Buchanan Report Interview With Krause On VA Privacy – 11/12/19, 8pm CST
Wow, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve written anything publicly, and I wanted to come out of my trench with a bang on the Buchanan Report with Ivan Buchanan.
Joining me will be fellow attorneys Commander John Wells and Brian Lewis. The three of us were on Capitol Hill last week addressing a variety of issues including the new privacy rules the Department of Veterans Affairs pushed onto the veteran community on September 30, 2019.
In case you’ve been napping for the past month, VA changed its health information sharing policy. Previously, VA would require a veteran to opt-in to health information sharing with third parties. Now, VA uses an automatic opt-in system where veterans must affirmatively opt-out using a form with the third-party managed Veterans Health Information Exchange.
READ: 4 Things You Need To Know About New VA Privacy Policy
Commander Wells filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of Military Veterans Advocacy to stop the data-sharing scheme last month, and we will talk about the status of the lawsuit, tonight.
They won a strategic victory last month but the fight continues.
Be sure to tune in at 8pm CST, November 12, 2019. The link is below. You can call in at (347) 857-1710 to ask questions.
Ben,
I finally had a chance to listen to the broadcast link.
The Million Veteran program was brought up and it begs another question. Since VHA has little to no respect for veterans’ privacy on too many fronts, how would we know if all of those labs/tests/screenings we’re “forced” into providing (and rarely if ever, a proper explanation to the patient or in the records) are also being genomic screened, also without our direct knowledge or permission? We know that within VHA there are some individuals working nefariously in sensitive areas, and oaths mean nothing to them.
I’m leaving VA probably end up dead. I have no trust in a system and its broken promises. They hold no one accountable and hire straight out of prison. VA employee got $165,000 to resign after killing a veteran while Veteran Bon gets Federal court for hurting a VA employee. This been brought Remeber next time you see the government make up trumped up charges and go after a veteran. VA records are unreliable the only people this government goes after are Whistle blowers veterans and the disabled! 2 Years ago the attorney for the DOJ took the list of whistle blower complaints and was selling them ! They are all in on it!
All you Veterans can someone tell me who runs this website get lost?
We Americans can take care of ourselves to a much greater degree than Socialized Medicine will ever come close to. A person’s best friend is him or herself and GOD.
Mr. Wilkie could careless. Big government is inhumane period as evidence by the actions being taken by the VA at this time. I actually wonder if Mr. Wilkie sleeps at night. Totally disconnected.
Thank you Ben and Mr. Lewis for making the time to fight for our privacy, among the other issues you were able to present for us.
I can’t help but notice that msm of all sorts, has been abuzz about Google having total access to all patient medical records of Ascension Hospital affiliates in 26 states, yet when we as veterans have the same issue… nothing but crickets from them.
“https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-s-secret-project-nightingale-gathers-personal-health-data-on-millions-of-americans-11573496790”
“https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/12/google-medical-data-project-nightingale-secret-transfer-us-health-information”
“https://www.zdnet.com/article/googles-secret-project-nightingale-reportedly-collects-healthcare-data-on-millions/”
That you and Mr. Lewis spent so much of your time away from the normal day-to-day routines of your lives is honorable indeed.
It was interesting to hear this conversation.
“https://www.pbs.org/video/david-shulkin-pajbxd/”.
Spoke to a doctor who left private practice for the VA and said the VA is the template being used for socialized medicine. So that is Wilkie ‘s end game.
It was supposed to be a template for Accountable Care Organizations. The template rolled out before the 2012 Phoenix/Cheyenne VAMC crisis. As presented, focusing only on costs it was a disaster that opened the door to Health Net to enter in a “VA Choice” program that paid its top 5 executives $25,000,000.00 (lot of zeros behind that 25) per year with the top executive earning half of that. Wonder who paid for that Benz and trip to Disney Land. Was he in that top 5? Health Net scammed as much as they could out and folded almost killing the effort. Accountable Care is supposed to focus on outcome and satisfaction for bonuses. Not a reduction of costs. The costs go up until the advantages of preventive medicine start taking hold.
