Privitizing military bennies

[Ravi]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

 

[Valerie]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

Do you think it's a bad idea...?

Over barbecue and sweet tea with 12 veterans here Friday, Mitt Romney appeared to brainstorm a fundamental change to the way the nation pays back the people who put their lives on the line in the military.

Talking with the veterans about the challenge of navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to get their health care benefits after they leave active duty, Romney suggested a way to improve the system would be to privatize it.

“Sometimes you wonder, would there be someway to introduce some private sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose whether they want to go on the government system or the private system and then it follows them, like what happens with schools in Florida where they have a voucher that follows them. Who knows.”

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...-his-way-to-privatizing-veterans-benefits.php

As long as that safety net is always there for them, why not..?

 

[uscitizen]

Well we seem to have privatized quite a bit of our military and war operations anyway.

 

[Old Rocks]

Hmmm....... Our private system of medicine costs twice as much per citizen, does not cover all of our citizens, and has much poorer results than the systems of Canada, Japan, Taiwan, France, Germany, and even little Costa Rica.

But it will deliver better results if we just turn over Veteran care to them? We kind of did that at Walter Reed, remember?

 

[del]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

Do you think it's a bad idea...?

Over barbecue and sweet tea with 12 veterans here Friday, Mitt Romney appeared to brainstorm a fundamental change to the way the nation pays back the people who put their lives on the line in the military.

Talking with the veterans about the challenge of navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to get their health care benefits after they leave active duty, Romney suggested a way to improve the system would be to privatize it.

“Sometimes you wonder, would there be someway to introduce some private sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose whether they want to go on the government system or the private system and then it follows them, like what happens with schools in Florida where they have a voucher that follows them. Who knows.”

Romney Spit-Balls His Way To Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits | TPM 2012

As long as that safety net is always there for them, why not..?

i think if i came back from iraq with my legs blown off, i wouldn't be in the mood to take a voucher and go look for the lowest bidder.

the country has a moral obligation to take care of veterans. this should be one of the last areas where we look to cheap out, imo.

 

[uscitizen]

Hmmm....... Our private system of medicine costs twice as much per citizen, does not cover all of our citizens, and has much poorer results than the systems of Canada, Japan, Taiwan, France, Germany, and even little Costa Rica.

But it will deliver better results if we just turn over Veteran care to them? We kind of did that at Walter Reed, remember?

But how will the private economy grow unless we pump more tax dollars into it?

 

[WillowTree]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

I didn't like it when obie noodle suggested it and I don't like it now.

 

[Valerie]

I could be convinced if I heard a good argument against doing it.




Being a pragmatist it helps when things become more likely to get done...If the numbers add up what is OK...? Maybe in principle we should prioritize our tax dollars toward such and privatize OTHER things...?

 

[Sunshine]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

Do you think it's a bad idea...?

Over barbecue and sweet tea with 12 veterans here Friday, Mitt Romney appeared to brainstorm a fundamental change to the way the nation pays back the people who put their lives on the line in the military.

Talking with the veterans about the challenge of navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to get their health care benefits after they leave active duty, Romney suggested a way to improve the system would be to privatize it.

“Sometimes you wonder, would there be someway to introduce some private sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose whether they want to go on the government system or the private system and then it follows them, like what happens with schools in Florida where they have a voucher that follows them. Who knows.”

Romney Spit-Balls His Way To Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits | TPM 2012

As long as that safety net is always there for them, why not..?

i think if i came back from iraq with my legs blown off, i wouldn't be in the mood to take a voucher and go look for the lowest bidder.

the country has a moral obligation to take care of veterans. this should be one of the last areas where we look to cheap out, imo.

 

[Sunshine]

I could be convinced if I heard a good argument against doing it.




Being a pragmatist it helps when things become more likely to get done...If the numbers add up what is OK...? Maybe in principle we should prioritize our tax dollars toward such and privatize OTHER things...?

When they privatized Medicaid in Tennessee and called it Tenncare, the money was absconded with and the system was broke in less than 3 years. Also, privatizing prisons all over the country has stopped because states can run their own prisons cheaper than they can pay someone else to do it. I worked for one of those companies that provided health care to prisons. They lost 3 BIG contracts at one time a couple of years ago and the company almost folded. But the reality id that states can pay their own people to run prisons cheaper than they can pay private companies to do it. The VA already uses a lot of 'fee basis' providers. But if we sent our veterans packing with a few vouchers we would be doing them a great disservice.

 

[Valerie]

So it is "cheaping out" just by virtue of not being paid for by the Government as opposed to being insured by the Government...?

 

[Valerie]

I could be convinced if I heard a good argument against doing it.




Being a pragmatist it helps when things become more likely to get done...If the numbers add up what is OK...? Maybe in principle we should prioritize our tax dollars toward such and privatize OTHER things...?

When they privatized Medicaid in Tennessee and called it Tenncare, the money was absconded with and the system was broke in less than 3 years. Also, privatizing prisons all over the country has stopped because states can run their own prisons cheaper than they can pay someone else to do it. I worked for one of those companies that provided health care to prisons. They lost 3 BIG contracts at one time a couple of years ago and the company almost folded. But the reality id that states can pay their own people to run prisons cheaper than they can pay private companies to do it. The VA already uses a lot of 'fee basis' providers. But if we sent our veterans packing with a few vouchers we would be doing them a great disservice.

