Trump Signs Bill To Better Veteran Health Care

[BFritz21]

Trump makes another move that seems beyond respectable, benefits veterans who have given everything for this country, and just overall betters this country, and no one seems to take notice?

Quote:President Trump signed legislation Wednesday that will dramatically expand a program at the Department of Veterans Affairs that lets patients seek care from private doctors if they want to bypass the troubled VA system.

The Veterans Choice Improvement Act removes barriers that Congress placed around the original "choice" initiative and eliminates an expiration date that would have shuttered the program in August.

Giving Vets the health care that they need and deserve.

Blows me away that people still try and hate on Trump just to hate when he keeps improving things for the country.

[Belsnickel]

I don't give the POTUS credit for legislation, especially bipartisan legislation, especially introduced by someone of a different party than the POTUS. Separation of powers and all of that.

When I see verifiable positive outcomes he is responsible for, then we'll talk. Until then, not so much. This has been a very lackluster 100 days so far. Maybe there has just been too much golf.

[Millhouse]

Its a step in the right direction for veterans health care as was the original legislation back in 2014. But they still have a ways to go to clean up and fix the whole VA system.

[Belsnickel]

(04-20-2017, 05:07 PM)Millhouse Wrote: Its a step in the right direction for veterans health care as was the original legislation back in 2014. But they still have a ways to go to clean up and fix the whole VA system.

As someone whose father has to deal with the VA because of CLL derived from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and who has over an hour drive to either of the two nearest VA hospitals, believe me when I say things like this are of a great benefit. But I agree, there is so much more that needs to be done. The hoops that still have to be jumped through in order for him to receive cancer treatments here is astonishing.

He went to an appointment at the local VA community clinic, and they sent him by ambulance to the hospital where he was admitted. Let me reiterate: the doctor and nurses at the VA saw is necessary for him to be emergency transported to the hospital, and the VA will not pay for the hospital visit. He is 100% disabled with the cause being from his time in the service, and they won't pay that bill. So yeah, definite improvements to be made, especially because this does not improve situations like those which I have described.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(04-20-2017, 04:51 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Trump makes another move that seems beyond respectable, benefits veterans who have given everything for this country, and just overall betters this country, and no one seems to take notice?


Giving Vets the health care that they need and deserve.

Blows me away that people still try and hate on Trump just to hate when he keeps improving things for the country.

1) Who hated on Trump just to hate on Him related to signing this bill?

2) Did you take notice of who signed this bill in 2014?

[GMDino]

(04-20-2017, 05:31 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: 1) Who hated on Trump just to hate on Him related to signing this bill?

2) Did you take notice of who signed this bill in 2014?

Quote:Lawmakers created the choice program in 2014 after a massive scandal involving wait time cover-ups at more than 100 VA facilities around the country. It was initially structured as a two-year pilot program that limited when and where veterans could choose to see private doctors. Patients could only use the choice program if they lived more than 40 miles from the nearest VA hospital or if they could not get an appointment from their local VA facility within 30 days.

The choice program has proven controversial since its inception three years ago. Critics have questioned whether increasing veterans' reliance on private doctors might move the VA toward privatization, while proponents of such efforts have accused the VA of resisting steps to implement the program in order to protect the status quo.


Some veterans advocates, such as Concerned Veterans for America, praised the administration's temporary push to extend choice but encouraged lawmakers to continue searching for solutions to the VA's ongoing struggles with long wait times.
"Extending the Choice Program is the right thing to do, but only as a stopgap measure until better solutions are developed and implemented," said Dan Caldwell, policy director at CVA. "Reauthorizing the Choice Act buys Congress some time to work with Secretary [David] Shulkin on broader choice reforms that will truly empower veterans with the ability to seek care outside the VA when they want to."

[*bfine32*]

It's a good move that POTUS signed this legislation and he deserves credit for doing so.

WTS, I would like to see a bigger push toward mental health. Suicide rates are staggering.

[Belsnickel]

(04-20-2017, 05:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: It's a good move that POTUS signed this legislation and he deserves credit for doing so.

WTS, I would like to see a bigger push toward mental health. Suicide rates are staggering.

