The availability of quality, inexpensive health care has always been important to individuals and families across the nation. In fact, health care has already become one of the most hotly debated topics in the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election. Part of the debate must be centered on providing health care for our nation’s military veterans, but do we know enough about it to make educated decisions when voting between those who will legislate health care for those that have so honorably served our country?
Stan Olsen of Whitehall served in the U.S. Naval Reserves with the VA-304 Firebirds Attack Squadron at Naval Air Station Alameda, California, from 1973 to 1977. He said he has had both good and bad experiences with the VA healthcare system for nearly 30 years. “Two years ago I tore a tendon in my arm,” he explained recently. “The closest VA appointment was more than 30 days out, so I was authorized to use a third-party provider. Unfortunately, the third-party provider couldn’t see me for seven months. Luckily, I had kept my appointment to have surgery with the VA, which was nine months from the date of injury, but by that time the tendon had torn completely through and developed bone spurs. Unfortunately the tendon couldn’t be saved.”
Olsen faces the same struggle that many veterans do, especially in a frontier state like Montana that often requires long drives to VA healthcare centers. “I carry in my pocket a veteran’s choice card,” Olsen said. “That’s my veteran’s insurance card. If I get hurt, I go to the ER, the ER makes a referral. I should be able to walk into any specialist in this state and say, I’m a vet. I need help. I should be seen. Not told, sorry, we don’t see vets without prior authorization.”
