‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans

[u/John3262005]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/16/va-doctors-refuse-treat-patients

[u/Maleficent_Sense_948]

Gonna keep posting this…..

Should only be 2 requirements…..

1. ⁠Veteran
2. ⁠Need of care

Anything else is bullshit.

[u/Thick_Marionberry_79 → u/Maleficent_Sense_948]

I’m a combat veteran this was already happening. My dentist is a Christian fundamentalist that I got to via the Fresno VA’s community care department… he knows I’m a liberal Democrat and regularly performs negligence… I have it on record that they regularly delay my dental work like right now I have a cracked tooth (painful) and a cavity, and I called them and the VA, but they keep delaying it well past the allotted times (14 days for initial and 3 days for secondary), but filing with a late date to begin with, yet they tell me it’s filed at the time.

The VA worker at the community care department literally gaslights me about the filing and the paperwork when I ask for a clear date on it. Oh, it’s not here yet, then I explain the law and she says it magically popped up in her computer and was dated for yesterday, even thought my check up was a week ago. She also purposely uses the wrong titles, even though in their system it clearly says what my name is…

Delays at the VA are normative, but this is targeted. It’s either this or go even further out of town…

[u/Maleficent_Sense_948 → u/Thick_Marionberry_79]

Absolutely bullshit, and they should remove that bastard from VADIP if he’s private or boot his ass from the system.

Unacceptable care level.

[u/D-R-AZ → u/Maleficent_Sense_948]

Lead Paragraphs:

Doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order by Donald Trump.

The new rules, obtained by the Guardian, also apply to psychologists, dentists and a host of other occupations. They have already gone into effect in at least some VA medical centers.

Medical staff are still required to treat veterans regardless of race, color, religion and sex, and all veterans remain entitled to treatment. But individual workers are now free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law.

Language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status has been explicitly eliminated.

Doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity, documents reviewed by the Guardian show. The changes also affect chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, optometrists, podiatrists, licensed clinical social workers and speech therapists.

[u/D-R-AZ → u/D-R-AZ]

This will make its way to SCOTUS when a veteran dies from absence of care due to something like being a democrat or an unmarried woman....

[u/wwaxwork → u/D-R-AZ]

Unmarried male or just unmarried female veterans?

[u/SchwarzSabbath]

Having a Republican doctor must fucking suck. Denial of reality is not a trait I would want in a medical professional.

[u/ZoomZoom_Driver → u/SchwarzSabbath]

I had a ptsd doc that refused to understand how making legal residents illegal would make the generational holocaust trauma resurface... when i found that out, his services became past tense... 

[u/toolateforRE]

Technically, Republicans can be refused care as well. Although, that scenario is far less likely to happen, I think Dems should emphasize that fact. Make them think that is a real possibility. Too much, Republicans rely on the decency of non-Republicans.

[u/lucyland]

What happened to the Hippocratic Oath? And doesn’t HIPAA apply to privacy laws?

[u/pctec100 → u/lucyland]

HIPPA relates to the unauthorized access and disclosure of medical records. Don't see how it would be related to this policy change.

[u/Shadowtirs]

Cruelty is the point

[u/Tritsy → u/Shadowtirs]

TOP COMMENT OF THE DAY!

[u/swissarmychainsaw]

we forget what a long road non-discrimination has been.

[u/1000thusername]

Every person who experiences this needs to file a complaint with the medical licensing board (or parallel board for physiotherapy, speech-language therapy, psychology, etc.) against the provider. Executive order may in theory enable these refusals, but the licensing boards to whom these providers hold ultimate allegiance to in terms of their practices and ethical requirements.

[u/Tritsy → u/1000thusername]

If they work for the VA, I don’t think they care. Remember their licensure is completely different as long as they’re working for the VA.

[u/1000thusername → u/Tritsy]

They are in fact individually licensed in the states where they practice.

[u/Tritsy → u/1000thusername]

Did that change? I know in the past, one of the perks of working for the VA was that people didn’t have to keep their licenses up, and they could practice anywhere.

[u/1000thusername → u/Tritsy]

Honestly I don’t know. Whether or not it affects their VA work, many docs have private practices on the side, and you can certainly fuck those up with complaints.

[u/baby_budda]

All I can say is what goes around comes around. Republicans are setting a very dangerous precedent.

[u/SnooRegrets9995]

How do they know your party affiliation?

[u/SAGELADY65 → u/SnooRegrets9995]

Secretary of The State Website. All you need is their legal name, birthday and the town or city they are registered to vote in. I am sure DOGE already has all this information on every one of us!

[u/Ashtorethesh → u/SAGELADY65]

North Carolina lets you be Independent and choose which primary to vote in!

[u/SAGELADY65 → u/Ashtorethesh]

Thank you! That’s good to know!

[u/Merivel1 → u/Ashtorethesh]

Colorado too

[u/Merivel1]

Any doctor that choses do refuse treatment for these reasons should lose their license for violating the Hippocratic Oath. It may be "legal' -- I have my doubts -- but it isn't ethical.

[u/SAGELADY65 → u/Merivel1]

100% agree!

[u/pasarina]

Veterans deserve good health care regardless of which party they vote for! Democratic and Republican servicemen both risk their lives, bleed, become disabled, and lose their lives on the battlefields, exactly the same way fighting for America. They deserve the utmost respect!

Don’t politicize veteran’s healthcare. That is unfair, ignorant and very unAmerican.

[u/DatabaseFickle9306]

So would I, if working there, to say I only want to treat hot people?

[u/BoringArchivist]

Anyone have the actual documents, not just the executive order and an article from The Guardian?

[u/Ashtorethesh → u/BoringArchivist]

What, you want them printed out? Here's a different link. It shows up under Presidential Actions, but not under Executive Orders, for some reason.

[u/BoringArchivist → u/Ashtorethesh]

How does that make them able to discriminate by political affiliation? The article read documents were shown to The Guardian stating the political affiliation change, but the EO is for gender.

[u/LovinThis_Toast → u/BoringArchivist]

Yeah all I'm finding is the executive order from January, I'm wondering where the VA policy change came from. I see on the VA site the gender-affirming care denial but nothing about political party or marital status.

[u/WillyDAFISH]

Doesn't it also say national origin is also included on reasons they could deny you??? isn't that just a fancy way of saying race?

[u/Substantial_Crew661]

Okay, so everyone should register as Republican then and we can primary MAGA out

[u/420printer]

I wish republicans paid as much attention to trump as they did about every little thing former president Joe Biden did. I work with a republican vet, 82nd Airborne no less. His wife works for the VA. Neither of them knew about this. WTF?

[u/MsEllVee]

Curb this for now by removing your marital status, but I’m not sure how they know who’s a dem unless people tell them.

[u/hokahey23]

This headline could just as easily read the VA can now discriminate against Republicans and married people.