Back in 2014, when Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was mixing up drinks at a hipster bar in NYC, the biggest news story in America revolved around the Veterans Health Administration scandal.
It was horrific. When people realized how badly our veterans were being treated by government run health care facilities, the nation was shocked.
A reported pattern of negligence in the treatment of military veterans actually caused preventable deaths. Numerous incidents involving suicides in parking lots of VA hospitals, fake waiting lists to avoid treating patients and blatant medical malpractice that exposed vets to serious health risks were just some of the many examples of how serious the problem had become.
To be fair, not every VA hospital is the same. There are VA hospitals all over America and some of them are well operated. But facilities in places like Arizona, Texas, Colorado, South Carolina and Florida were experiencing case after case of seriously disturbing patterns of horrible treatment to our nation's heroes.
Some of these facilities have been improved since then, but not all. Many are still reporting serious problems. USA Today has done extensive coverage of the 2014 VA scandal and there are still examples of reasons why we have serious cause for concern about these institutions.
Enter AOC - the socialist Barbie Doll from Queens, NY. She thinks the VA is just super and she's advocating for "VA for all!"
Whhhaaaat?
While speaking to nurses and veterans at an auditorium in the Bronx, she said, "If it ain't broke don't fix it."
Honey, it's definetly broke. Report after report, investigation after investigation, veteran-suicide after veteran-suicide, our VA hospitals, as a whole, are not a shining example of what hospitals should strive to be like.
She said that should Medicare for All be passed, the VA would most likely remain unchanged. While many champions of universal health-care coverage are fighting to essentially abolish private health insurance while retaining the private hospital system, AOC said in an ideal world, the civilian health system would mirror what’s currently offered to veterans. “If you ask me, I would like VA for all,” she said to cheers.
The VA Hospitals are known for having absurdly long wait times, conditions that aren't sanitary & subpar care. I wish vets didn't have to go to VA hospitals. I certainly wouldn't advocate for sending the other 99% of citizens to one.
Does AOC even know what happens at VA hospitals? Is she old enough to remember 2014? Does she actually care about America's health?
We'll have to assume the answers to all of those questions is an unresounding "no".