Ranting

[worldoflucky]

Dear god, how can a conservative trust the government to know how to run a military, conduct political dealings and handle VA benefits, but think they cant handle medical plans.

Additionally how can those people assume that a profit driven insurance megacorporations can handle medical care and have a person's health as their priority better then the government? There is a reason they are profit driven, its not to help us with our medical costs.

Comments

[lillyflowers.livejournal.com]

Perhaps quality of care within the VA system is partially dependent on which location it is. For the people I know, they access care in NH and MA and have generally positive experiences.

[bakersgames.livejournal.com]

I think this may be the case as I have heard good stories about some of the local hospitals.

[olaflutherson.livejournal.com]

After all my service, I continue to be very, very frightened of military doctors of any variety (except perhaps reserve component dentists). I have never had good experiences and will choose to take the hit to my pocket book over using a military run medical facility. In my experience, that is pretty much a universal concept... only the truly desperate or uninitiated use the Army docs. Everyone else wants real doctors.

[bakersgames.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have worked for real doctors and you wouldn't want to pay for them. I know an Army Surgeon online (he is in Iraq right now), he seems to be more knowledgeable then the crappy docs I worked for.

But then again, for the uninsured, a crappy doctor is better then no doctor.

[olaflutherson.livejournal.com]

I think one big difference here is that you can go to the local state teaching hospitals and cost is based on your ability to pay. You get some really good care, but most folks stay away if they have the option.

Wait times can exceed 24hours (and all that goes along with being in a waiting room that long), you may get someone with no actual experience since it's a teaching hospital, mistakes do happen a bit more frequently for the same reason, etc

It is a system I know that I would personally dislike having to use. I also know good and well that my employeer would ditch our carrier and send us to any federal program it could if there were ANY way it could figure out how to do it.

While I believe there are things that the government basically has to do, I really am happier with less governement overall. In that respect, I am pushing being a Libertarian. I just don't have faith that they can do it well and that is scarry. I've seen what they have done with engineering, the military, federal highways, and the thought that they might want to make the same mistakes with health care seems to be a very real possibility.