The VA budget has shot up 47% over the past four years (assuming this year’s recommended budget holds otherwise it will go up even more), yet critics decry the “cuts“.

Given this environment it is not surprising that President Bush’s proposed reforms of the VA medical services process will be met with howls and alarms from those claiming that more of our country’s heroes will be forced to go without the medical services that they very much need and that were promised to them.

In a word, hogwash!

The reforms include simple low cost co-pays and other small fees being applied only to those who can afford them and they are important for two reasons. First they will raise $400 million of much needed revenue. Second, as GM has learned, that when things are free (like medical care to retirees) people will take more than they need (which is why Detroit has more chiropractors, massage therapists, and other periphery medical service providers per capita and pretty much any city on earth). The less services used by those who don’t really need them (or should be paying for them on their own) the more for those that really do need them and can’t afford them. When a well-off veteran needs medical attention I don’t think anyone really believes that a $10 co-pay will deter them from getting whatever medical services they desire.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 at 7:57 am by Insider and is filed under Brilliant, but uncategorizable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.