GOP Candidate Ben Carson Suggests Doing Away With the VA

[think]

GOP Candidate Ben Carson Suggests Doing Away With the VA

Baltimore Sun | Aug 28, 2015 | by Ian Duncan

Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson suggested eliminating the Department of Veterans Affairs in a talk radio interview Wednesday, leading to swift condemnation from one veterans group.

The former Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon said problems with the Veterans Affairs health system are discouraging people from joining the military in the first place and said there needed to be a single system to take care of active-duty troops as well as those who are no longer serving.

"We don't need a Department of Veterans Affairs," Carson told host Dave Ramsey. "Veterans Affairs should be folded in under the Department of Defense. And it should be a smooth transition. We need to be looking at the way we take care of soldiers."

Instead of the current system that provides treatment for veterans at government-run hospitals, Carson suggested that they should have a health savings account that would pay for treatment at any medical facility. The VA facilities could then be used for specialized treatments for traumatic brain injuries and limb replacements -- problems that particularly afflict veterans.

But Paul D. Eaton, a retired Army major general and adviser to progressive political group VoteVets.org, said Carson's plan was an insult to veterans...

Read more:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/08/28/gop-candidate-ben-carson-suggests-doing-away-with-the-va.html

[geek tragedy]

1. The way to fight entrenched, bloated bureaucracy is to create

the largest, most entrenched bureaucracy since the dissolution of the USSR.

[GeorgeGist]

2. Universal healthcare would be more efficient for all ...

except the Greeds.

[msrizzo]

3. I'm glad people are paying attention to what he says.

Cause he says some crazy stuff. I know too many people who still think of him as a mild-mannered doctor.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Asshat. Yeah, "savings accounts" in an overpriced health care system--I'm sure

that won't be maxed out after an ambulance ride or a surgery. Then what, the veteran begs for more? Fucking sick that they're always trying to find ways to back out of promises.

[lamp_shade]

5. ... and women's innards too..

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-war-on-women

[shenmue]

6. He just lost a lot of votes.