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I have been reading about the VA drug problem for someone on this list. The
VA Healthcare system is really doing the best they can with money they are
allotted. They are required by law to provide medications for all eligible
veterans. Most veterans only have a $7.00 co-pay. The problem is not with
the veterans who get all of their care at the VA and also their meds. What
is a problem is many veterans get their care somewhere else because they
have health insurance and get a once-a-year appointment at the VA to just to
get their medications. It is a loophole that many take advantage of - and I
cannot blame them for it. However, it affects funding issues. If they were
getting all of their care, then the VA would get some insurance
reimbursement for them and this would help providing better prescription

coverage. The VA is not required to provide every drug available on the
market and they do not - just as many insurance companies do not. Each
facility is only budgeted so many dollars for prescription drugs - they have
to manage it as best they can to meet the huge demand for so many. They do
have to provide some kind of medication that works for the medical
condition. Some VA facilities are able to provide more services than
others. A few provide gastric bypass - but most do not.

I am pro-veteran. Until I started my recent job for the Department of
Justice, I worked for many years at a VA healthcare facility. Where there
are some doctors that are not great, there are many more who are - and many,
many are very dedicated to their practice - despite making less money than
their peers who do not work in VA facilities. An example is this: The
salary at the VA for a gastroenterologist is $160,000. A gastroenterologist
can start at over $400,000 in the private sector because of the demand.

The answer lies in demanding more of our Congressmen and Senator and
insisting that they provide more funding for VA Healthcare. For many
veterans, they have no other option and they DESERVE the finest of care and
medication.

I cannot speak for every VA Hospital, but I would have been willing to have
any of our surgeons operate on me or my family members and I would have been
pleased to have care by any of our primary care providers.

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