This is only one powerful and horrific story that highlights the severe problems with Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. Unfortunately, there are easily thousands of stories like the one experienced by this veteran. Kay Daly sums it up well in the article from the American Thinker,

Fighting a bureaucracy the size of the VA leviathan is not only physically exhausting, it is soul crushing as well. My brother was literally losing his will to live. That’s what I saw in the picture he sent to me — a man who was defeated.

The VA is a giant maze of a bureaucratic nightmare. Claims often go missing, unfairly denied, or simply lost. I worked on VA casework for a U.S. Congressman over a decade ago, and the extensive problems with the system predate my experiences.

The VA healthcare system does of course serve as a model for what the future for care looks like most Americans with more government involvement. In 2009, I wrote mentary on VA healthcare and noted that since government can’t meet the obligation to its veterans, more government control of health care will only “increase the likelihood and scale of injustice.” The VA offers us on a smaller scale a perfect picture of healthcare rationing.

In 2013, I highlighted the killing of veterans at VA hospitals. In some instances, individuals waiting for their colonoscopy procedures had Stage 1 cancers go to Stage 4 before diagnoses.

Now, at least five VA treatment centers are being investigated for keeping a secret list of appointment waiting times for patients. Those secretive actions are facilitated so hospital administrators and healthcare providers can secure bonuses for scheduling appointments in 14 days. It would be more shocking if these incidents are only contained to five VA hospitals. Of course the cover up is more widespread.

The American Legion has called for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign. A necessary action perhaps, since one of the main short terms problems is lack of accountability. But the federal government continues to prove that it cannot handle socialized medicine on an even smaller scale. It may be prudent to focus on clearing up the massive backlogs of VA disability and medical claims and offering vouchers for care elsewhere. This is one bureaucracy that is ing more notable for collecting body counts. That’s never a good image for a healthcare facility.