Concerned vets or Koch Brother chicanery?

The GOP Debate on Fox News is on until I can find something more entertaining.

In the meantime, I came across an interesting fact. It seems a Koch Brothers-funded front group called Concerned Veterans for Americans (CVA) is making various anti-working proposals that will attack veterans health care.

While they wave the flag and make everything a misleading headline, some of the CVA’s proposals are just unsubstantiated bullshit. Take this for example:

 “With 88 percent of veterans saying that it is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important to increase health care choices for veterans, it’s time for the VA to stop pretending there is no demand for increasing options, even if veterans choose to seek care outside the VA. Veterans deserve the freedom to choose a provider who suits their needs, not one dictated by a government bureaucrat and a set of rigid guidelines,” says one of CVA ‘s propaganda releases.

There are percentages that may or may not be true or may or may not be taken out of context. I’ve not had time to check it. That really belies the remainder of the statement. I also don’t know how many veterans receive outside health care. However, I’ve had a “Veterans Choice” card for quite some time. This card allows me to see private providers who are too far from a local VA facility as well as seeing providers for specialized care that the VA cannot provide. I’ve had a sleep study to determine why my CPAP machine no longer helps control my sleep apnea as it should. This was with a local private provider. The study led to another VA study last month because the findings from the two studies turned out to not give information that a memory card in machine displayed. I came home from the VA hospital yesterday with a new CPAP. I also have an appointment with local physical therapists to see if they can give me PT or whether it will help. This is because driving to Houston, about 150 miles round-trip, three times a week is not an option for me.

Yes, these are just a couple of examples for this year. Before that time I only saw a local hospital ER that I had to fight with because the VA was too slow in paying the bills. These two visits were after a VA nurse on the Houston “Telecare” line told me I needed to go to my closest hospital.

I have been pissed off at the VA a number of times. I raised a little hell during my visit yesterday. But the VA is the only systems that specialize in veterans either by directly treating them or having local providers do so. The VA is much improved than when I started using the system’s health care more than 20 years ago. They’re not perfect. But neither is the private medical system by itself.

To paraphrase the old joke, you know when the Koch Brothers are lying whenever they (or their minions) move their lips (or send out press releases.)