Letter: VA clinics can be eliminated

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003 | 8:57 a.m.

Jack Ford, the vice commander of the Nevada American Legion, recently cited Sen. John Ensign's attempt to obtain more Veterans Affairs funds for Nevada as a step in the right direction. I disagree. This is a classic example of our representative's vote pandering.

Granted, there was a time and place, after World War II for example, that VA clinics and hospitals made sense. At that time civilian health care was ill equipped to handle the specialized care veterans required. That was the past and this situation no longer exists.

What Sens. Ensign and Harry Reid should be doing is working toward abolishing this aspect of the VA by allowing veterans complete access to all civilian hospitals and clinics. The federal government should enroll all eligible veterans, regardless of age, in the existing Medicare program and pay for all eligible expenses.

This is not only fiscally responsible -- it is a practical solution for what has become very expensive and not very palatable political pork.

RICHARD RYCHTARIK

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