Mitt Romney: Maybe Veterans' Health Care Should Be Privatized

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney floated an eyebrow-raising suggestion on Veterans Day: privatize veterans' health care.

Speaking with a dozen vets in an occasionally emotional roundtable discussion in South Carolina Friday, the GOP presidential contender sympathized with the service members' difficulties obtaining treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which one vet described as "adversarial."

Romney, who has already proposed privatizing Medicare, suggested that maybe giving wounded warriors an outside option would force VA health bureaucrats to be a little more responsive.

"When you work in the private sector and you have a competitor, you know if I don't treat this customer right, they're going to leave me and go somewhere else, so I'd better treat them right," Romney said. "Whereas if you're the government, they know there's nowhere else you guys can go. You're stuck.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/11/mitt-romney-veterans-health-care-privatization_n_1089061.html

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Say hello to oblivion, fuckwad.

[liberal N proud]

1. Privatize, Privatize, Privatize

That is all these rat fuckers think about.

:nuke:

[Skittles]

2. the 1% needs their unfair share

[sarcasmo]

4. How they can steal others money.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

21. We''ll privatize Romney and then sell him

(who would buy him?)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. They're not stuck, Romney......YOU are. Idiot.

[NewJeffCT]

5. A lot of people in jobs that have health insurance don't get choices either, Mitt

The choice is usually, "Here is the company health insurance plan. Check 'yes' if you want to join and 'no' if you don't"

Sometimes, you may get: here is our company health insurance program:
Option 1 - HMO or PPO
Option 2 - high deductible plan that has a lower monthly co-pay
Option 3 - no insurance

There are some companies that offer several plans, but far fewer than did 10-20 years ago. Most of the time, it would be "Here is our insurance through United Healthcare, option 1, 2, 3 and 4 (with 1 or 2 being a high deductible plan)" Rarer still is a company that allows you to pick between several insurance companies (i.e, Aetna, United Health, Blue Cross, etc)

[defendandprotect]

6. Romney at $250 MILLION can certainly afford private health care -- who else can -- ????

[Barack_America]

7. Defective armor, shower electrocutions, etc.

Great track record so far for "privatization" being good for our vets.

[SoapBox]

8. Oh my gawd...What a HORRIBLE idea!

So Mittens...Now you want our vets to JUST DIE QUICKLY?

You are such the asshole.

[and-justice-for-all]

34. That is all they have...horrific ideas. nt

[Swede Atlanta]

9. WTF???

Surveys of those enrolled in GOVERNMENT health programs such as the VA, Medicare and Medicaid reveal a general satisfaction with the quality of care. There are obviously exceptions such as the Walter Reed fiasco of a few years ago but in general they are happy with the care provided as part of government programs. So let's leave this the fuck alone!!!!

[wxgeek7]

10. We know better

US private sector healthcare = cause a majority of bankruptcies, care more about their bottom line than their patients, can be considered "death panels", ~30% administrative costs, pay their CEOs multi-million dollar salaries, have an army of folks lobbying their interests, frighten people from obtaining medical care, etc.

Compared to that, I'd take government provided/paid healthcare any day.

[jtrockville]

11. Is there even ONE example where privatization was of benefit to anyone

other than the profit-takers?

[elleng]

12. Right, we 'customers' go next door to check out the competition!

:sarcasm:

[Zambero]

13. Bravo Mitch! I'm sure Haliburton would gladly lend a hand

They did a helluva job for the troops in Iraq, and for so cheap! And by the way, like before -- just make sure it's a no bid contract with no competition, no accountability, and of course Cheneyburton(I mean Haliburton) gets the usual blank check to cover the "occasional" cost overrun.

[Odin2005]

14. He just killed his campaign.

[Dont call me Shirley]

15. Maybe we ought to socialize Mit Romney's fortune, which he stole, BTW.

[Hardrada]

16. Are these guys all fucking up their campaigns on purpose?

It sure seems like it. Every time they appear anywhere it must take a long time to get the stink out of the room.

