[lapcat]

Any disparity between the VA and other hospitals is again the result of a deliberate policy choice to undermine government entities. With single payer health care, there wouldn't be such a disparity. And this isn't just a theory. The US is unique with our mostly privatized health care system, yet our health care costs per person are much greater than any other country, our health outcomes are worse than any other country, we have a ton of people who can't get health care, and we have many people bankrupted by medical debt, which is practically nonexistent elsewhere. Empirically, our largely privatized health care system has been a disaster.

In general, we give a lot of lip service to "supporting the troops", but mostly society doesn't give a crap about them after they come home. The only time this was different was during the World Wars period, where a large % of the male population was drafted. Veterans had political power then. Now that our military itself has been largely privatized and made up of volunteers, often themselves looking for financial opportunities, veterans are largely forgotten, except to make oneself feel good by "thanking them for their service". But if they're, say, permanently disabled from wounds? Welp, tough luck.