I feel like giving a president, any president, credit for signing bipartisan legislation that they didn't have a role in fits with the "everyone gets a trophy" paradigm. Kind of like when the Washington Examiner said he deserved credit for recognizing the importance of NATO. We're setting the bar pretty low, here.

[*bfine32*]

(04-20-2017, 05:57 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I feel like giving a president, any president, credit for signing bipartisan legislation that they didn't have a role in fits with the "everyone gets a trophy" paradigm. Kind of like when the Washington Examiner said he deserved credit for recognizing the importance of NATO. We're setting the bar pretty low, here.

I've noticed that folks have set the bar pretty low for giving POTUS credit.

IDC. who gets the credit, just glad POTUS signed it.

[GMDino]

(04-20-2017, 05:57 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I feel like giving a president, any president, credit for signing bipartisan legislation that they didn't have a role in fits with the "everyone gets a trophy" paradigm. Kind of like when the Washington Examiner said he deserved credit for recognizing the importance of NATO. We're setting the bar pretty low, here.

Since the debates.

Sad he can't even reach the bar sometimes despite that....

[BFritz21]

(04-20-2017, 05:31 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: 1) Who hated on Trump just to hate on Him related to signing this bill?

Not related to this bill but you can't tell me that you don't see the endless blind hatred from everywhere that ignores the positive things that he has done for this country.

(04-20-2017, 05:31 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: 2) Did you take notice of who signed this bill in 2014?

Did you take notice that the bill had expired and, even so, it looks like Trump signed a modified version of it that eliminates barriers of where a vet can get coverage?

Quote:President Trump signed legislation Wednesday that will dramatically expand a program at the Department of Veterans Affairs that lets patients seek care from private doctors if they want to bypass the troubled VA system.

The Veterans Choice Improvement Act removes barriers that Congress placed around the original "choice" initiative and eliminates an expiration date that would have shuttered the program in August.

He improved a half-assed plan and is giving coverage to the people who need it and deserve it most: our vets who had put their lives on the line for us.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(04-20-2017, 08:18 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Not related to this bill

Okay, no hate. So why bring it up?

Quote:but you can't tell me that you don't see the endless blind hatred from everywhere that ignores the positive things that he has done for this country.

The kind of blind hatred that would prompt someone to praise Trump for doing exactly what Obama did without acknowledging Obama did it three years ago?

Quote:Did you take notice that the bill had expired

The original bill doesn't expire until August.

Quote:and, even so, it looks like Trump signed a modified version of it that eliminates barriers of where a vet can get coverage?

Sounds good on paper. Can you give me an example of one barrier which has been eliminated?

Quote:He improved a half-assed plan and is giving coverage to the people who need it and deserve it most: our vets who had put their lives on the line for us.

Brad, all Trump did was sign the bill. Trump didn't improve it.

[Aquapod770]

(04-20-2017, 05:05 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I don't give the POTUS credit for legislation, especially bipartisan legislation, especially introduced by someone of a different party than the POTUS. Separation of powers and all of that.

When I see verifiable positive outcomes he is responsible for, then we'll talk. Until then, not so much. This has been a very lackluster 100 days so far. Maybe there has just been too much golf.

If anything you should be giving extra credit for this (maybe not to the POTUS himself). It's getting rarer and rarer to see both parties actually working together to improve things anymore. 

[BFritz21]

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Okay, no hate. So why bring it up?

Because you don't see people praising anything that Trump has done or give him credit for anything.

You can't just acknowledge the good and act like people haven't been just blindly bashing him, even if they're giving him credit for this.

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The kind of blind hatred that would prompt someone to praise Trump for doing exactly what Obama did without acknowledging Obama did it three years ago?

I never saw even a fraction of the people blindly hating Obama that blindly hate Trump.

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The original bill doesn't expire until August. 

Good leaders are proactive.

Doing this now ensures that it gets done in case problems happen to arise in signing it.

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Sounds good on paper. Can you give me an example of one barrier which has been eliminated?

Vets don't have to drive over 40 miles to a VA clinic and they won't have to face lengthy wait times to get appointments.

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Brad, all Trump did was sign the bill. Trump didn't improve it.

But he has said that he's working on improving it.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(04-20-2017, 09:36 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Because you don't see people praising anything that Trump has done or give him credit for anything.

