Bush Administration, Republicans 'refuse' to acknowledge success of VA Health System

The Department of Veterans Affairs health care system "is a stunning success -- but the [Bush] administration and the Republicans in Congress refuse to build on that success because it doesn't reflect their conservative agenda," columnist Paul Krugman writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

According to Krugman, the "key to the VA's success is its long-term relationship with its clients," which "means that the VA can easily keep track of a patient's medical history, allowing it to make much better use of information technology than other health care providers."

He adds, "Unlike all but a few doctors in the private sector, VA doctors have instant access to patients' medical records via a systemwide network, which reduces both costs and medical errors."

In addition, he writes, the "long-term relationship with patients ... lets the VA save money by investing heavily in preventive medicine, an area which the private sector ... has shown little interest."

However, the Bush administration, rather than allow Medicare beneficiaries to participate in the VA health care system, has limited access "to poor vets or those with service-related injuries" and is "pursuing a failed idea from the 1990s: channeling Medicare recipients into private HMOs" through Medicare Advantage, Krugman writes.

The "administration and its allies in Congress oppose expanding the best health care system in America, even though that expansion would save taxpayer dollars, because they're afraid that allowing a successful government program to expand would undermine their anti-government crusade and displease powerful business lobbies," and their "ideology and fealty to interest groups make them willing to waste billions subsidizing private HMOs," according to Krugman (Krugman, New York Times, 9/4).