Treat Alaska vets in Alaska if possible
Health care is part of the contract America has made with its veterans. It is fair and reasonable for them to expect medical services, especially the kind needed by vets who are part of our aging population, delivered to them in all 50 states if the facilities exist even if they aren’t in a VA hospital.
Many of our local vets have to travel to Seattle or elsewhere for medical treatments, despite the availability of those treatments within the state at private facilities. This is due to current Veteran’s Administration practices that route patients to a VA medical center.
The senator got a promise the VA would look closely at why they would send an Alaska vet 2,000 miles south for a treatment or specialty medical consultation if the same services could be purchased at a civilian hospital.
Bureaucracies are slow to respond to calls for change. We hope the VA will take into account Alaska’s remote location and the advanced age of many veterans who are already facing physical challenges. Slogging to the airport, flying to Seattle and staying there long enough to recover from medical treatment is an outrageous burden for someone who needs a goiter removed.
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