How long would it take if all veterans were given full dental care before the advantage of that would show in healthier veterans needing less care over all? See the problem. It has to be a long term experiment properly focused.
The VA is socialized medicine. The experiment was to see if it couldn’t be done better. At least at Cheyenne, as the focus has gotten around to “satisfaction surveys” and the travel fraud has been shut down as well as the fraudulent achievement of bonuses, things have gotten better. How about your VAMC? Have you been there long enough to notice any change?
It is still not good enough to roll to the second phase offering the program to Medicare recipients without having to pay premiums and with the “no premium, free eyeglasses and free dental” that Secure Horizons of California offered to Medicare recipients until its founders retired and sold out to an HMO holding company. Now it is just another HMO. Secure Horizons of California made a lot of money giving seniors preventive care and keeping them healthier and living longer better quality of lives for the years they were an Accountable Care Organization instead of a HMO.
The VA medical system as it is was Hillarie’s attempt at socialized medicine back when first bitch. At least that is what I have come to believe in my reading
Thank you Brian for getting back to us, it’s a good step in teaming up with the other attorneys and fighting for us the veterans and hopefully stopping the shananigans the VA has automatically done in our behalf with out letting us decide if we want to participate in this data sharing scheme
Following
I tried to use the va and Medicare. I got so complicated and time consuming I went to va only. told my primary doctor you people are killing me. Takes so long to get stuff done I,m usually pretty sick by the time I get to an appointment. I’m to old to play the va,s waiting game.
absolutely right on target. I spend the winter months in a motorhome in Florida. Getting my heart medication is a nightmare to say the least. Since I do not have a permanent address most of the time and the VA won’t give me more than 30 days worth I have a nightmare of a time down here.
I call them, talk to 5-8 different people and still the right hand has no clue what the left hand is doing.
I’m glad to see you back, Ben.
This health data sharing scam is going to hurt vets.
The way I look at it is this:
1. VHA healthcare employees can’t even read a lab report.
2. Every scam they’ve attempted usually ended up costing taxpayers millions!
3. VA upper echelon won’t even tell the truth when asked!
4. Wilkie has LIED to the American Public numerous times!
5. Why aren’t the VA & VHA criminals arrested and tried for killing vets!
Have I left anything out?
Benjamin, I am glad you are back too. This issue has already been happening before now. In addition to the VA, Google has been stealing American citizens medical information for awhile now. They have the project called “Nightingale”.
Yes, VA actions will hurt many veterans. Here is another point. I am really not sure if all of the power to be VA types and even cooperate America realize this.
Yes, this medical data is scattered to timbuktu; but, honestly, how accurate is it? Remember, medicine is trial and error. And of course, evidence base research but even how accurate is this information. Here is why I say this. Because government is and has been focused on equality of outcome. They adjust numbers however many times to what they want the numbers to be and the medical information and the medical research to reveal to the American public to include the veterans with how they want it presented. Due to medicine being trial and error in my opinion, the scientific research many times is open to interpretation of the data. Hypothesis. Government does not like facts remember. VA has laws- regulations- policies, and procedures to follow; but, however, with so many hands involved and with how big the government has become, I do not see the medical data as being totally credible. Because they will dictate how they want it to be. This is how it hurts people. Let me share with you an everyday example, a person is a regular customer at a particular merchant for years. No issues at all. Customer always paid for products with credible means. No owed money to merchant and no bounced checks. Okay here we go. All of a sudden the merchant declines form of payment. Why? Because they can even if there are no adverse actions against customer’s license or accounts. Customer calls up credible fraud source external to situation and gets laws, facts, and contact numbers directly to a human. After customer asks a series of questions with this agency in efforts to find out why the merchant rejected form of payment. The agency could not find one adverse action against the consumer as to why the merchant declined form of payment. Merchant was trying to enact false claims against consumer. Bottom line in my opinion, this everyday situation relates to the medical data situation. The federal government uses the data as identifiers against people whether it is accurate or not. Though, they claim different it is for the people. Not hardly. Just being used as another group identifier. See this Ben. The companies and the VA believe they can make mega bucks off of what they are doing. Once again my opinion, all of this is about money regardless of whom is hurt and regardless if the data even holds validity.