US Veterans have trouble getting treatment and we are thinking about raising doctor salaries

Report after report has seen that our veterans are not receiving the care they were promised by the government.  There are long wait lists and veterans are dying while waiting to receive care.  This is not what these men and women fought for.  Why are veterans not receiving the care they need? because there are not enough doctors to treat the volume of veterans seeking care. 

Here is what our government is proposing to fix the problem.  Instead of taking extra funds and creating more positions in the VA they are taking the extra funds to raise the cap on future doctors for when they can hire new doctors.  The current doctors will continue with their current cap while the cap for new doctors will be raised.  They are doing this to attract doctors from the private sector. 

What ever happened to public service?  Working for the government used to mean you received a lower wage than those in the private sector.  This resulted in people in government service positions being there to actually help people.  The pendulum has swung the other way and now government worker usually make more than those in the private sector with better benefits.  This has resulted in a shift to people looking to work in government service not to help people, but that is where the money is.

Here is what I suggest.  Take the money slated to go towards higher salaries for doctors and put it to hiring more physicians assistants, physical therapists, cancer specialists, ambulatory specialists, mental health specialists and technicians.  These are the people the VA really needs to treat our veterans.  They don't need more expensive doctors, they need more of the people who actually run the tests.  They need more of those who actually treat the problems facing our veterans.  Put the money where it will actually do some good instead of trying to put a pretty Band-Aid on the problem.  The VA needs to stop looking down on chiropractors, homeopathy and other non-traditional practicianors and include them in their services.  The use of these practicianors would greatly reduce the cost of medical treatment. 

What do I know.  The common sense approach seems to be in short supply these days, so  I am in the minority in my opinions.  isn't that shy you read my blog though?