I don't see where anyone said we should send our veterans packing with a few vouchers...

 

[Sunshine]

I could be convinced if I heard a good argument against doing it.




Being a pragmatist it helps when things become more likely to get done...If the numbers add up what is OK...? Maybe in principle we should prioritize our tax dollars toward such and privatize OTHER things...?

When they privatized Medicaid in Tennessee and called it Tenncare, the money was absconded with and the system was broke in less than 3 years. Also, privatizing prisons all over the country has stopped because states can run their own prisons cheaper than they can pay someone else to do it. I worked for one of those companies that provided health care to prisons. They lost 3 BIG contracts at one time a couple of years ago and the company almost folded. But the reality id that states can pay their own people to run prisons cheaper than they can pay private companies to do it. The VA already uses a lot of 'fee basis' providers. But if we sent our veterans packing with a few vouchers we would be doing them a great disservice.

I don't see where anyone said we should send our veterans packing with a few vouchers...

Then enlighten us as to how you would envision this transformation!

 

[Old Rocks]

We saw how this worked at Walter Reed. We do not need to go through that again, and that Romney even suggests it is reason enough not to vote for him.

 

[Valerie]

Why should private organizations be kept from providing veterans benefits at a competitive rate in the market...?



I am compelled by the Patriotic argument for the obligation to support our veterans, of course that is a requirement...But I am trying think through the practical argument sans emotion.

 

[jillian]

Mitten seems to think it's a good idea.

What say you?

Do you think it's a bad idea...?

Over barbecue and sweet tea with 12 veterans here Friday, Mitt Romney appeared to brainstorm a fundamental change to the way the nation pays back the people who put their lives on the line in the military.

Talking with the veterans about the challenge of navigating the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to get their health care benefits after they leave active duty, Romney suggested a way to improve the system would be to privatize it.

“Sometimes you wonder, would there be someway to introduce some private sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them and then they can choose whether they want to go on the government system or the private system and then it follows them, like what happens with schools in Florida where they have a voucher that follows them. Who knows.”

Romney Spit-Balls His Way To Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits | TPM 2012

As long as that safety net is always there for them, why not..?

well, privatization generally go so well:

remember what happened at walter reed?

 

[Sunshine]

We saw how this worked at Walter Reed. We do not need to go through that again, and that Romney even suggests it is reason enough not to vote for him.

Besides they wouldn't like it so much if their hoity toity doctor's office suddenly filled up with veterans.

It has been my experience that veterans have needs which vary greatly from the type of care provided to non veterans. And a lot of them wouldn't go to the doctor if medical care was privatized because as much as they complain about it they are amongst people who understand them at the VA, be it patient or provider in most cases. If the VA were to go away, so would a lot of jobs held by our veterans because the VA gives preference in hiring to veterans. From the grounds keeper to the clerks to the nurses to the doctors, many employees of the VA are veterans themselves.

 

[Valerie]

When they privatized Medicaid in Tennessee and called it Tenncare, the money was absconded with and the system was broke in less than 3 years.

Also, privatizing prisons all over the country has stopped because states can run their own prisons cheaper than they can pay someone else to do it.


I worked for one of those companies that provided health care to prisons.


They lost 3 BIG contracts at one time a couple of years ago and the company almost folded.


But the reality id that states can pay their own people to run prisons cheaper than they can pay private companies to do it.


The VA already uses a lot of 'fee basis' providers.


But if we sent our veterans packing with a few vouchers we would be doing them a great disservice.

I don't see where anyone said we should send our veterans packing with a few vouchers...

Then enlighten us as to how you would envision this transformation!

I'm sure Mitt Romney will speak for himself soon enough... It's just a matter of shuffling papers, really... And yeah, the veterans already use "fee basis providers" so what's the big deal as long as we INSURE our Vets are supported...?

 

[Old Rocks]

Lordy, lordy. You are making an idealogical arguement. I am a blue collar liberal. Don't come at me with ideological arguements, show me where your ideas have been put into policy, how it worked, and for whom it worked.

We saw how putting even the care of the building the returning wounded vets were housed in into the hands of private business worked. It was a shame to our nation.

Dana Priest On Walter Reed: An 'Unbelievable' Story of 'Neglect' and 'Indifference' | ThinkProgress

That is the record of private business and the care of our Veterans. Sorry, you failed once, and I don't feel like giving you another chance to damage our returning wounded Veterans.

 

[Sunshine]

I don't see where anyone said we should send our veterans packing with a few vouchers...

Then enlighten us as to how you would envision this transformation!

I'm sure Mitt Romney will speak for himself soon enough... It's just a matter of shuffling papers, really... And yeah, the veterans already use "fee basis providers" so what's the big deal as long as we INSURE our Vets are supported...?

"WE?"

It is the vets themselves who INSURE our vets are supported. I doubt anyone else every gives it a passing thought.