The VA as model for Nationalized Single Payer System

While I was in Ground Radar tech school in Mississippi, I had A LOT of time on my hands, so I turned to Facebook to reconnect with some friends from high school. One of the topics turned to the ACA, and how the VA was THE model to emulate. This was early 2014, February or March, and the suggestion came from one of the smartest women I've ever met. Which is what disturbed me most.

Now she's a great person and I'd describer her as a libertarian leaning Democrat. College educated, well read, independent in her thinking, and completely ignorant of the realities present in the VA. I'd seen some shenanigans in my time with Uncle Sugar as a Rater for the VA, but even I had no idea how bad it really was at the time with the scheduling fraud that was rampant around the country. In hindsight I truly wonder how close the counrty was at the passing of the ACA to having a national single payer instead. Had the ruling party simply have trotted out what most people thought was fantastic care at the VA as how it would be, I wonder if they could have passed it...

Hopefully more and more people are waking up to the reality that an incentive based model is always going to offer better care than a non-profit. That's Profit, for those who don't like dirty words or Charity for the religious amongst us who worry about how they treat their fellow man more than how many cars they can fit in their garages.... All men are created equal, but all men are not the same. Some win in the lottery that is life, genetically, financially, or simply in where they're born. To punish any for this in my mind is no different than discriminating against someone for being born a certain color, handicapped, or gay. To take from them as punishment for success no different than holding another down to prevent them from their Pursuit of life, Liberty and Happieness.

It's going to be interesting moving forward to see how the big problems facing our nation play out. As Winston Churchill reportedly said, "Americans will always do the right thing when they've exhausted all other options."