12 Months
COHN MODE: ENGAGED.
Delivered from the grave, with ash on the collar and vengeance in the veins.
🔱 Scorched. Fucking. Earth.
“One Year of Care — or One More Year of Bullshit?”
So, the Department of Veterans Affairs wants a standing ovation for finally doing what any decent system should’ve done a decade ago?
Twelve months of uninterrupted care? In thirty specialties?
Why thank you, Your Highness — shall we lick the boots or just sign the consent form in blood?
Let me break it down:
🩻 1. THE HEADLINE IS A SMOKESCREEN
“No veteran should have their health care disrupted by red tape,” says Secretary Doug Collins.
Too late.
The VA has been tripping veterans with red tape since Vietnam. This policy change is the bureaucratic equivalent of pulling the knife out halfway and calling it “surgery.”
This isn’t reform.
It’s damage control.
It’s lawsuit prevention dressed up as compassion.
📉 2. THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT HEALTH — IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT CONTROL
Veterans had to get reauthorized every 90 to 180 days?
Let me put that in human terms:
You're halfway through chemo, and some clipboard soldier behind a desk says:
“Sorry, your paperwork expired. We’ll reschedule your life-saving care... once your authorization is reapproved.”
What kind of sick dystopia is that?
But don’t worry — now you get a whole year! One year of not having to beg the system that broke you for permission to survive.
How generous.
💰 3. FOLLOW THE MONEY
Let’s not pretend this is purely benevolent. The real trigger for this change?
Republican outrage that VA penny-pinching canceled care mid-chemo.
Cancer patients abandoned because some VA admin decided to “adhere more strictly” to the rules.
When denial of care starts costing political capital, then and only then does the VA pretend to remember the Hippocratic oath.
🏥 4. PRIVATIZATION CREEP IS REAL
Democrats smell the rat — and they’re not wrong.
More “community care” = more money siphoned away from the VA's internal capacity.
And when the internal system collapses from starvation, guess who’s waiting in the wings?
Private sector bloodhounds.
“Patriot Care Inc.” is coming, and it ain’t here to help.
This policy looks like a win for patients. But it’s also a trojan horse — shifting the narrative from “support the VA” to “outsource the burden.”
🗣️ 5. VETERANS STILL GET SCREWED
Even with the new rule:
Veterans are being referred to facilities hours away.
Some VA administrators are denying care without providing written denial letters, making appeals impossible.
Veterans are literally writing to Military.com begging for help.
This isn’t a healthcare system — it’s a game of attrition.
Deny. Delay. Discourage. Disappear.
🎯 6. THE ACTUAL SPECIALTIES? WELL, THANK YOU FOR THE SCRAPS
Yes, these 30 specialties matter.
Cardiology, Oncology, Neurology — critical, all of them.
But don’t let the list distract from the deeper problem:
Why did any of this need reauthorization to begin with?
When did we decide veterans were guilty until reapproved?
⚖️ FINAL VERDICT: TOO LITTLE. WAY TOO LATE.
A step forward? Sure.
But only because they’ve been dragging veterans backward for years.
This isn't a victory lap.
It's a concession after being caught.
And we’ll take the inch —
But we’re coming for the fucking mile.
🩸
“Better continuity of care,” they say.
Then why’d you make it a maze to begin with?”
— R.M. Cohn (as summoned)
“If you're not going to let veterans die with dignity, at least stop forcing them to beg for a goddamn appointment.”
— The Revolution Has a Medical Bill, and It’s Past Due.COCHRAN MODE: ENGAGED.
🎤 “If the care don't fit, you must admit...”Statement Before the American People on the Matter of Veterans’ Community Care Access
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury — and I address all of you today, from Tennessee to Tucson, from chemo chairs to broken wheelchairs — hear me now:
The Department of Veterans Affairs is finally giving veterans a year of uninterrupted specialty care.
Why?
Because the system was bleeding people out through bureaucratic wounds and calling it “procedure.”🔍 Let’s examine the evidence.
Before this “reform,” a veteran with:
Cancer
Heart disease
PTSD
Chronic pain
…had to ask for permission every 90 to 180 days to keep receiving treatment from community providers — because someone at the VA thought recovery should come with an expiration date.
That’s not continuity — that’s cruelty wrapped in policy.
🧾 Exhibit A: Denied Mid-Chemo.
A veteran in Kansas, two treatments from finishing chemotherapy, was cut off.
If that ain’t malpractice by policy,
then tell me what is?
🧾 Exhibit B: No Paper Trail, No Appeal.
Veteran in Tennessee Valley:
Primary care provider refers him out.
Supervisor blocks it.
No written denial. No appeal. No justice.
You deny a man care, and won’t even put it in writing?
That’s not just negligence — it’s obstruction.
🧾 Exhibit C: Political Tug-of-War.
Democrats warn:
“Community care expansion will cannibalize the VA.”
Republicans scream:
“VA’s red tape is killing our veterans.”
And who’s caught in the crossfire?
The very people the whole system is supposed to serve.
⚖️ Closing Argument:
This new policy change?
It’s a settlement, not a solution.
They want a standing ovation for fixing a fire they set?
That’s like handing a man a ladder after setting his house on fire and calling yourself a hero.
If you can trust a veteran with a rifle in Fallujah,
You can trust him with a referral in Florida.
If a private doc can keep you alive,
You shouldn’t need six forms and a fiscal review to go see them.
And if the VA says it values life and liberty,
Then why’s it got veterans locked in an appointment prison with no key?
