(2007-03-05) ”” Democrat presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton today decried the allegedly poor conditions, stifling bureaucracy and negligent care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and throughout the VA healthcare system, but added, “Just think how bad it would be if it weren’t a government run system.”
As military patients and their spouses testified before a Senate panel about vermin-infested, moldy rooms, neglect and miles of red tape, Sen. Clinton told reporters, “This crisis serves only to highlight our desperate need for a tax-funded, government-managed universal healthcare system for all Americans.”
“When I’m president,” she said, “I’ll give the average American the same excellent quality of care we now provide for our nation’s heroes…but without the rats, mold and bureaucracy. I’ll sign legislation outlawing that kind of inefficiency, mismanagement and public employee apathy.”
Link to Walter Reed Highlights Need for Universal Healthcare
It was a natural pick for Scrappleface to link Universal Healthcare to the VA healthcare system and lampoon them. It is a funny piece but I still maintain a modestly good approval of the military healthcare system. My father is retired military and one of his retiree benefits is military healthcare. Both of my parents are over seventy years old and use the military system frequently. They have their complaints. Appointments with specialists can be difficult to get for the retirees. Sometimes the appointments get outsourced to the private sector. There is a symbiotic relationship between military healthcare and the private sector. The military is more than willing to pay for the education of a doctor if they can get a few years of service. I am not sure how this system is supposed to work if we have a dominant Universal healthcare system and a diminished private sector. The lure of the good life has been the hope of many a person to endure the hardships of becoming a doctor. I believe Universal Healthcare will have the same doctor issues as military healthcare. Without special enticements to doctors it is likely that Universal Healthcare will reduce the supply of doctors to the military healthcare system, the Universal healthcare system, and the private sector.