Master and Commander
Posts: 1431
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When I received my honorable discharge from the Navy, I went to college and beyond. That was my plan and the reason I joined the military. When my schooling was over, I worked as an Air Force officer. The Air Force was part of my family tradition. One of my jobs was to visit Air Force medical facilities and evaluate the level of care being administered to both active duty and retired military personel. At that time all active servicemen, no matter what branch they served, were being seen for care at both primary and secondary Air Force facilities. I worked out of Andrews AFB but visited many places. At that time, active duty personel were seen and had priority over retired military. Retirees were seen on an as available basis which means that they waited for many months and frequently for years to get service. Champus paid civilian hospitals so poorly that unless someone was dying, family members hardly ever got treatment at primary or secondary facilities and footed much of the bill at civilian facilities . They had to have secondary coverage to pay the bills. Retired service members that went to VA facilities were on a long waiting list to be seen and treated. Extreme emergencies had priority. The level of care varied from hospital to hospital and from doctor to doctor. Alot of patients were loaded up with medications and told to come back in 6 months. I don't know how it is today, but military medicine for retired is probably as poor as when I was in the service. There were and are good docs but it is a crap shoot on whether you get one or not and how well the system works today. |
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