Sad to say, the Obama administration seems clueless about what might be broken at the VA and how to fix it. Either that, or it is just cravenly saying and doing whatever it thinks is necessary to make the story go away. Evidence for the clueless hypothesis came on Friday, when White House Deputy Chief […]
Phillip Longman
Phil joined the staff of the Washington Monthly in 2012. He is also the policy director at the Open Markets Institute and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins, where he teaches health care policy.
In addition to writing many feature articles for the Monthly, Phil’s work has appeared in such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Harvard Business Review, The New Republic, The New Statesman, The New York Times Magazine, Politica Exterior, Der Spiegel, and World Politics Review. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, and was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University.
Phil is on X @LongmanPhil.
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
Just how long are those wait times at the VA really?
You probably saw headlines earlier this week like this one from CNN “Audit: More than 120,000 veterans waiting or never got care” Sounds pretty bad, and so does the lede CNN used: Washington (CNN) — An internal Veterans Affairs audit released Monday said tens of thousands of newly returning veterans wait at least 90 days […]
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
Who Should Head the VA?
The White House no doubt thought it was making a shrewd move when it reached out to Delos M. Cosgrove in its search for a new head of the VA. Not only is Cosgrove the chief executive of the renowned Cleveland Clinic, he’s also a Vietnam Vet. But last Saturday, Cosgrove suddenly withdrew his name […]
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
How VA Outsourcing Hurts Veterans
On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, announced that he had reached a compromise with John McCain and other Senate Republicans on how to fix whatever it is that needs fixing at the VA. The legislation contains some good ideas, like providing for the hiring of more doctors and nurses […]
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
The Architect of the VA’s Quality Transformation Under Clinton Speaks Out
The New England Journal of Medicine is out this morning with a notable article on VA health care co-authored by Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer. As undersecretary for health during the Clinton administration, Kizer lead a quality transformation of VA health care that leaves him today one nation’s most respected voices in the movement for health […]
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
VA Care: Still the Best Care Anywhere? Part II
On Tuesday, I offered some background information that called into question the now almost universal assumption that there is a “systemic” problem at VA hospitals with excessive wait times. Yes, VA hospitals in some Sunbelt retirement meccas like Phoenix face serious capacity issues due to the large number of aging vets who have moved to […]
Posted inPolitical Animal, Politics
VA Care: Still the Best Care Anywhere?
Last week, when I accepted an invitation to go on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated talk show, his first question to me was, “So how does it feel to be the author of a book about the VA that has been thoroughly discredited?” Well, yes, as the author of the title Best Care Anywhere, Why VA […]
Posted inEconomy, Magazine, March/April/May 2014, Politics
Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn’t
Conservatives say the Lone Star state’s recent record of growth validates their economic agenda. That record crumbles upon inspection.
Posted inEducation, Health Care, Higher Education, July/August 2013, Magazine
First Teach No Harm
The U.S. spends $13 billion a year subsidizing graduate medical education. Yet almost all of this money winds up producing the wrong kinds of doctors in the wrong places, with America’s most elite teaching hospitals being the worst offenders.
Posted inHealth Care, Magazine, March/April 2013
The Republican Case for Waste in Health Care
Conservatives love to apply “cost-benefit analysis” to government programs—except in health care. In fact, working with drug companies and warning of “death panels,” they slipped language into Obamacare banning cost-effectiveness research. Here’s how that happened, and why it can’t stand.
