Army National Guard Capt. Pete Hegseth predicts problems ahead for Obamacare if it ends up being administered the same way the healthcare system is handled by the Veterans Administration.
"What you see at VA are the same attributes with Obamacare," Hegseth, the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, said on "Fox & Friends" Friday. "When the government throws its hands in the mix, it doesn't make things more efficient."
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Hegseth explained the problems of Obamacare mirror what veterans already experience in the VA. Whether a person has insurance, the cost, how to file claims, and where a person goes to see a doctor are questions veterans ask.
"When we saw what was happening with Obamacare — wow. Those are the exact same things we're seeing with the Department of Veterans Affairs," he said.
In the VA system, patients are not able to choose their doctor, Hegseth explained. He said the quality of care depends on where a person lives, and many facilities "have not delivered the kind of care they should."
"The problem is, if you live next to a great VA hospital, you're set. Then, you've got good care and a good doctor. But, if you live next to a poor facility, that's where you have to go," he said.
Hegseth pointed out the VA differs from Obamacare because it is a single payer system. However, he said it reflects how government manages a healthcare program.
He also noted that major problems with backlogs and wait times in the VA system has led to an increase in preventable deaths.
"There have been a lot of stories about preventable deaths at VA facilities, in places where there are wait times for diagnoses. So, maybe they had cancer. If they had been diagnosed earlier, they would have prevented that death," he said.
Hegseth blamed the lack of accountability for a large part of the problem. He explained the situation doesn't improve for veterans, because "nobody gets fired."
"There is no accountability.The technology is bad. There is no transparency. It's confusion, backlogs, wait times," he said.
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