Are our Vet's properly taken care of? If not why and what do you think we need to do to take care of them?

SSG Kye White — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:38:14 -0400

Response by SSG Michael Scott made Aug 20 at 2015 1:52 PM

SSG Michael Scott — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:52:36 -0400

I fully believe that our Veterans come 1st. Not illegal immigrants or and other type of race or creed. America needs to take care of their own. And of course the VA and the government is not doing it. Hire more Healthcare professionals and cut funding to the middle east and sancuatary cities.

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Aug 20 at 2015 2:06 PM

SSG Leo Bell — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:06:52 -0400

I know going to the VA hospital it's a hurry up and wait system and you have to see the doctor once every three to four months. The doctors don't listen to the vets about there medical problems the doctors do what they think is the right thing. They don't like changing meds or upping the amounts. They follow the rules which is great but the doctors system of health care sucks. I've talk to allot of vets n they all say the problem is there doctor not the hospital

Response by SSG Daniel Miller made Aug 20 at 2015 2:20 PM

SSG Daniel Miller — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:20:45 -0400

If vets were properly taken, it would be much less than 22. People may claim the problem is the doctor, but the problem is the system. The head honchos want a financially beneficial system, which means they always try the cheapest treatments first, and gradually increase until the problem is manageable (not fixed). What we need is increased funding for veteran care that does not go to paying salaries, combined with doctors who care more about patients and less about an unjust system.

Response by SSG Keith Cashion made Aug 20 at 2015 6:56 PM

SSG Keith Cashion — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 18:56:46 -0400

Vets should be taken care of. Especially those that had no choice to serve and were drafted. That's number one. Those that are of our generataion Post Vietnam and Volunteered should be taken care of as well. I put it like this, because if you look at some of our homeless you will find that a lot of them are from the previous group and need help. Don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot of Post Vietnam homeless Vets to include from the current War as well. But like others have said...if the system is not working, and the Big Heads can't get it to work, then we as Vet's need to keep pushing until it is fixed, and Doctors are listening to what the issues are, and stop the Pill Mill, we will continue to have these issues. Are they trying to fix it...I think so, but the push needs to continue. Unfortunately, my expirience with a VA doctor did not end well...I left because I don't need to talk to a sleeping counselor. And that's my half nickle for the day.

Response by SSG Tim Jessen made Aug 21 at 2015 1:28 AM

SSG Tim Jessen — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 01:28:35 -0400

More time to care for our own would be a good start. There are so many vets that need medical attention and that are homeless that need time to work on their sides for once. As days past and the leaders of the VA fill their pockets, we have to sit back and wait for a process that has many flaws. A proven committee needs to sit down, with not a lot of time, and revise the current VA policy that mandates how our veterans are taken care of. It isn't the doctors or the nurses that are the problem. The by laws that the VA was founded on are messed up. Someone needs to get their head out of their "forth point of contact

Response by SSG Michael Scott made Aug 21 at 2015 8:02 AM

SSG Michael Scott — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 08:02:01 -0400

I totally agree with you.

Response by SSG Lonny Self made Aug 25 at 2015 4:45 PM

SSG Lonny Self — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 16:45:51 -0400

You tell me , you wake up with neck pain you have never had you go to the clinic to see your regular doc and that may take a month then you get to appointment and he sends you to hospital with an appointment to see your back doctor that takes another two months because the schedule person is on leave and no one els wants to step in to her shoes because the system she has in place to keep up with the incoming is not under stood by anyone but that one person doing it because it is so full all the time hence the wait time, you make it to your back doc after three months to get sent to pain clinic for a shot another month may be more , when you get there to receive your injections you find a doc with cold feet or they are not in agreement with your back doctor and they want you to go to physical therapy another month out still waiting in pain that Vicodin will not help sleep pastern has been 3 hr a day if I can sleep , I seen first doc in march and will make it to therapy on September 9th , ya it is the army way hurry up and wait your turn but it mite take way more turns than expected , but now in defense of the VA they only get so much funding and Congress knows that the budget is tied to military spending and has always been issue they are cutting funding on military so guess what they are cutting VA too they need to be in to different line items and if they don't spend all the money given to va they need to roll it over into new budget year in affect funded it always the other big question is how much,

Response by SSG Timothy Miller made Aug 30 at 2015 11:38 AM

SSG Timothy Miller — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 11:38:32 -0400

No, they are NOT taken of care properly. The Veterans Administration (VA) needs to be revamped. It is a very large, cumbersome oragnzation with little oversight. Problems with the system go un-noticed and un-checked, sometimes for decades before news organizations take notice and single issues or problems will gain attention for a minute in time and then it's business as usual for the VA. The end result is the Veterans do not get the help that is needed while tax dollars are wasting away. It is costly and the systems left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. There is no incentative to improve the situation. It is ran much like the active duty military system; while that is o.k. for the services, it is not o.k. for the VA. It does not provide it's services effectively. At one point in my life (after active duty), I thought I wanted to use the VA for my own healthcare. I am not disabled. I do have some medical problems which were the direct effect of active duty. I am employed full time and have very good health insurance. The VA wanted me to pay for services. That is o.k., as I do NOT expect free healthcare; however, the cost of their services was much more than it would cost me in the private sector. As well, they repeated services and demanded tests be performed which were either not needed or had already been performed but, they (VA) lost track of it. I was VERY DIS-SATISFIED with my experience(s) so, I decided to abandon the idea of allowing VA control over my healthcare. It became downright scary. I feel sorry for veterans who 'must' rely and use VA for healthcare. I could write a book on my own experiences and the horrors of the VA system. Do I think something needs to be done to improve VA? YES, definitely. Start with oversight and accountability. Veterans deserve better; taxpayers deserve better. Our country deserves better.

Response by SSG Jason Logue made Sep 11 at 2015 6:20 PM

SSG Jason Logue — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:20:43 -0400

I think it all depends on who you ask, but most will say "NO". I was medically discharged on 2 May 2012, and was treated like an inconvenience at the VA in Corpus Christi, TX. It wasn't until my surgeon got our congressman, Blake Farenthold, involved that I began to receive proper treatment from the VA. I have an amazing primary care doctor, but the rest of the VA system down here is broken.

Response by SSG Marciano Gonzalez made Feb 19 at 2016 7:47 AM

SSG Marciano Gonzalez — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 07:47:31 -0500

I been waiting for 14 months for the VA hospital to makeup their minds on what they are going to do about a tear that an MRI show on my left foot.fisical therapy stated that they would not give me therapy because I already had the therapy on my right foot.I told the doctor that the problem was not my right foot.Thats the ignorance that we are living on the VA hospital in Puerto Rico.