Hospitals, Policy

“So dicking over veterans isn’t a bug of the program, it’s a feature of the program”

On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, he tore apart the Department of […]

On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, he tore apart the Department of Veterans Affairs for its continued issues with providing adequate care for veterans – even still with the launch of the $10 billion choice card program.

With wait times for veterans to receive care previously being 44 days on average, the choice program allows those who have been waiting longer than 30 days for an appointment to go outside the VA system for healthcare.

Only there’s a catch that Stewart happily addresses – the choice program requires that if you haven’t waited 30 days but need care, you must live more than 40 miles away “as the crow flies” from a VA facility. So if it’s 50 miles by road, it could only be 20 miles by flight. So that veteran would just be out of luck.

As Stewart acknowledges, this is more than absurd. An old lady, he points out, can’t just put on a helmet and take the zip line straight to the facility.

“It turns out, when it comes to veterans, Congress are just deadbeat dads. They’ll spend a tremendous amount of time to get a chance to unload the ammunition. But once they blow that load and it causes people to take care of… *snores* – no, no, no, baby just let yourself out.”

 

Shares0
Shares0