Rick Santorum claims that the expansion of government health care in Obamacare inspired him to run for president and regularly condemns the government’s involvement in the Medicare program. “We should not have a government-run health care system on Medicare or anything else, because it completely distorts the market,” he explained at a town hall in South Carolina on January 12. “It’s top down. It’s not the way America works best.”

But this morning, during an appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, the former Pennsylvania senator embraced the most government-centric health care system of them all: veterans health care — a fully integrated structure of government payers and providers. Santorum said his parents met on a government veterans base and said his father worked as a government health care provider:

SANTORUM: The answer is [veterans health care] should be excluded from any kind of reduction. These are people, men and women, who stepped forward to defend this count country. The country has a special obligation to them as a result of that. these are heroic people. [...] I grew up on VA grounds, my mom and dad met at a VA after World War II. [...] And I got a chance to meet veterans and work with them and volunteer at the hospital. And i can tell you that there problems in the VA health care system. There’s a lot of problems with quote government-run medicine. [...] The one thing we can’t do is cut those benefits.

Watch it:

The veterans’ health care structure of doctors and hospitals is not without its problems, but it actually provides veterans with benefits that are the envy of the rest of the health care system — including private payers and providers. A study by the RAND Corporation found that “VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care” and “received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up.”

Mitt Romney pledged to increase funding for the government-run Veterans Health Administration during a town hall at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating, in Hudson, New Hampshire this afternoon. Without specifically mentioning the highly efficient veterans health care system, Romney told an attendee, “I want to be able to support our veterans with the care they deserve. I want to take our savings from waste and inefficiency and care for our veterans and make sure in our hospitals, in our clinics, to make sure they get the care they need. I will not cut our defense budget so we can in part take care of our veterans.” Watch his remarks:

The fully integrated veterans’ health care structure of doctors and hospitals actually provides veterans with benefits that are the envy of the rest of the health care system — including private payers and providers (which Romney regularly touts as a better alternative to government programs). A study by the RAND Corporation found that “VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care” and “received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up.”

Romney has previously floated the idea of partially privatizing the veterans health care system, but eventually backed away from the idea. “We have a VA system that needs to be improved and I’ve got no plans to change that other than to make it better and to invest more money in providing for our veterans,” he said.

Newt Gingrich told a veteran during a town hall in Concord, New Hampshire this afternoon that he would support voucherizing the Veterans Health Administration, saying, “I think we should find ways to create satellite clinics that are local so people don’t have to travel and we should also find a way to have a voucherized system for those who want it.” Watch it:

Veterans groups condemned a very similar proposal from then-GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in 2008, arguing that providing “rural veterans greater access to VA-sponsored care exclusively through private providers” would undermine the existing health care system. In a report titled “The Independent Budget,” the groups said that the VA’s “specialized health-care programs” would “suffer irreparable impact by the loss of veterans from those programs.” Mitt Romney also briefly flirted with the idea during Veterans Day, but later abandoned it.

Gingrich himself has previously praised the veterans health care system, calling it “a model for modernization and a model of using information technology that’s very impressive” during a veterans issues forum in Iowa on December 10th.

Newt Gingrich called for an expansion of government health care when he praised the Veterans Health Administration for serving as “a model for modernization and a model of using information technology that’s very impressive” during a veterans issues forum in Iowa on Saturday:

GINGRICH: I think it means an investment in the veterans administration to ensure they’re getting world class help and I have to say the Veterans Administration has been a model of modernization and a model of using information technology that’s very impressive. There are parts of it that still need to be reformed, but in some ways it’s a very impressive institution.

Watch it:

The fully integrated government-centric veterans’ health care structure of doctors and hospitals actually provides veterans with benefits that are the envy of the rest of the health care system. A study by the RAND Corporation found that “VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care” and “received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up.”

Incidentally, another government health care program, Medicare — which Gingrich seeks to partially privatize — has also served as a model for the rest of the health care system. The program, which “exerts a major influence on the rest of the health care system” and “its reimbursement and coverage policies have been widely adopted by private insurers and other public programs.”

During a roundtable in South Carolina on Veterans’ Day, Mitt Romney floated the idea of partially privatizing the veterans health care system, saying, “Sometimes you wonder if there would be some way to introduce some private-sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, that each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them, and then they can choose whether they want to go in the government system or in a private system with the money that follows them.”

Veterans groups swiftly condemned the proposal, and today Romney himself backed away from privatization in an interview with the Nashua Telegraph:

ROMNEY: I have no proposal of that nature [to privatize the VA]. We has a group of veterans and said, ‘tell me about the quality of your care.’ Some were concerned about the quality of their health care. I said, ‘what kind of options do you have, what do you think about a system that let you go to private as well as VA hospitals?’ The response was mixed, but I don’t have any proposal of that nature. We have a VA system that needs to be improved and I’ve got no plans to change that other than to make it better and to invest more money in providing for our veterans.

Watch it:

Romney’s characterization of veterans’ reactions is rose-colored to say the least. In 2008 — when then-GOP presidential nominee offered a very similar proposal — AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars argued that while veterans should have access to private care, providing “rural veterans greater access to VA-sponsored care exclusively through private providers” would undermine the existing health care system. In their annual report, “The Independent Budget,” the groups argued that the VA’s “specialized health-care programs” would “suffer irreparable impact by the loss of veterans from those programs” and argued that the prosthetic research program “would lose focus and purpose were service-connected and other enrolled veterans no longer present in VA health care.”

The fully integrated veterans’ health care structure of doctors and hospitals actually provides veterans with benefits that are the envy of the rest of the health care system. A study by the RAND Corporation found that “VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care” and “received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up.” So Romney is right to back away from efforts to privatize the system that already delivers “higher quality of care” than private providers. Now if only he would apply that same logic to some of his other health care proposals.

