Scott Brown: Vets Should Be Treated Like the Best of the Best
Amid ongoing consideration for a post in the Trump administration running the Department of Veterans Affairs, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown explained why he believes organizations serving veterans need help to run more effectively.
“People are dying and there are some great angels working in the VA right now but they really need a morale booster,” said Brown, a military veteran himself, on the FOX Business Network’s Varney & Co.
Brown said should he be tapped to lead in this post, his focus would be on rural areas and inner cities where access to care is more limited. He pointed to hours-long drives to care facilities in faraway places like Alaska, or city centers where lines for care are long and veterans grapple with thoughts of suicide and depression.
“You absolutely need to get them the closest care and coverages immediately... there’s a way to obviously allow them to go to those facilities, but more importantly you have to deal with the long wait lines, you have to deal with the high suicide rates, which is a national epidemic, not just a VA problem,” he said.
Brown said another focus would be on funding and how the department allocates its resources.
“You have to look at how they are spending their resources. Are they properly allocating it? You need to prioritize,” he said. “The solider is a bother when he or she comes in, the veteran is a bother. They should be treated like they are going into a five-star hotel and treated like the best of the best.”
When asked aboutimposing a voucher system he said, “There [are] a lot of options, especially in mental health… We need to get those veterans out and care immediately, so a voucher system may be appropriate for that.”