Ah, the wonders of privatization.
On Dec. 10, locked doors greeted veterans seeking treatment at Veterans Administration clinics in Rice Lake and Hayward. Corporate Wellness & Fitness, the Kentucky company contracted to operate the clinics, cut and ran after just six months in Hayward and three months in Rice Lake. The company said it was losing $26,000 a month and that the VA reneged on promises to guarantee the venture’s profitability. The Rice Lake clinic reopened Dec. 26 with VA personnel, but the Hayward clinic remains closed.
The fiasco raises numerous issues. Business Week magazine reported Corporate Wellness & Fitness “agreed to accept a fixed sum per month instead of having the VA reimburse it dollar for dollar ... It quickly felt pressure from the government to spend more on supplies and equipment than it had budgeted and could pay.” Aren’t businesses supposed to consider these factors before they submit a contract bid? It seems that government contracts, at least under the Bush Administration, follow the rules of crony capitalism: profit is privatized, risk is socialized.
Even more fundamental is whether privatization, and the inevitable profit/loss calculations that come with it, is in the best interests of veterans or taxpayers. Treating veterans is an inherently unprofitable enterprise. Nearly all wounded veterans have complex medical traumas that far exceed their ability to pay. VA hospitals and clinics don’t exist to turn a profit; they exist to provide the best medical care possible for those who risked their lives in defense of their country. Their treatment is a public, not a private, function.
If the government were serious about privatization, it would abolish every VA hospital and clinic and simply give veterans vouchers for their medical care. So-called public/private partnerships, like the ones in Rice Lake and Hayward, blur the line between public and private, encourage private vendors to believe government owes them a guaranteed profit (see, “cost-plus” contracts) and often lures private contractors into the pay-to-play world of campaign contributions (see Halliburton, Blackwater, etc.).
The VA system exists because the free market is an awkward and inefficient delivery mechanism for veterans health care. When it’s absolutely, positively necessary for a group of people to receive medical care, there is no substitute for socialized medicine. That’s why VA employees, not Corporate Wellness and Fitness, are delivering health care to veterans in Rice Lake.


Craig B wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:49 PM:
If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain? is from Alice In Wonderland. Did you know that American veterans are the largest single group of American citizens discriminated against? Why arent veterans protected against discrimination? Health care, home loans and home purchases are the three areas veterans are discriminated against the most in. Since I started this Among Us series, I get a wide range of stories from people. Some of these people are angry. Others are crying. Some are perplexed. Others are frustrated. Some are desperate. Others are in shock. Enough time has gone by that I am now getting information on a person or business from more than one source. Some I have personal knowledge of. It is way past time veterans also are a State and Federally protected class of American citizen. Certain classes of people are Federally protected against discrimination. Classes such as race, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, age, familial status, disability, etc. in loans, leasing and selling of houses in Fair Housing in Housing and Urban Development, in employment such as in the Equal Employment Opportunity, and access as in the American With Disabilities Act.
The Reno-Tahoe area has many good things going for it. Another one of them is the regional VA Medical Center. As a disabled Navy Viet Nam vet, when I lived in the Bay Area I used to go to the San Francisco VA. It had excellent care. The VA hospital here is also excellent. When the VA Hospital is overwhelmed, as it often is with the massive influx of younger veterans from The supercilious War On Terror, it out-sources us. It gives us vouchers to pay for our medical care. The reason is that the VA is a health care plan one exclusively for veterans. The intent of the VA is that a veteran gets health care outside the VA and their health insurance covering them is VA. No different from other health care insurance providers such as Kaiser, Blue Cross, Hometown Health, etc. Great idea except the private sector refuses to treat veterans with VA insurance.
Such as Ed Angelini. Melody Cote was one of the people at Dr. Angelinis office that hung up on veterans with a VA voucher. One of those veterans was me. She is now a Realtor. Her husband, Jack Cote, is formally of RemCor Realty. Both are now with Coldwell Banker Village Realty. Dr. Angelini, Mrs. Cote was quick to send us to war and certainly enjoy the daily benefits of living in a free society. Yet, they denied their services to veterans. Services for which they advertise they do, will be paid to do by the VA, yet they refuse to provide their service solely because the patient seeking their service is a veteran.
Same story for a veteran seeking to use their GI Bill to purchase their home. I have also received several complaints about Realtors and loan officers that will not work with a veteran wanting to buy their home with a VA insured home loan. I myself had the same problem with a Realtor named Danny Podesto. I called Senator Harry Reid and spoke with a Susan Lisagor for Senator Reid to sponsor legislation to add veterans to the protected list so veterans cant be discriminated against.
I want American veterans immediately added to the protected class of citizen for discrimination. We have State and Federal laws to protect against discrimination. It is way past time veterans also are a State and Federally protected class of American citizen. The Salvation Army (a Hero Among Us) is the only store Ive ever found that gives me a Veterans discount upon presentation of my Veterans ID.
Others (Troop-Haters Among Us) that I have received stories that have denied services to veterans solely because of the veterans VA insurance or the use of a Veterans ID.
NO pharmacy in town out side of the VA pharmacy.
Doctors: Dr. Terance Cochrane, Eyetech Visioncare, Dr. Thomas Komadina, Sierra Eye Associates, Dr. Geoffrey Cecchi, Family Eyecare Associates, Dr. Michael Fischer, Dr. Hum, Dr. Denis Humphreys, Dr. Stanley Plecha, Dr. Tyson Kales, Dr. Evan Pritchett, Dr. Christine Siebert, Dr. William Durant, Dr. Bud Schonder, Dr. Michael Stanko.
Realtors: Rose Newman with Prudential Nevada Realty, Carl Jorgensen with Coldwell Banker Village Realty, David Morris with RE/MAX, Donna Clark with Dickson Realty, Greg Cook with RemCor, Dana Haley with Keller Williams, Walt Gottchalk with RPS, Veena Ranganath with Coldwell Banker Plummer, Corey Carter with Keller Williams, Linda Hartman with Century 21, Chris Harris with Coldwell Banker Village Realty, Michael Robinson with Chase, Rodley Moser with Dickson Realty, Jonathan Wornardt with Coldwell Banker Village Realty.
Loan Officers: Brent Harte with CTX Mortgage, Kevin Anderson with Countrywide, Gina Nolte with Indymac, Sheryl Christensen with Countrywide.
Banks: Bank of America refuses to accept a Veterans' ID. That also happened to me. Many of the stories I got about this discrimination were from elderly and/or disabled veterans. They do not drive so their only ID is their Veterans ID.
If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain? If these businesses will believe in and support us veterans, then Ill believe in and support them. Until then, to stop the discrimination against veterans, I will not use them. I wrote this article. I tell others about the discrimination. I ask that you do not use those that discriminate against veterans, and that you contact your local and Federal representatives telling them to sponsor and support legislation adding veterans to the protected classes. Veterans served so that every American citizen enjoys the benefits of a free society. However, the veterans do not get respect, or the benefits we paid to get. If you enjoy your freedom, thank and support a vet. If not, get the hell out of America. "