Mitt Romney floated the idea of partially privatizing the veterans health care system during a roundtable discussion with vets in South Carolina on Veterans Day, saying, “When you work in the private sector and you have a competitor, you know if I don’t treat this customer right, they’re going to leave me and go somewhere else, so I’d better treat them right”:

“Sometimes you wonder if there would be some way to introduce some private-sector competition, somebody else that could come in and say, you know, that each soldier gets X thousand dollars attributed to them, and then they can choose whether they want to go in the government system or in a private system with the money that follows them,” said Romney. “Like what happens with schools in Florida, where people have a voucher that goes with them. Who knows?”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a similar proposal during the 2008 presidential campaign, but veterans groups panned the initiative, which would have given veterans “the option to use a simple plastic card to receive timely and accessible care” outside of the VA system. AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars argued that while veterans should have access to private care, providing “rural veterans greater access to VA-sponsored care exclusively through private providers” would undermine the existing health care system. In their annual report, “The Independent Budget,” the groups argued:

– “The VA’s specialized health-care programs…would suffer irreparable impact by the loss of veterans from those programs.”

– “The VA’s medical and prosthetic research program…would lose focus and purpose were service-connected and other enrolled veterans no longer present in VA health care.”

– If veterans turned to private practice, “they would lose the many safeguards built into the VA system through its patient safety program, evidence-based medicine, electronic medical records and bar code medication administration,” resulting in “lower quality of care for those who deserve it most.”

Indeed, the fully integrated veterans’ health care structure of doctors and hospitals provides veterans with benefits that are the envy of the rest of the health care system. A study by the RAND Corporation found that “VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care” and “received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up. Rather than taking veterans out of a system that consistently delivers “higher quality of care,” Romney should expand its services and improve access.

The RAND study concludes, “if other health care providers followed the VA’s lead, it would be a major step toward improving the quality of care across the U.S. health care system.” And Paul Krugman writes today, “the V.H.A. is a huge policy success story, which offers important lessons for future health reform.”

Michele Bachmann warned that active duty and military personnel will be forced out of the government-funded TRICARE health care system and into Obamacare, during a CBS/National Journal debate on national security on Saturday. Bachmann said she would support “modernizing” the health care program into “a fixed cost system” — one in which the government pays a pre-determined amount in health care benefits — but argued that Obamacare could destroy the existing government health program:

MAJOR GARRETT: And when you talk about tri-care, that’s the military medical system. What do you mean when you say, “Reform,” does that mean cuts in benefits?

MICHELLE BACHMANN: No. I think that we need to have modernization. That’s what the biggest problem is right now with– with Social Security, with Medicare, with Medicaid. We’re continuing to abide by the models that we had when they were first originated. There’s very few businesses that maintain their similar business practices 45 years after inception or 75 years after inception. We have to modernize. But we also know what the future is in health care, don’t we? It is Obama Care. And quite likely, Tri-care, Medicare, all of these will collapse under President Obama, and everyone will be put into Obama Care. No one want to be– in Obama Care.

Watch it:

While the Affordable Care Act does not affect TRICARE or veterans health care, Bachmann’s proposals to curtail the government-funded program will. In January, she proposed and later withdrew a wildly unpopular plan to slash $4.5 billion in veterans services and reduce disability compensation for 150,000 veterans. But over the summer, Bachmann pledged to support and bolster the existing government health care program. “It is our duty, first and primarily, to protect our veterans and to make sure that you receive not only the respect, but also the care that you have paid for very heavily with your service to our nation,” Bachmann told members of the American Legion in August. “As president, I will assure that those who serve today as well, and in the past, have the highest access to the best care, both of health, mental health and rehabilitative care that the world has to offer.”

When it comes to caring for our nation’s veterans, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has undergone an astonishing transformation in the last nine months. In January, she proposed a wildly unpopular plan to slash $4.5 billion in veterans services and reduce disability compensation for 150,000 veterans. Veterans groups blasted the proposal as “heartless,” “totally out of step with America’s commitment to our veterans,” and “showing contempt for American servicemembers’ sacrifices.” Facing an avalanche of criticism, Bachmann eventually withdrew her proposal.

But now that she’s running for president, Bachmann is billing herself as a great defender of veterans benefits. The Washington Independent reports that during a speech at the annual convention of the American Legion in Minneapolis last Thursday, Bachmann vowed to support and strengthen veterans medical care:

“It is our duty, first and primarily, to protect our veterans and to make sure that you receive not only the respect, but also the care that you have paid for very heavily with your service to our nation,” Bachmann told members of the American Legion Thursday.

“As president, I will assure that those who serve today as well, and in the past, have the highest access to the best care, both of health, mental health and rehabilitative care that the world has to offer.”

But Bachmann’s January plan, which was touted as a way to avoid raising the debt ceiling, would have brought about dramatic cuts to veterans services.

Bachmann’s plan would have frozen the Veterans Affairs Department’s health care spending and reduced the amount veterans receive in Social Security Disability Income. The congresswoman offered no explanation for her sharp reversal on the issue, but it’s hard to interpret her promise to strengthen veterans benefits nine months after trying to cut them as anything other than empty pandering to an important political constituency.

But regardless of the circumstances, it’s nice to see Bachmann embrace the sort of government-run health care program she typically denounces during her campaign stops as “unconstitutional” and “the crown jewel of socialism.” The Department of Veterans Affairs health care program is perhaps the best example of an entirely government-administered health care system, complete with its own doctors and hospitals.