The VA medical system - long the butt of jokes and target of complaints over substandard care - has made a major about face. Witness this Douglas Waller article in Time -

The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program–socialized medicine on a small scale–is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency’s work in computerizing patient records.

Read the whole thing and you’ll likely be amazed at both the VA’s cutting edge technology and the cost containment measures. That’s not to say that all is rosey, of course. As the article points out, waiting times and red tape still plague the system. And resource constraints have forced the VA to limit eligibility to low income veterans and those with service connected health issues. But it’s still good to know that dedicated people are working hard to provide veterans with state-of-the-art care at an affordable cost.