[colechristensen]

>when compared to commercial HMOs, Medicaid HMOs and Medicare HMOs.

That's not all private insurance, just some of it.

That's also talking about the average.

>although there is high variation in quality across individual VA facilities

...

>It's the usual "review effect", you only see negatives about the VA, not positives.

You're saying in rebuttal to a negative review of private insurance, which isn't even what's at issue. Difficulties getting things covered and being buried in beurocratic nonsense isn't really connected to "health outcomes on average".

Your source doesn't make the argument well.

[AnthonyMouse]

> That's also talking about the average.

It's worse than that. The VA can't be compared to the average insurer because all of their patients are people who could at some point in their adult life satisfy the military's physical fitness requirements, which is not the case for the population at large.

[Thadawan]

It could be argued that the veteran population had a higher likelihood of exposure to dangerous chemicals (agent orange, burn pits), higher rates of mental illness-triggering situations (leading to their own homeless, PTSD, and drug addiction epidemic), and physical wounds from shrapnel IED’s and gunfire.

[cyberax]

> all of their patients are people who could at some point in their adult life satisfy the military's physical fitness requirements

TriCare covers military spouses and children.

[cyberax]

> That's not all private insurance, just some of it.

There are other studies with similar results. Comparisons with HMOs is especially illuminating because of the similar models (vertically-integrated organizations).

> Difficulties getting things covered and being buried in beurocratic nonsense isn't really connected to "health outcomes on average".

Of fucking course it is! WTF you're even talking about? People absolutely get inferior care because they can't wade through bureaucracy.

[AnthonyMouse]

> People absolutely get inferior care because they can't wade through bureaucracy.

But those people don't get counted in the statistics because they failed to navigate the system so the bureaucracy doesn't even know they exist.