[quote=@Penny]
[@Kratesis]

My point being that all countries with universal healthcare systems face these challenges to a greater or lesser extent. I know the current administration doesn't exactly inspire confidence but you can do it! I believe in you USA! The idea that the greatest superpower in the history of the world cant confront the horrors of regional diversity in order to provide healthcare to its citizens is ludicrous. 
[/quote]

The VA serves 8.92 million veterans, and accounts for $186.5 billion, or about 5% of the total federal budget give-or-take. That's about half the budget of Medicaid (70 million enrolled), and about a third the budget of Medicare (57 million enrolled). In other words, spending per person, you get Medicare ($1k/person), then Medicaid ($5,257/person), then the VA at a whopping $20,722/person, or four times more spent on administrating that cost than on the nearest similar program.

[i]And despite that,[/i] VA wait times are outlandish (I tore my shoulder in May of 2016 -- still waiting), outcomes are terrible (I lost my leg over a torn meniscus, and others have it [i]worse[/i]), satisfaction is lower than a sagging ant tit (and does that surprise anybody?). All this is caused by many things, like the sheer size of the country and the distribution of veterans within it, but it's also because bureaucracy [i]always[/i] trends towards this result. It's also because private practice attracts more (and better) healthcare providers. It's also because US federal employees are practically immune from firing -- or they were, up until Trump signed the VA accountability act, so we'll see how much that helps. 

It's also because honestly no, we can't handle it. We're political children more concerned with soundbites than policy, and we'll vote for anybody who says the right thing. Know who was in charge of the VA, until he ran for president? I'll give you a hint, he's the one proposing universal healthcare. Why the [b]fuck[/b] would we listen to him?