Minor Thoughts from me to you

The government wants to run your healthcare. At the very least, they want more control over the companies that do run your healthcare. They want more control because they think the existing companies are incompetent, greedy, or both. But how is government doing with the healthcare they already run?

Not well.

FOXNews.com - VA Claims Office Takes SNAFU to a New Level

Last month, a decorated Gulf War hero received a letter from the Veterans Affairs Administration that said: We are working on your claim for menstrual disorder.

There was just one problem: The claim was submitted for fibromyalgia.

Make that two problems: The claim was submitted by Glenn McBride, a 40-year-old man from Roanoke, Va., who most definitely does not get menstrual cramps.

... Jim Strickland, a veterans advocate who writes a regular health care benefits column on VAWatchdog.org and has his own benefits-related Web site, said he wasn't at all surprised to learn of McBride's "menstrual" letter. "There are 57 regional offices and every one is operating in total chaos and in crisis," he said. "Full frontal mass chaos. Every day."

Contacted in the middle of the week, Strickland said he'd already received two e-mails from veterans who were mailed the records of other veterans. And he provided his most ridiculous example of a nonsensical claims letter, one that managed to try to collect debt and to discuss overpaying the same debt -- at the same time.

Strickland says the problem at the root of letters like McBride's is a bonus structure paid out to VA claims employees.

"The more work, the better the bonus is," he said. "It's strictly volume, not quality driven. There is no accountability whatsoever.

"The art of the Teflon Jacket has been perfected at our VA. They are really totally invulnerable to your criticism."

Let's keep the government out of healthcare. Obamacare delenda est.