A government agency that works?
A couple of years ago, I got myself enrolled for VA medical care, but never bothered to make an appointment. I was determined to make myself more healthy through diet and exercise, thus eliminating any need for more medical care. My plan worked great for 2 years, then I had another mild mini-stroke, spent most of a day in an emergency ward, and suddenly had numerous doctor and test appointments. To add to the confusion, I had another attack before all the tests were done for the first one.
It all sort of "hit the fan" when a neurologist prescribed Plavix to thin my blood, and I discovered that the prescription would cost me $150/month out of pocket. There is no way I could afford that, so I decided to see what I might be able to quickly accomplish at the VA hospital, and so made a phone call. I was told that I was in their system, but I needed to first update my means test. I asked if I could do that in person and was told I could, so I set out to approach the huge VA hospital.
I expected a typical governmental organization, with lots of sitting around waiting, reams of paperwork, and delayed results. The huge parking lot, full to the far reaches, was right in line with what I expected. I played musical parking places for about 10 minutes, then got lucky.
From the time I finally entered the big revolving doors, my experience changed, and it deserves description. First, a guy at the Information desk gave me precise directions to the Means Testing office. I asked a woman at a desk, and she told me to put my name on a clipboard and wait in the waiting room. Within 5 minutes, a woman called me, sat me down, helped me fill out a short income form, entered the info on the computer, and told me what my co-pays would be for the next year. I asked if I could make a doctor's appointment right away. She gave me a phone number and told I could call from a nearby lounge, which I did, and made an appointment for 11 days later.
Encouraged by such progress, I asked if there was any way I could get a prescription to replace the one for Plavix. With little explanation, I was told to go to the Urgent Care and see a pharmacist. A helpful woman at Urgent Care had me sign a clipboard outside the pharmacist's office, and wait. A few minutes later, the pharmacist came for me, listened to my explanation, questioned me, made some inquiries, made computer entries, and then she took me to a nurse who took my blood pressure and asked a few more questions... then back to the pharmacist, who said she had ordered a prescription for me to last until my doctor's appointment. She directed me to the pharmacy pickup.
Upon arriving at the pharmacy pickup, I noticed my name already on a video screen of prescriptions ready for pickup, got in line, waited a couple of minutes, and got the prescription... at no cost.
The reason I got so much accomplished so quickly was that every time I asked a question I got a good response, so I kept asking. Not at all what I expected. I found that VA employees "hold your hand" and know how to take whatever next step you ask about. They honestly seemed competent and eager to help at each step. I listened as the Urgent Care receptionist handled an elderly veteran in a wheelchair who was visiting from Chicago and needed help here. After gathering a bit of information, she called for a triage nurse, who quickly arrived and pushed the patient away.
Normally, when I've been in a medical facility for a couple of hours, I'm more than eager to escape, but this whole process went so smoothly and quickly that I wandered around the hospital for a while, checking out the cafeteria, snack shop, and store. I even stopped at the ER desk to ask if I could get emergency care even before I had seen a doctor. A man working at the ER desk offered help before I could ask, and told me that I certainly could check into the ER, even before my first doctor's appointment.
Like you, I had heard some negative reports about VA medical facilities. Frankly, one reason I didn't proceed two years earlier was that I supposed that they were pressed to handle Iraqi war injuries, and thought that I need not add to their problems. I underestimated them. In my defense, my experience with government facilities has always been negative, and anything military has usually been equally poor.
For my future treatment at the VA, I will have no co-pay for doctor visits, and a $5 co-pay for prescriptions. That's very close to free, and far better than Medicare. I've been paying $96/month for Medicare, without prescription coverage, and paying for a significant part of each medical treatment.
There is, of course, a downside. VA medical programs will cost $41.7 billion this year. Only about 6% of that cost will be paid by the patients, an average of $427 for each of 5.7 million patients. What patients pay is based on their income. The remaining 94% will, of course, be borne by taxpayers, most of whom are also paying far more for their own medical care. One more enormous expense of having a gigantic military force.
