Originally Posted by
Gookieheimowitz
I see your point . As I said the VA is as close to universal health care as I've ever been and while some are excellent others are very poor. Wait times for an apt are six months out . Things get misdiagnosed way above a rational percentage .
Most of the doctors are from foreign countries. Another thing that is a huge problem is the workers are lazy. All in all if universal health Care is anything like the current VA health care system it will be a complete failure
Yeah, I’ve learned more about the VA health care system in the last year than I ever knew because I have a good friend who is selling a product exclusively to the VA. From everything he’s said, the doctors who are affiliated with the VA, but don’t work at the VA are pretty decent. The ones that work at the VA are worse than average.
The thing about the VA is, and I never knew this, is that it’s actually not at all like universal health care. They all act autonomous, even within a state. So he sells a new medical device still going through trials. His problem is he gets a few doctors in one area who really find it beneficial, and will start prescribing it to every one, and all of a sudden the person who oversees the budget will put a cap on it. Which is fine, because they are likely overprescribing the device. He doesn’t even have a problem with them doing that, because when his product really takes off, it brings scrutiny from the administrators, and he risks losing all the business. He’d rather sell some all over the state at every VA. But nothing with the VA is uniform. There aren’t approved items and unapproved items. It’s just totally random depending on which VA. So even when he’s killing it, he can’t be comfortable, because maybe 80% of his business is coming from a few doctors who may get cut off at any time. One VA will love his product, yet they don’t even commmunicate with each other within the system, and it’s all dependent on just who the local bean counter is at any particular location.
So yeah it certainly sounds fucked up, and I sympathize with you having to deal with it because it’s horribky organized from the sounds of it, but what it doesn’t sound like is something universal. It’s actually the opposite, and because of that, really hit or miss as far as care. Businesses really have no idea how to approach the VA. My buddy has told me some really fucked up stories. Maybe six months ago there was an amputee who had been in chronic pain for years. Nothing had worked. This doctor prescribed my buddies device, and it was like a godsend to this guy. Well the bean counter got worried at the success this patient was having, and how enthusiastic the doctor was, and cancelled the whole thing because she got worried that it would take off and she’d end up having to approve a slew of new patients she’d have to approve. So my buddies company said fuck it, we understand your concern, we’ll just give him the device. We have extras and we’ll do it out of goodwill. So my buddy drives this device about three hours away, stops into the VA because the guys address wasn’t on file because he got it at the VA, and the woman here tells him that if he gives it to guy—for free—she’ll put his company ona list of unapproved vendors for her VA. My buddy was literally heartbroken. He had talked to this old man and the guy was so excited. He couldn’t even tell the guy the reason he wasn’t giving him the device and that his company was simply giving it to him for free. The VA wouldn’t allow him to tell the guy. So he drove home, this dude is like late 70s, dying in agony, and can’t get a free device that wouldn’t have cost the VA a $. Other VAs buy too many and he gets worried it will draw attention. No rhyme or reason to the whole system.