You can't just acknowledge the good and act like people haven't been just blindly bashing him, even if they're giving him credit for this.


I never saw even a fraction of the people blindly hating Obama that blindly hate Trump.

Good leaders are proactive.

Doing this now ensures that it gets done in case problems happen to arise in signing it.

Vets don't have to drive over 40 miles to a VA clinic and they won't have to face lengthy wait times to get appointments.


But he has said that he's working on improving it.

Brad, you are blindly praising Trump for other people's work which is just as bad as blindly hating on Trump.

The example you listed is already a part of the original bill. Seeing a local doctor assumes they accept the veteran's insurance which isn't a given.

This is what I've learned from this thread so far:

1) You praised Trump for signing a bill which extends an existing program others have been working to improve since before Trump was a candidate.

2) You praised Trump for signing a bill to renew a program you incorrectly claimed was expired.

3) You praised Trump for improving the bill by incorrectly naming current benefits of the program.

[Belsnickel]

(04-20-2017, 09:23 PM)Aquapod770 Wrote: If anything you should be giving extra credit for this (maybe not to the POTUS himself). It's getting rarer and rarer to see both parties actually working together to improve things anymore. 

Oh, I give credit to the Senators and Representatives that made it happen. But this wasn't a White House initiative, and so they should not get credit.

[Dill]

(04-20-2017, 09:19 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The kind of blind hatred that would prompt someone to praise Trump for doing exactly what Obama did without acknowledging Obama did it three years ago?

Brad, all Trump did was sign the bill. Trump didn't improve it.

I am slowly losing my surprise that so many Trumpsters see criticism of Trump as proceeding from "blind" hatred, as if the man were not himself responsible for his tremendous unpopularity.

Separating Trump from accountability for his own actions is the flipside of constantly holding Obama accountable for nonsense (e.g., every thing from golfing to failing to produce his birth certificate) or for problems over which he had no control (e.g., Benghazi; the implosion of Syria).

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/obama-derangement-syndrome-and-the-american-right/

One of the most confounding critiques of President Obama from the right has been the expressed belief that the president of the United States has deliberately initiated policies that he knew would injure the economy and the country. In short, Barack Obama wants to destroy America.

Several different motivations are given for this traitorous behavior. Rush Limbaugh thinks it’s because Obama wants as much of the population as possible to fall into dependency on government, thus giving Democrats a permanent majority because everyone knows poor people vote Democratic. Others believe it’s because the president is a socialist/Communist and in order to remake America, it must first be destroyed.

[BmorePat87]

Good to see the Senate working together on things like this.

[GMDino]

(04-22-2017, 04:04 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: Lol at this tidbit:Critics have questioned whether increasing veterans' reliance on private doctors might move the VA toward privatization, while proponents of such efforts have accused the VA of resisting steps to implement the program in order to protect the status quo.


Yes, because god forbid people have choice instead of being forced to rely on a shitty government program.

These "critics" should spend more time critiquing the * known as the VA. Maybe, just maybe, veterans will choose to go to them for their health issues instead of private practices.

Not to offend but they already had a choice.  No one is forced to go to the VA.

Secondly privatization is not the miracle cure for everything.  (Citation: Private prisons)

Lastly, since when have conservatives been about letting people have "choice"?

[Belsnickel]

(04-22-2017, 04:02 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: A private solution to a public *?

We should do this more often.

(04-22-2017, 04:04 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: Lol at this tidbit:Critics have questioned whether increasing veterans' reliance on private doctors might move the VA toward privatization, while proponents of such efforts have accused the VA of resisting steps to implement the program in order to protect the status quo.


Yes, because god forbid people have choice instead of being forced to rely on a shitty government program.

These "critics" should spend more time critiquing the * known as the VA. Maybe, just maybe, veterans will choose to go to them for their health issues instead of private practices.

In all seriousness, there are many, many researchers that actually look at the move towards privatization for government services, or potentially other options, to improve efficiency and effectiveness in government. Privatization, devolution, hybridization, outsourcing, contracting, these are all things our government has been doing for decades. "The era of big government is over."

There are pros, and there are cons. It's all about how these solutions are implemented. The issue is that they often aren't implemented well. It often just results in a program with half of its budget cut and no preparation of the private sector to pick up the slack followed by mismanagement of public funds.