@sliceoflifemd: The VA system isn't perfect but no system is. I'm a physician who got frustrated with our healthcare system, so I started learning how other countries and systems do it. This week I'm turning that lens on something closer to home: the VA. The VA gets a rough reputation, and some of that is earned. But for a lot of veterans, it's actually a strong system, especially now that the Community Care Network lets patients get care from outside providers when the VA cant see them fast enough or doesn't offer a service locally. It's not perfect. But it's more capable than most people give it credit for. My goal is accuracy, not an agenda. If I get something wrong, I welcome the correction, especially from veterans who actually use the system. 📩 Free weekly newsletter with the deeper dive: https://sliceoflifemd.substack.com/subscribe #VeteransHealthcare #VAHealthcare #Healthcare #HealthcarePolicy #PhysicianPerspective
Slice of Life, MD
Region: US
Thursday 03 September 2026 16:36:08 GMT
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Willionaire :
I think America should adopt a German style healthcare system. There’s a public health insurance system, and a private healthcare system. The public healthcare system competes with the private health insurance. It would force them to actually improve their services (without bankrupting the government to pay for 333 million people).
2026-09-03 18:36:51
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Joseph Warner111 :
we remember the awful conditions at the VA hospitals around DC in the 1990s. Rats in the dorms and general cleaniless was terrible. It might be better now. Then is the wait times such that politicions finally allowed the soldiers to go outside of the VA to doctors like you.
Can you imagine if all the doctors and nurses were part of the VA and congress and the president ordered all agencies to do a 10% budget cut to get spending under control.
2026-09-04 00:03:06
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Rebecca Smith McDoug :
As a dentist, this is true
2026-09-03 17:05:50
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zbbro :
Their electronic records system is outstanding. And we could have used that *for free* across our entire system.
Instead we have to use multiple systems that cost billions and purposefully do not cross-communicate.
2026-09-03 16:51:16
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PatchesOHoul :
the VA has improved tremendously over the past decade.
2026-09-03 16:41:57
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johno50006 :
The VA is sadly the last place you want to go.
2026-09-03 17:06:18
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Nope :
I do a lot of medication PAs and Tricare, while its not perfect, is by far the best plan to work with. I wish we would use them as a template for regulations for private insurance. They have publicly available pa criteria, do lifetime approvals for most long term meds, and just dropped all their documentation requirements this year. Those three things alone would be a huge relief if applied to all plans and theres already proof that its doable. Or we could just get rid of PAs all together, but thats not going to happen.
2026-09-03 16:56:59
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hello_kitty! :
💯💯💯
2026-09-04 16:06:02
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