The Veterans Affairs debacles of the past few years have been case studies on the dangers of federal control. Now, even after numerous reforms have been put in place, Washington bureaucrats still aren't able to get vets the care they deserve.
Fox News reports that a Shreveport VA hospital has placed 2,900 vets on wait lists, not to see VA doctors, but to see outside doctors. The problem, according to whistle blower Shea Wilkes, is the multiple levels of approval required to make an appointment and the inability of Washington officials to know what's happening.
“No one knows what in the hell they are doing,” he said. “‘Choice’ is not really a choice. The VA generates your choice.”
In his letter to President Trump, Wilkes wrote: “Scheduling manipulations and secret wait lists for care in the VA have not been corrected, they have simply become actual wait lists for non-VA care…Those responsible for these mistakes are not held accountable and their careers continue to progress with little or no accountability. The problems are hidden from the VA’s Washington leadership.”
If Washington can't handle healthcare for a limited number of veterans, why do we think they can control a national health care system?
Washington, D.C., is too large, too clumsy, and too far removed from everyday Americans to make good decisions about their personal lives. The best decisions are always made as close to home as possible, and that's exactly what the Convention of States Project seeks to accomplish.
An Article V Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that remove power from DC and return it to where it belongs: with the states and the people.
