As a Navy Veteran who is very familiar with the VA it seems logical to me that if the President wanted to make some citizens instant experts on the VA with the power to influence or set VA policy he would at least find and ask Veterans to do it. Neither the President nor any of the men he put in this unusual position are Veterans. President Trump would not give people with no construction experience the power to advise and set policy on one of his hotel projects so why do this at the VA ? I would also ask why pick only men since women Veterans also use the VA for healthcare ? I may regret making the last comment because he may read it and the next thing we hear is that his daughter Ivanka is now advising VA career employees on policy as well. On a related issue to this story could the NY Times find out how many Veterans are actual Mar A Lago members I think many of us Vets would be interested to know ?
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Not too long ago a question was raised concerning the latest initiative to privatize VA health care if the veteran's service organizations were on board with the change.
Nope, said the majority of the VSOs, save for one, an outlier that is Koch-brothers backed. That is the "VSO" with the clout.
So, in addition to the Trump lackeys writing VA policy, the Koch's and their long arms and deep pockets will have their say in our, we veteran's, affairs.
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As I peruse the comments attached to this piece and the many adverse comments about the VA being a "jobs program", is rampant with corruption, the care is substandard due to homeless veterans overwhelming the system, etc, etc, it makes one ask the question-how many are real veterans and how many are shills who are pushing the privatization of the VA medical system.
How many real veterans welcome some oversight of the VA?
How many real veterans are disgusted with the antics of the swamp dwellers in Mar A Largo deciding our care for us who apparently have "no skin in the game".
Again, in viewing these comments I question if many comments are nothing more than parroting Trump, the Koch brothers and every other greedy corporation that would like to profit from our pains and sufferings.
And yes. I am a real veteran, a life member of the DAV, and a beneficiary of the VA medical system.
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Trump’s plan on going to Vietnam to meet the little guy from North Korea is an insult to all Veterans. He avoided the possibilty of going once before. So why now ?
I urge all readers who are not Veterans to try to sort through these comments with a different view. Originally the VA was designed for veterans who were injured in the service and who have very specific needs that can not be met at a civilian hospital. However, in the last two decades, Congress has turned the VA hospitals into a medicare for all program. The range of care varies from hospital to hospital. Some hospitals like West LA are complete disasters partly because every homeless veterans from downtown LA is dumped there. The staff is overworked the veterans many times are hostile and need mental health care. Surgery is poor many times because the VA is a teaching hospital and the interns are indifferent at best as I discovered at the Manhattan VA. It is impossible to generalize about VA care except to state that the system is overloaded and stressed because Congress has turned it into a political boondoggle.
@william church Sir, I am a veteran and a beneficiary of the VA medical system. Nowhere do I find the VA medical system was designed only for service-connected issues.
Second, your remark concerning the "dumping" of homeless veterans in VA hospitals is noted for its, well, discriminatory view. Explain your thoughts on that statement. Are homeless veterans not welcome in the VA hospitals, shelters or other centers that are for veterans?
Do those homeless veterans offend you? We veterans, homeless or not, male, female, black, brown or purple, Christian, Muslim or atheist, are brothers, and sisters, who share a common bond. I appears you are unwilling to share that bond with the most needy of us.
Lastly, in reading your somewhat generalized comments I question the validity of those comments and ask you to provide any empirical evidence that will, well, add credence to your comments.
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Trump wants to rule as a monarch but we are a democracy and pack of billionaire sycophants from the Presidential Palace at Mar-A-Lago have no business involving themselves in govt administration. Trump has always lived a life of corruption and influence buying his style of government has no place in a democracy. Trump cashing in on AT&T execs spending 58 nights at Trump Hotel in Washington D.C. is another sign of the kleptocracy Trump is trying to install for him and his family. House democrats need to rein in this unrestrained Trump running amok with erratic and impulsive tweets based on misinformation.
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I am very pleased that this investigation may cramp the behavior of others at the 'mars-the-view' beach bazaar. I have been around some of the self-made millionaire types who think that just because they made money they must be geniuses. And the arrogant ignoramus-in-chief enjoys hearing others of his ilk tell him how they can 'fix the world.' Enough of these jerks trying to interfere in massive institutions of which they have no understanding. Enough of unelected, un-appointed, and unwanted guys trying to call the shots just because they bought a membership in a shabby hotel that serves old food on dirty dishes.
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Really, Peter Welch? "“We’ve got to do our oversight,” said Representative Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont. “But what we have to be careful of is over-reading our victory. I would recommend coming out of the gate with something that’s good for veterans.”
If this how you really feel you need to move aside in 2020 and let someone else win your seat; you know, someone with balls and vision and who actually cares about the VA and the veterans they serve. Using private doctors has not helped with the long waits and backlogs. Why would you be so timid? Your cohorts on the other side sure aren't when they're trying to steal taxpayers money to give to their wealthy friends. Step up, Congressman Welch or step aside.
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If the draft dodging president wants advice on the VA why not ask a Veteran? Not wealthy swamp monsters that likely never served.
