Hi
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... Medical care beyond what the VA can provide?
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Ummm... no such thing, actually.
For all that the V.A.'s primary response is to cut off the problem and fit you with a wooden one (not too successful an approach with my spine and neck or my friend's heart) the care is broad and comprehensive in nature. I wouldn't suggest it as a model for a national health care system, right, but for an essentially free service, it's really pretty good.
Good: I go in with severe pain in my neck, lower back, lower legs, left shoulder, right collar bone and arm, and I get treatment.
Bad: The doctor requires me to decide which ONE I want to be treated.
Good: I get all my prescriptions for a $10 co-pay.
Bad: I do the $10 co-pay for prescriptions that would cost me $2 on the open market.
Good: The V.A. hospitals are frequently associated with the finest teaching hospitals in the country, swapping staff and personnel as well as facilities and other resources.
Bad: Often being treated like someone's term paper.
In my case, and in the cases of most of the X.G.I.s I know, the good far outweighs the bad, but you'd have to have been in the military to think so. A civilian would feel quite harshly put upon by the attitude of the whole thing, while soldiers and sailors are kind of used to being told where to go, what to do, and when to get there, only to discover that they're in the wrong place doing the incorrect thing a day late.
