REPUBLICAN admnistrations and politicians who’ve refused to adequately STAFF the VA, no it isn’t JUST about the money, but also the way Congressional Republicans have micro-managed many agencies into submission with riders on many “must pass” bills.
I’ve run into the frustration of expecially claims processing, as has my son. But, there again, most of the problems I’ve seen with friends and family have been because of interference run by the PENTAGON pencil pushers, not VA.
It is important to note those staff members,how they got their jobs, and whether they’re there to serve their masters, or the veteran. I’ve found VA staff to overwhelmingly be working for the veterans. Pentagon? You’re kidding, right?
moosemin about 9 years ago
How much money has been, and will be spent on the political campaigns during the next 18 months? How much money are these wealthy people giving to the many privately-funded groups who help combat veterans, who have been hurt overseas, looking after their interests?