VA Privatization Bill Threatens Closure of Key Facilities
Republican architects of the VA MISSION Act want to fast-track a commission that would have expansive authority to close VA hospitals. By Suzanne Gordon & Russell Lemle for The American Prospect At a June 20 House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing, legislators considered H.R. 3083, sponsored by ranking member Phil Roe (R-TN). One of the architects […]
VA to shift billions of dollars to private care for veterans
By Jennifer Steinhauer and Dave Philipps for The New York Times, republished on Rise Up Times WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing to shift billions of dollars from government-run veterans’ hospitals to private health care providers, setting the stage for the biggest transformation of the veterans’ medical system in a generation. Under […]
Businesses back single-payer plan
By Ron Green in the Albany Democrat-Herald Many years ago I started and ran a bicycle store, building it over 10 years to seven or eight employees. For the first year or so, my one worker was, like me, a disabled veteran with health care through the VA. I could tell insurance salesmen that our […]
Andrew J. Cohen: The VA is working just fine, thank you very much
By Andrew J. Cohen for The Spokesman-Review “A government-run, single-payer, bureaucratic health-care system that doesn’t work.” That’s how Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., described the Department of Veterans Affairs last month on “Meet the Press.” Johnson’s remarks are typical of Republicans in Congress, who have made no secret of their intention to privatize the department. President […]