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Prior NYT comments on the VA clearly indicate most Veterans are very happy with services provided by the VA. No system is perfect, and it doesn’t help that the VA has been underfunded. Reports of the ultra-rich Koch brothers and members of Mar-a-Lago working to privatize and do away with the VA are alarming. Current actions feel like a ‘bait and switch’. The initial privatization is most likely being funded by pulling money from the VA. Then when the VA is made ineffective, and billions have been made, Veterans will be then told there is not enough money due to tax cuts and the higher cost of private care to continue care.
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Unannounced to me as a Service Connected Vietnam veteran, I received a phone call from TriWest Healthcare Alliance telling me the VA had given them my name. I questioned why I would even need their services as I was living in Richmond Metro area and receiving 99% of my medical service from the VA. The phoner was quite insistent I needed to tell her my date of birth and I refused several times. First, I'd never heard of TriWest Healthcare alliance and I told her it sounds like a scam. After terminating the call, I searched this outfit only to learn that the VA had given them a contract to assist Veterans in receiving care outside the VA. I find this strange when earlier this same company had been cited by the Inspector General of the VA for double billing for services provided. Outpatient services from community providers has a long way to go if they are allowing these unsolicited phonecalls. I did not bite, nor should you, my fellow veterans.
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@Bill I tried to make an eye appointment at the Denver VA and the scheduler put me in the system and told me the choice program would contact me as the Denver VA is over booked for eyecare. I was given a number to call if I did not hear from them within 10 working days. I did not and called them and was informed I had been referred to tri-care for the eye doctor. I called tri-care and worked out the area of town I wanted to see a doctor in and we picked one close by. why tri-care instead of choice program I don't know why but I had my eye exam already.
I can already tell you what the investigators will find. Trump’s buddies, who know nothing about veterans’ health and wouldn’t allow themselves or their families to get anywhere near a battlefield, saw huge profits in privatizing a government program. If they were allowed, they’d try the same with Medicare and Social Security.
Thank God someone is finally trying to put a stop to this corruption.
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Has anyone considered the fact that private care providers are often reluctant, or outright refuse, to accept patients with Medicare or Medicaid? As the excuse often given is slow payment, would it be any different for veterans? I'm afraid that people who anticipate great things from private providers are in for a terrible shock.
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It's become a cliché, but the truth is, follow the money. Trump's decades in business were nothing but sleaze, slime, and questionable deals with questionable people. He's running the presidency the same way he ran his mostly failing businesses. Trump does nothing if there isn't some benefit to him. He has the kind of "friends" who do nothing if there isn't a benefit to them. Nothing in the Trumpsphere is done out of the goodness of anyone's heart. Whether it's Trump's wall or his club buddies running the VA, Trump or his pals do it because they think they'll make money.
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My wife and I are both veterans. Recently, we have begun our health care with the V.A. at both a regional clinic and a regional hospital.
Without exaggeration we have received superb care at both facilities.
The quality of care is at least as good as we received for years through private insurers at their approved providers.
Leave it alone!
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@Fred It is impossible to generalize about the VA care. here is an example. Veterans in major cities many times get better care than veterans in rural areas. For example, in Georgia my nearest hospital is a six hour round trip drive. Yes I have a clinic within 40 miles but for anything beyond an aspirin I must travel six hours round trip. If I have the flu, I must find a way to travel six hours. I do not believe you would find that acceptable. Also it depends on if you are disabled as I am. I have had many surgeries at the VA they run from the disaster to the average. None of the care was outstanding. I glad you get good care, but it is not representative.
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@Fred
They will be looking into possible corruption. They are not dismantling your VA hospitals and clinics. I hope you can see the difference. There are laws and rules in this country.
@Fred first , thanks for your service. Second , like others pointed out, your experience is not a benchmark for everyone. I volunteer to help homeless folks, many of which are veterans. I can't even start to explain you the dysfunction that goes on there on the technical side, which is then mixed with the ego personality side. I mean, I spoke to very nice people there to help some folks, and some others think they are sitting on the top of a gold chair or something... I must give it up for Trump in some things, he fired 400+ people at the VA and he should have fired more, in fact he should hire me to train the folks there :) . The script would change right away to : "Thank you for your service sir, how can I help you? I am sorry you are needing care, and I will do whatever I can to improve your Quality of Life. " Anyone that could not say this would be fire right away...Maybe some of those folks are burned out, I don't know.. maybe they need rotation... Point being, I am glad your medical care is great, but there are many variables that impact the access to that care that fortunately you don't have to deal with, and also there is other secondary issues such as the access to documentation about that same care that can present other challenges too complex to write about here, that you are not familiar with.
This says it all, "Mr. Perlmutter is the former chief executive of Marvel Entertainment, Mr. Sherman is a lawyer and Dr. Moskowitz is a doctor. The three do not possess special expertise in veterans health care issues, but were reported to be influential over Trump administration policy, including its plans to push the department’s health care system toward private providers. The three are frequently at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla"
The Con Don's Robber Baron brethren who think they should be able to rob WE THE PEOPLE - including the military they pretend to honor - by taking over OUR VA system.
