A VA refferal
The VA: Community Care mission is to provide veterans with timely, high-quality care.
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. The same should be, and was, the case for veterans. The change was for political votes only.
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.
Example: A veteran who is 100% disabled due to his service, or a Medal of Honor recipient, is denied community care 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.
Time is based on Google mapping, which is only acturate 66% of the time.
Another area, VA Dental, only treats veterans with a 100% disability. A service-connected condition is the only criterion for eligibility. Recently, a new step was taken that impacts these veterans' dental care. The VA has moved to let Delta Dental refer providers.
Delta Dental is a private company that makes referrals. The referrals they make are the cheapest available rather than high-quality. To get a high-quality provider, the disabled veteran must pay out of pocket.
A veteran who is 100% disabled due to his service, or a Medal of Honor recipient, is denied quality care and only given the cheapest available.
Salute to all who have served.
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