[Old and In the Way]

17. When is Cantor going to put up a bill to privitize Congressional healthcare?

Odd that these free market lovers in Congress haven't put their own healthcare benefits into for private healthcare insurance. I wonder why?

[DRoseDARs]

18. That sound you hear is Keyboard Cat. Poor thing's paws are raw from playing so much recently... n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

19. Which part of the Republican base is this supposed to appeal to? Not the veterans.

[beac]

20. Maybe Romney or any of his five sons should have served.

Oh, that's right. Sacrifice is for the non-Mormon poor.

[Rozlee]

22. The VA Hospital at Audie Murphy and Kerrville TX have been great to me

I'm actually over-insured due to my disabled vet status. I have medicare disability, my husband's Tricare and the VA. I choose the VA now. Once, I went to a civilian neurologist who did 4 CT views of my brain with and without contrast and I noticed they billed medicare $10,000. After that, I stayed with the VA. Even though it might be a bit further, it's cheaper and they treat me great. Rethugs would bankrupt the VA Medical system by privatizing it and enrich the medical industrial complex at it's expense.

[UTUSN]

23. Bwah-ha-ha-haha-HAH!1 Go for it, Mittens, just GO!1 n/t

[freshwest]

26. I always find it hard to get mad at 'Mittens.' I think, 'Kittens.' We should get another nick.

[No Elephants]

36. Calll him Willard, then.

[Capt13]

24. Had Both

I wish I still had the VA,The level of care I received there in the (recent)past is light years ahead of the service I've ever gotten in the private sector

[Lasher]

25. I still have both.

The VA is good but there is a disadvantage: My closest VA hospital is about 2 hours away. Even at that, the VA likes to centralize specialties. If you need a pacemaker, for example, you might have to go to a VA hospital in Kentucky or Tennessee. Knee joint replacement might be done in a different hospital in yet another state far away.

There is a very good VA clinic about 30 minutes from here and that is where I go for simple things like checkups and flu shots. For anything else like a colonoscopy they want me to go to a distant VA hospital and that's when I revert to my private sector health care insurance.

[Bozita]

27. This just might be this Romney's "brainwashed" quote.

Say it again, Mittens.

Louder.

Louder!

[sakabatou]

28. *facepalm*

[Sirveri]

29. Privatize my VA and I swear to god I will go off.

After my BS I'm not really all that stable, the last thing I need is more BS.

[Betty]

30. clueless prick

privatized banks and insurance companies shit all over their clients because they know their competition's just as bad. There is no free market because they own the government and make sure that there are no regulations that could stop them from collusion.

[yurbud]

31. ideas like this could kill the GOP if the Democrats would just stop agreeing with them

or being so afraid (or enamored) of the big money players that they don't call this the theft, corruption, and betrayal it is.

The Republican Party would have been dead by 2010 if the corporate wing of the Dems hadn't propped up their numbers in congress by voting with them, which also kept their lame ass ideas alive.

[4moronyears]

32. It's like musical chairs

Whoever gets the last chair will get the GOP nomination, it seems like...

[neverforget]

33. Romney is stuck on stupid.

Make that the entire Republican Party is stuck on stupid.

[ngant17]

35. that option already exists

to veterans who want to (and can afford to) go to private sector doctors.

So what's he saying? Absolute nonsense.

Actually, the reverse makes more sense. If the government would fully subsidize health care, people getting treatment in private health care would see the playing field become more level and less expensive.

Competition under the current privatized system is not making health care any cheaper for anyone, veteran or non-veteran. Because where are you gonna go when the one medical-care company is just as expensive as everyone else?

[No Elephants]

37. I hope this makes veterans (of all ages) think twice about voting Republican.

[Harmony Blue]

38. Mittens is always a day late, and a dollar short

when it comes to having his pulse on the emotions, and feelings, of this country.... he simply doesn't understand.