Tom Coburn: “This is not a bidding war for the veterans. As a matter of fact, right now for every veteran we spend $4,000 more per…”

“This is not a bidding war for the veterans. As a matter of fact, right now for every veteran we spend $4,000 more per veteran than we spend on the average Medicare patient in this country. So if we are going to spend more money into the VA system we have now that is not offering them the care, not giving them equivalent care, not offering them quality care that they could get in the private sector, you are throwing money down a rat hole. The fact is we spend $4,000 per year per veteran more than we do for the same person in Medicare. So yes, we may not direct it the way that your budget directs it; but the fact is we recognize that there is not an efficient system out there and that needs to be changed. Every veteran in this country needs to be given a card. Go get your health care wherever you want because we have an obligation to you. And if we did that, we can deliver the same health care for about 30 percent less than we are doing in the VA system now.”