Donald Trump's Hotline Blings, and it's his promises on the other line
- Liberty Pearl
- Jan 28, 2018
- 3 min read
Administration officials have done research in the past decade, searching for the answer to the problem of veteran suicide. It is estimated that “About 20 veterans die by suicide per day in the U.S.”. Half of these suicides occur within the first year post-service, and half in the years thereafter.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an order which promised to make mental healthcare more accessible to veterans of war. Before this order, less than half of the veterans in the United States had mental health coverage in their benefit plans. Trump claimed that by signing this, 100 percent would have coverage for an entire year post-service, and that the process to obtain it would be seamless and smooth. I am not Trump’s biggest fan, and have been known to drunkenly serenade Uber drivers with YG and Nipsey Hussle’s FDT (Fuck Donald Trump). However, as I have seen the effects of the lack of mental healthcare for a vet first hand, this was one of Trump’s policies that I felt I must applaud.
America’s healthcare system is something which I cannot and will not ever understand. Serious socioeconomic issues such as the homeless population, growing marginalization, lack of education, and illegal and legal drug sales are just a few of the problems which I link back to the lack of free healthcare in the U.S. Growing up in England, where everyone has access to free healthcare, I cannot fathom how it is taking so long for a country as wealthy as the States to come up with a similar plan or outline to match it. Excuses are made about taxes, about immigration, about “fairness” to the hardworking rich, about the fear of communism - yet I do not believe that these excuses have enough worth to justify the treatment of the poor, and the ignorance of the obvious link between some of America’s greatest problems, and the healthcare system (which is, quite frankly, a capitalist money-making machine working for pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs to anybody with a touch of anxiety or insomnia).
The Military Times posted an article titled “Trump’s accomplishments on veterans issues fall short of administration boasts” in which it outlines what Trump has really done for veterans in the United States. The article outlines his successes, or lack thereof, in the following areas: accountability, VA Choice, veterans medical records, White House hotline, GI Bill expansion, staffing, and benefits appeals.
Trump has made some progress in the area of accountability by making it easier to fire the old, and hire the new. He has promised to streamline VA Choice, which existed long before Trump arrived at the White House. It provides veterans with the option to “skip the line” at VA clinics and go to see a private doctor. The system is inefficient, often taking weeks to process paperwork and retrieve veteran health records. While he hasn’t made many substantial changes to the lack of organization of this system, he has promised to drop the waiting times which are now at an all-time high of 5 years.
As far as I can see, all Trump has really done for veterans so far is create false hope. All of the promises he made during the time of his elections have yet to materialize. Sure, he has created his “Veterans Hotline” and a website showing wait times for VA hospitals. However, he has basically succeeded in tasks which a 15 year old club-president could achieve by going to Walmart, picking up a $20 landline phone, and creating a free account with Wix.
Maybe I am being unfair, and not giving Trump enough credit for his attempts to make the lives of U.S. Veterans easier. However, after hearing stories from army brats and vets themselves, it seems that he has made promises which he has no intention of keeping. It will be interesting to see over the next 2 years how well he achieves the goals he has set for his new system, and whether these goals will negatively affect the economy for the remainder of the country who do not have access to health benefits...
Commentaires