VA Union President Condemns Commission on Care's Report as 'Anti-Veteran' Ahead of Hearing
AFGE leader calls on Congress to invest in VA caregivers and facilities rather than costly, unprepared private providers
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ahead of the Commission on Care's September 7th hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee, American Federation of Government Employees' National President J. David Cox Sr. released the following statement:
"The American Federation of Government Employees condemns in the strongest possible terms, the horrendous, anti-veteran proposal put forward by the Commission on Care. Their recommendations would essentially destroy the veterans' health care system, leaving millions of veterans without the integrated care they rely on. Veterans would suffer from a drastically reduced quality of care, higher costs, less access, and the system as a whole would become unaccountable to veterans and taxpayers. Instead it would place veterans' care in the hands of executives with corporate backgrounds, leaving veterans without a voice.
If the Commission's mission, as they state in their report, was to 'provide eligible veterans prompt access to quality health care,' they have achieved the opposite. The only result of these recommendations would be to fragment the most integrated health care approach in the nation, lower quality across the board by sending veterans to for-profit private providers, line the pockets of private hospital corporations, and hand over control of veterans' healthcare to an out-of-touch, corporate-style board.
Veterans have overwhelmingly said they want to get their healthcare at the VA. It is the only system equipped to offer the veteran-centric healing they earned through their sacrifice. That's why large and well-respected veterans service organizations like the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans oppose further privatization of the system, and why two of the Commissioners – Phillip Longman and Michael Blecker – have spoken out repeatedly against the Commission since the release of their final report.
The Commission was rigged from the beginning, and despite going on the record stating that the VA offered healthcare that was superior to what's offered in the private sector, they've recommended a plan that will lead to the downfall of the system millions of veterans rely on. We cannot let that happen, and we hope that the American public will see the Commission's report for what it truly is and instead listen to what our veterans want.
There are numerous studies and reports that prove time and again how the VA offers veterans the best health care option in the country. The RAND Corporation recently reported that the VA outperforms non-VA health care in preventative care, treatment, and outpatient care; and found that only 13 percent of mental health professionals in the private sector are even prepared to treat veterans. Additionally, the American Psychological Association found that "VA performance was superior to that of the private sector by more than 30 percent." The VA is succeeding, and to continue that success we must invest in it, not undermine it with costly, fragmented care.
Veterans want the VA. They need the VA. We cannot let private interests dismantle that system in the name of corporate greed."
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.
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SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees
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