Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office announced that it believes the bill will cost $35 billion over three years, ramping up to as much as $50 billion a year if its programs are made permanent. As, of course, they will be, meaning that this is an absolutely gigantic expansion of the VA.
The way capitalism works, if a private firm fails its customers, it goes bankrupt and someone else takes over. (Crony capitalism does not work that way, of course. Instead, you get bailed out.) When a government organization fails its customers, it gets a huge budget increase.
I guess the idea of selling the VA facilities to the private sector and instead giving veterans money to shop around for the best available health care is just too silly to consider.
How about just ending the VA altogether and giving veterans full subsidies for Obamacare for service-related conditions?
Or how about folding all the national health care programs into one consolidated health-care voucher system, including current and retired federal employees health benefits. Do we really need, Medicaid, ACA, Medicare, Tricare, VA, etc., etc.?
Sanity is outside the Overton window.
I could always do more with more money. It might not be efficient.
If government is some multiple of inefficiency relative to markets, failure due to underfunding may be true.
The odd part is that voters don’t take the next logical step.