Community Care in Crisis
Community Care problems delivering necessary care for our veterans.
Veterans' eligibility includes all veterans, regardless of their priority category. The eligibility requirements are lumped into one.
Outsourcing should be limited to veterans who have a service-connected condition. Like any service, police, firefighters, and others are granted 18 months of health benefits upon leaving the service voluntarily. After that time, they should be eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance, so they still have many sources for care and do not need to rely on the VA except for a service-connected condition.
Veterans who do not have a service condition could still receive treatment at VA facilities.
Cobinding non-service conditions with service-connected conditions creates an overwhelming number of cases that community care cannot handle. The mission first is to our veterans, especially our priority one veterans. The solution for non-service-connected veterans can only be received at the VA facility. Not outsourced to the community.
Priority one veterans: You have a service-connected disability that has been rated as 50% or more disabling. Or you received the Medal of Honor (MOH)
These veterans should not be denied community care for any reason. Their disability should be the only requirement. Criteria like time and distance should not be a roadblock to these veterans 100% disabled.
This is not a novel solution. VA Dental only treats veterans with a 100% disability. Community Care should only outsource veterans with service-connected conditions. A service-connected condition is the only criterion for eligibility and does not deny a veteran who is 100% disabled by service or a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Example: A veteran who is 100% disabled due to his service, or a Medal of Honor recipient, is denied because his travel time is less than 60 minutes. A veteran who served in Colorado Springs without any service-connected condition is eligible to be outsourced because they live 65 minutes away.
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