Nevertheless, my kudos to the award-winning Twin Cities Veterans Administration medical center. From my limited experience, it appears that they provide excellent service, and probably at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers.
It all sort of "hit the fan" when a neurologist prescribed Plavix to thin my blood, and I discovered that the prescription would cost me $150/month out of pocket. There is no way I could afford that, so I decided to see what I might be able to quickly accomplish at the VA hospital, and so made a phone call. I was told that I was in their system, but I needed to first update my means test. I asked if I could do that in person and was told I could, so I set out to approach the huge VA hospital.
I expected a typical governmental organization, with lots of sitting around waiting, reams of paperwork, and delayed results. The huge parking lot, full to the far reaches, was right in line with what I expected. I played musical parking places for about 10 minutes, then got lucky.
From the time I finally entered the big revolving doors, my experience changed, and it deserves description. First, a guy at the Information desk gave me precise directions to the Means Testing office. I asked a woman at a desk, and she told me to put my name on a clipboard and wait in the waiting room. Within 5 minutes, a woman called me, sat me down, helped me fill out a short income form, entered the info on the computer, and told me what my co-pays would be for the next year. I asked if I could make a doctor's appointment right away. She gave me a phone number and told I could call from a nearby lounge, which I did, and made an appointment for 11 days later.
Encouraged by such progress, I asked if there was any way I could get a prescription to replace the one for Plavix. With little explanation, I was told to go to the Urgent Care and see a pharmacist. A helpful woman at Urgent Care had me sign a clipboard outside the pharmacist's office, and wait. A few minutes later, the pharmacist came for me, listened to my explanation, questioned me, made some inquiries, made computer entries, and then she took me to a nurse who took my blood pressure and asked a few more questions... then back to the pharmacist, who said she had ordered a prescription for me to last until my doctor's appointment. She directed me to the pharmacy pickup.
Upon arriving at the pharmacy pickup, I noticed my name already on a video screen of prescriptions ready for pickup, got in line, waited a couple of minutes, and got the prescription... at no cost.
The reason I got so much accomplished so quickly was that every time I asked a question I got a good response, so I kept asking. Not at all what I expected. I found that VA employees "hold your hand" and know how to take whatever next step you ask about. They honestly seemed competent and eager to help at each step. I listened as the Urgent Care receptionist handled an elderly veteran in a wheelchair who was visiting from Chicago and needed help here. After gathering a bit of information, she called for a triage nurse, who quickly arrived and pushed the patient away.
Normally, when I've been in a medical facility for a couple of hours, I'm more than eager to escape, but this whole process went so smoothly and quickly that I wandered around the hospital for a while, checking out the cafeteria, snack shop, and store. I even stopped at the ER desk to ask if I could get emergency care even before I had seen a doctor. A man working at the ER desk offered help before I could ask, and told me that I certainly could check into the ER, even before my first doctor's appointment.
Like you, I had heard some negative reports about VA medical facilities. Frankly, one reason I didn't proceed two years earlier was that I supposed that they were pressed to handle Iraqi war injuries, and thought that I need not add to their problems. I underestimated them. In my defense, my experience with government facilities has always been negative, and anything military has usually been equally poor.
For my future treatment at the VA, I will have no co-pay for doctor visits, and a $5 co-pay for prescriptions. That's very close to free, and far better than Medicare. I've been paying $96/month for Medicare, without prescription coverage, and paying for a significant part of each medical treatment.
There is, of course, a downside. VA medical programs will cost $41.7 billion this year. Only about 6% of that cost will be paid by the patients, an average of $427 for each of 5.7 million patients. What patients pay is based on their income. The remaining 94% will, of course, be borne by taxpayers, most of whom are also paying far more for their own medical care. One more enormous expense of having a gigantic military force.
Nevertheless, my kudos to the award-winning Twin Cities Veterans Administration medical center. From my limited experience, it appears that they provide excellent service, and probably at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers.
posted by Robert Ronald Smith at 11:31 PM
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