Go Get "Em, Mr. Takano and all! Do NOT let them get away with this. Not now. Not ever.
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As I watch the Democrats begin to drain the swamp, all of us voters who put them into office can be proud. In this last election, our ballots really counted for something.
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@LIChef Thanks for reminding us all just how very important our elections really are. I cringe every time I hear of someone who never votes "because it doesn't make any difference."
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Thank heavens. This beach club cabal which has controlled the VA since Spring 2017 is utterly unconscionable. They are not appointed, they are not elected, they are not authorised and they are not permitted to dictate anything that they have been doing. Shameless.
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Cabala, more like it.
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With or without corruption, the VA does not work FOR VETERANS. Badly needed is accountability, oversight and the view that VA is a jobs program.
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@ANUBIS
I assure you that there are a whole lot of vets who believe that the VA Medical Centers serve us well. That’s why we use them instead of the alternative options that many of us have.
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@ANUBIS
The VA works for me.
The idea of privatizing the VA is just filthy, disgusting lucre. Look at the three grifting toads mentioned in this article. You see very few veteran's and not a single veteran's organization calling for privatization. I wonder why.
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@GPThere is no cure for Stockholm Syndrome. Sorry!
The buck doesn't stop anywhere.
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You do realize that Trump doubled the Mar A Lago club dues, right? After 2 years nothing seems to be that shocking anymore.
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Mar a Swampo
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@Rob Love it!! Just gave me a good chuckle. Would look great on a signpost leading there...
It's funny how Congressional Republicans are suddenly so concerned with governing. When they controlled the House all they did was conduct unecessary investigations of Democrats and anyone in the Justice Department who dared to check Trump.
The Trump administration is unprecedented in its corruption. Since the GOP has refused to provide oversight of this administration there is now a huge backlog of malfeasance and dirty dealing for the Democrats to investigate.
Carry on Democrats. The American people are behind you 100% (most of us are, anyway).
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Not an expert, but could it be that President Trump asked for advice to help improve the VA. The VA now has policies that allow our veterans to seek help when needed, and to get it from the private sector if not available via public institutions. Is that bad? I think it fine that the process be investigated, but jumping to conclusions that the changes were made for the wrong reasons just shows the bias up front.
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That policy did not begin in the Trump administration. What has changed is siphoning funds from functioning VA facilities to private sector. That is not cool.
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@G G Trump has bee a con man his entire life. Presuming there isn’t a scam involved is simply naive.
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Choice was an Obama area program. Privatization is the trump plan to enrich private healthcare providers not serve Veterans.
1
No low too low for this administration...
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It is clear, in spite of approving endorsements from the right, that the VA is on an accelerating path to privatization. Ultimately, it is clear to me that the department is slated for oblivion in the future, should the right get their way. The relentless pursuit of rent seekers is easy to see around this policy of defranchising the agency. As ever, the greed factor of the right is obvious.
Currently, the justification is that service is substandard and untimely. Well, it certainly is not on call, but then that is an unrealistic expectation of any service that must be funded. My fellow veterans will be best served by minding the true intentions of the class of corrupters currently in office. There is no real public service in any of the advisors to the VA, and the current agency head is not exempt from cautionary regard.
Where have the public men with honor all gone?
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@jerry blankinship based on the 2016 Commision on care the V.A. can’t be privatized. The primary function of all VA’s is to train Americans Physicians and conduct medical and pharmaceutical studies.
If at any time the V.A. was to be closedmit will take over 25 years. That’s something most of us will not see.
If you like the V.A. care please use it. But for Veterans like my husband we need 4 specilist and desperately need private care so he can be seen continuously
For the first time in a very long time - I felt like I could exhale while reading a news article about Trump. There are finally adults in the House majority, investigating Trump's myriad Washington cons. And just as importantly, they are getting things done that matter to our country:
"The House on Friday passed a child care bill to help families of veterans."
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"Dr. Moskowitz is a doctor"
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@Gabriel Feld
And your point is?
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@Gabriel Feld
I get your point but Dr. Moskowitz could also be a physicist, a veterinarian or a poet with a PhD.
I suppose "Dr. Moskowitz is a physician" would have been better.
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@Gabriel Feld
So what! So is my dentist.
Does Moskowitz have any special expertise vis a vis veterans' health care?
Is he a podiatrist?
I think looking into Veteran's Affairs will turn up more improper actions by people associated to Trump. People who literally were willing to give their lives for our country deserve the best care possible. Only in the craziness of the Trump administration would members of the country club owned by President's be involved in something so critical. I wonder if the President was somehow profiting beyond the taking the three members membership fees. Making money off the membership fees already seems to be a violation of the emoluments clause.
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@Javaforce
Nothing to see here, just friends lending a hand. Move along (or pay the membership fee).
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