I receive most of my care through the VA system, but I also have Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal which is what I use for anything that I want done timely. I had a partial tear of my triceps tendon that required surgery, and it took over 6 months for the VA to finally see me only to have them send me for care in the community anyway. The wait for an MRI is months-long and a referral for care in the community will take at least a month to get too. But I have no complaints about my primary care physician who is very good. So it really comes down to the specific hospital and specialty care.

Where the VA really serves a need that is hard to duplicate is with mental health. Veterans suffer from PTSD and TBI at significantly higher rates than private sector so that's something unique to the VA. But a colonscopy, orthopedics, etc. are not really any different among the Veteran population.

VA bureaucracy is unmatched and that's where an efficiency study could really cut back on costs and size of the VA without actually impacting Veterans negatively.

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