Letters to the Editor
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Actually....
The problem with Walter Reed is that the VA has never delt well with PTSD or closed head injuries.
It is great with new limbs, lousy with those things it can't see.
The mildew and other cosmetic issues were nonissues in the greater problem with the way the VA has always delt with these issues.
Part of the problem does have to do with the buracracy involved in the health care system though it is doubtful that a public or private institution would perform better given the history and nature of the institution.
The standard operating procedures for PTSD in the VA is to prescribe insanely powerful drugs that are not indicated for stress disorders. Whether this is because the VA has never spent the money to upgrade its training manuals or because the VA's drug negotiating procedures requires them to walk away from the table if a drug company won't meet their price is unknown to me, however one can easily see how such a problem would exist in either a private or public institution.
The problem for the VA is a systemic doubting of nonvisible illnesses. This is due most notably to what one might call the Klinger syndrome. It is the tendency in the armed forces to first presume a soldier who can't work, simply doesn't want to work. This probably has some basis in fact, but causes for problems the likes of which we are now seeing in Walter Reed and elsewhere.
One problem I've always had with the notion of government healthcare was its proponents view of it as a cureall. Governement healthcare is not imune to the burocratic and cost concious problems that plauge private healthcare. It's sole advantage is universality, and lack of profit motivation. However, at the same time, the lack of profit motivation can lead to great inefficincies and lack of service. It can be assumed, if you are young and healthy and possesing of some income that what ever system you are in will work for you, and if you are old, or sick, or without income, any system you are in will be difficult for you.
Universal government healthcare is something whose time has come, one just shouldn't kid oneself about its advantages and disadvantages.