As a service-connected disabled veteran and an advocate for disability rights, I have firsthand experience navigating the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. It’s not perfect, far from it, but privatization is not the answer. The push to privatize the VA threatens to undermine the very system designed to serve veterans, prioritizing profits over care and leaving the most vulnerable among us behind.
The VA is uniquely equipped to treat veterans because it specializes in service-connected conditions—the long-term effects of military service that private-sector providers simply don’t understand at the same level. From toxin exposure (burn pits, Agent Orange, and depleted uranium) to traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, and combat-related musculoskeletal damage, the VA has spent decades building expertise in treating these conditions.
No civilian hospital system comes close to replicating this level of specialization. Privatization would strip away this expertise, forcing veterans to navigate a fragmented system where doctors lack the necessary experience to treat their unique health issues.
The idea that private healthcare providers can absorb the VA’s patient load is a dangerous fantasy. The U.S. already has a critical shortage of primary care physicians and specialists, and veterans, many of whom have complex, chronic conditions, would be competing for appointments with an already overburdened civilian patient population.
The result? Longer wait times, fewer providers familiar with military-related conditions, and worse health outcomes for veterans.
The push to privatize military healthcare isn’t just hurting veterans, it’s also leaving military families and retirees without care. Over the past decade, the Pentagon has downsized military medical facilities, forcing active-duty dependents, retirees, and their families to seek care in the private sector under Tricare. But just like the VA, Tricare is not a viable alternative when the civilian healthcare system cannot absorb the extra patients.
A recent NPR report (April 3, 2024) highlighted how the Pentagon's attempts to shift military families to civilian providers have backfired. Communities near military bases lack the infrastructure to take on thousands of new patients, leading to shortages in specialty care, longer wait times, and families struggling to find doctors who accept Tricare.
I see this firsthand in Washington, D.C., one of the most well-resourced medical areas in the country. Yet, for Tricare recipients, there is only ONE in-network ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist) within an 80-mile radius. Why? Because even a well-resourced medical area is overburdened with patients and Tricare, like Medicare and CHAMPVA, reimburses at such a low rate that many doctors refuse to accept it.
This means thousands of military families, retirees, and disabled veterans are left without access to specialists, the very people who should have the most reliable care after sacrificing for their country. If the military medical system can't keep up with its patient load, why should we expect the private sector to handle VA patients any better?
Privatizing the VA doesn’t mean better care, it means shifting taxpayer money into the hands of private insurers and healthcare corporations. These companies are profit-driven, not mission-driven, and their priority is maximizing revenue, not ensuring veterans get the care they need.
History has shown us what happens when we privatize essential services:
Higher costs for both taxpayers and patients
Lower-quality care due to cost-cutting measures
Less accountability because private companies don’t answer to veterans, they answer to shareholders
The VA, despite its flaws, is held accountable to Congress and to the millions of veterans it serves. Privatization would strip away that oversight and replace it with a system where profits take precedence over patient care.
Many veterans struggle with complex disabilities, mental health conditions, and housing insecurity. The VA is not just a healthcare provider—it’s a social safety net, offering services that go far beyond what private hospitals or clinics provide.
From suicide prevention programs to homeless veteran outreach, the VA plays a critical role in supporting at-risk veterans. Private healthcare systems have no obligation to provide these services, and there is no incentive for them to do so. If the VA is dismantled, these veterans will have nowhere to turn.
Is the VA perfect? Absolutely not. Veterans face long wait times, bureaucratic red tape, and difficulty accessing specialized care. But these problems won’t be solved by privatization, they will only get worse.
Instead of gutting the VA, we should be investing in:
1. More providers trained in veteran-specific care
2. Better funding to reduce wait times and improve facilities
3. Stronger mental health and suicide prevention programs
4. Expanded access to VA services in rural areas
The solution isn’t to hand veteran care over to corporations, it’s to strengthen and modernize the VA to ensure it delivers the care veterans have earned.
Privatizing the VA isn’t about improving care, it’s about shifting money to private healthcare corporations at the expense of veterans. We made a promise to care for those who served, and privatization would break that promise.
Veterans deserve specialized care, accountability, and a system built around their needs, not a fragmented, for-profit model that will leave thousands behind. I stand against privatization, and I urge fellow veterans, policymakers, and advocates to do the same.
We can fix the VA. But privatizing it would be the biggest betrayal of veterans yet.
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