Monday, September 29, 2008

Dem. Congressman Got Complaints About Lunsford Clinic

Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX) received complaints from veterans about shoddy care at a Veterans Administration clinic contracted to Valor Healthcare, a Bruce Lunsford company.

The Demo-blogs have attempted to portray Congressional inquiries about Valor as some sort of conspiracy between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (who asked the VA to look into Valor's treatment of Texas veterans; see previous post). The "proof" of this conspiracy is the supposed failure of Hutchison to visit the clinic in person.

Whether or not Hutchison visited the clinic is irrelevant. As a result of the complaints he received, Democratic Congressman Lampson visited one of the clinics in person late April.

According to the Democratic Caucus website, Lampson visited a Valor clinic on April 29 -- several days before Kentucky Democrats had voted Lunsford their nominee to challenge McConnell.

Such is the paranoia of the left. McConnell is so powerful that he has co-opted the Democratic Caucus to tar his opponent in advance of knowing who that opponent might be.

The Demo-blogs also boast that Lunsford's company, Valor, saved the federal government money. It's easy to see why: as the article on the Democratic Caucus website notes, "under its contract, Valor is paid $400 per patient per year regardless of how much care that patient receives." Valor had a financial incentive to enroll veterans and then not treat them.

Bottom line: veterans in other states who have no interest in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race complained well before this election that they were denied adequate care from a company over which Lunsford presided as Chair and Chief Executive Officer.

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