some cases higher than the general population with their own private health insurance. v.a. care can be highly specialized. you are dealing with combat injuries, dealing with veterans that have problems very specific to their military service. and who better is to care for them than the v.a. i see. but the problem is access. they are not able to get that care. so it is a quandary here about, hey, we re great at providing it, when we can get to you and that is why you are hearing the calls for privatization and i think we ll see legislation on it as well. and speaking about the time clock and the time line involved that you just mentioned, susan, if privatization were to take place, if the solution, if it is there as a solution, how long might it take to transition this system that is currently in place? that is an excellent question. first you have to get legislation to actually privatize it. that means getting it through
growing v.a. scandal. who is pointing fingers and where the focus is shifting. we ll talk about that when we come back. obviously, secretary shinseki is not doing a good job. but it s deeper than just him. i mean, i think it would be time for him to go, as well. but it has to get below the secretary. and right now, because of the civil service protection, they basically can t get rid of anybody. predicting the future is a pretty difficult thing to do. but, manufacturing in the united states means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one s losing their job. there s no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done.
year and it has a better chance now than it has ever had in terms of private izing the v.a. and i think everybody, no matter your political bend, is concerned about this. and despite the latest scandal, lawmakers tout the care the veterans get at the v.a. as the best in the u.s. so let s hope we get answers who is behind the scandal and rectify it for our veterans. susan, thank you so much. we ll see you again. thanks. arthel, it took seven decades but a letter did arrive in time for memorial day weekend. jackie from our fox affiliate wofl in orlando has this amazing story. after nearly 70 years, this family finally got their letter. it was post marked june 29th, 1945. it is from sergeant marion
amid claims that our veterans were forced to wait for medical care while v.a. employees engaged in a coverup. the democratic lawmakers calling for v.a. secretary shinseki s resignation now include three senate candidates, west virginia secretary of state, natalie ten tenet, allison lundgren grimes, signalling mounting pressure on the obama administration to act with more urgency. the president alluding to the scandal in his weekly address. listen. let s keep working to make sure that our country upholds our sacred trust to all who have served. in recent weeks we have seen again how much more our nation has to do to make sure all our veterans get the care they deserve. we have to work even harder as a nation to make sure all our veterans get the benefits and opportunities that they have earned. meanwhile, president obama is still standing by secretary shinseki, as the claims escalate.
announcing just that. it occurred just moments ago. a statement under secretary shinseki is directing v.a. officials to personally review the processes to ensure, in his words, the agency is doing everything possible to schedule veterans patients for their appointments. the statement said the facilities are enhancing the clinic care and if the capacity cannot be increased, they will direct patients to go to private facilities, non-v.a. facilities. this is one of the first steps taken by the veterans administration in response to the growing scandal that has sickened so many of us americans in dealing with the v.a. health care system and the way some of our vets have allegedly been treated. againy, the v.a. taking action to make sure the vets get more timely care and directing the potentials to look the officials to make sure that gets