Privatizing VA is not the answer
In 1968, Joe Frank was a young soldier serving with the Army’s 39th Engineer Battalion in Vietnam. While directing a truck to a bridge site at Tam Ky, a land mine went off, seriously wounding him. Frank returned to the United States paralyzed from the chest down.
While others in similar circumstances might have despaired, Frank’s strength of spirit has given him a meaningful post-military life. He became a benefits officer for Paralyzed Veterans of America and, in 1996, was elected national commander of The American Legion.
At a time when some in Washington propose a radical dismantling of the VA health-care system, Frank’s eloquent defense of it resonates.
“As a young veteran in need, I realized that VA care is a cherished benefit reserved only for those of us who pledged our lives to defend our nation. It’s something we get in return for what we have given,” Frank recently wrote in The American Legion Magazine.
“Veterans need caregivers who understand the post-military journey, whether we are looking for relief from post-traumatic stress disorder, trying to figure out a new prosthesis, hunting for a job, filing a claim, buying a house or getting checked for hepatitis C.”
The Legion can never be accused of excusing the serious problems facing VA. We were the first veterans service organization to call for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki when the extent of the wait-time scandals was revealed in 2014. We have led the fight to bring accountability to VA, and will continue to advocate for legislation and policies that put the interests of veterans first. That said, VA is working hard to win back the trust of veterans, and we see significant progress being made. VA has improved whistleblower protections, completes 97 percent of appointments within 30 days of the veteran’s preferred date, and continues to reduce the backlog of disability claims.
The Legion’s criticisms of VA should not be seen as condemnation. We believe it is, and will always be, the best option for veterans health care.
One veteran recently commented at Legion.org that privatization equals “profitization.” Our veterans are not mercenaries who fought for a privately owned army. They served in the U.S. military, and the federal government has a solemn obligation to care for them. Put another way, the private sector didn’t send our heroes to war. Uncle Sam did.
The private sector works quite well when producing automobiles, computers and other popular goods and services. But it is not the solution to making veterans whole again.
Economists from the Congressional Budget Office have repeatedly estimated that the costs of VA privatization proposals would inflate the federal budget to unsustainable proportions. Moreover, the continuity of the research, teaching and emergency preparedness VA provides would be lost if the nation’s largest health-care system were shuttered.
Since its founding, the Legion has been both a champion and a fierce critic of the Veterans Bureau, the Veterans Administration and now the Department of Veterans Affairs. While Washington lobbyists portray privatization as an attractive alternative, Legionnaires know better.