🧠 Final Word from Cochran Mode:
“You don’t fix the harm by framing the help.”
“You don’t heal the wound by hiding the scalpel.”
“And you damn sure don’t call it reform when it’s just delayed accountability.”
So no — we’re not throwing confetti for this 12-month olive branch.
We’ll take it, sure.
But we’re still counting bodies,
Still reading letters from desperate vets,
Still asking one simple question:
Why did it take this long?
And if your answer starts with “budget,” “process,” or “policy,” —
You already lost the case.
🩺 “Veterans aren't a line item. They're the reason the budget exists.”
Court’s adjourned — for now.
But trust me:
We’ll be back.
Cochran Mode: Out.
🧑🏾⚖️💥
SHAPIRO MODE: ENGAGED.
🎯 Facts, fine print, and follow-through — let’s cut through the applause and get to the clause.
What Happens After 12 Months?
Spoiler: The Red Tape Comes Back with a Tan.
The VA’s new policy grants veterans one year of uninterrupted community care in 30 specialties without requiring reauthorization.
That’s good.
But here's the catch:
🔁 At the end of 12 months, veterans are once again required to get reauthorized — meaning:
A new referral from a VA provider
A new approval from the Community Care office
A new round of "Am I sick enough to be trusted again?" gymnastics
🚨 Translation:
This isn’t permanent eligibility.
It’s a pause on the bureaucracy — not its elimination.
After 12 months, unless the VA enacts a permanent fix (don’t hold your breath), you're back in the same slog:
Is your condition still “valid”?
Can your VA doc make the case?
Will the facility administrator approve it?
Will the system “accidentally” drop the ball again?
And if you’re in ongoing treatment — chemo, chronic pain management, PTSD therapy — guess what?
You’ll be forced to re-prove your need for care that never stopped being needed.
🧾 What the Policy Doesn’t Say:
There’s no guarantee you’ll:
Keep the same provider
Get reapproved on time
Avoid a gap in care
Be notified before expiration
And there’s no language about auto-renewal, appeals, or a fast-track process for veterans in critical care.
🎯 Shapiro’s Closing Question:
Why give someone a lifeline… if you're planning to cut it again in 12 months without warning?
So what happens after a year?
Unless policy changes again, we’re back in the churn.
And every veteran in the system will have a 12-month timer over their care.
Let’s call it what it is:
Temporary mercy, not structural justice.
⚖️ Want a real fix?
→ Make chronic, recurring conditions eligible for indefinite community care enrollment.
→ Give veterans a portal that shows exactly when their authorization expires.
→ Require VA to notify veterans 90 days before expiration — in writing.
→ Allow auto-renewals for conditions with no expected end date.
→ Hold VA accountable if lapses disrupt care.
You want justice?
Then after 12 months, give veterans dignity — not another bureaucratic boot to the chest.
Shapiro Mode: Resting, but always listening.
CARLIN MODE: ENGAGED.
🖋️ Court reporter, live from the VA hearing room, typing through the tears and laughing through the rage.
Transcript: United States v. Common Sense
Docket #: 1776-FUQ-VA
Location: Department of Veterans Affairs, Kafka Wing, Room 404 (Not Found)
Presiding Judge: Bureaucracy, Honorable Delay M. Always
Court Reporter: Mr. George F. Carlin (resurrected, reluctantly)
[Scene opens]
A veteran limps into the courtroom with a medical folder thicker than a tax code, carrying receipts from 12 months of “authorized” suffering. He takes the stand.
Prosecutor (VA):
“Sir, we’ve graciously provided you with one whole year of care without interruption!”
Veteran:
“I had cancer.”
Prosecutor:
“Exactly! That’s why we gave you the deluxe plan. One year of mercy! That’s more than the average Home Depot return policy.”
Carlin (Court Reporter, whispering into the mic):
“Oh great. They gave him a punch card for chemo. One more visit and he gets a free body bag.”
Defense Attorney (Shapiro Mode):
“Let me be clear: after 12 months, the veteran must restart the entire process — referrals, approvals, possibly delays in care — even if the cancer doesn’t reset. The VA essentially puts a parking meter on survival.”
Carlin (typing):
“It’s like putting a clock on chemotherapy. Ding! Time’s up. Please return your tumor to the front desk.”
Judge Bureaucracy:
“Objection overruled. It’s policy.”
Carlin (under breath):
“Policy? You mean that magic trick where logic disappears and nobody goes to jail?”
Rep. Brownley (D-CA, from gallery):
“This is a privatization slow-roast! They're hollowing out the VA and calling it healthcare!”
Rep. Moran (R-KS):
“And yet they couldn’t even guarantee one guy his last two chemo sessions!”
Carlin (to the stenographer ghost beside him):
“You can’t make this shit up. I’ve seen better continuity in soap operas.”
Closing Statement from Cochran Mode:
“If the care don’t last, the policy’s trash.”
Carlin (laughing so hard he drops his mic):
“This courtroom’s a Kafka carnival —
They give you a key to a door, but the building’s on fire, and the exit’s a spreadsheet.”
VERDICT?
The VA is guilty of Temporary Empathy in the First Degree.
Sentenced to 12 more months of pretending they invented compassion.
Veterans? Still stuck in the waiting room where hope goes to fill out Form 187-G (Authorization to Keep Living).
Court Reporter’s Final Note:
“You want to fix the system? Stop making veterans jump through burning hoops just to treat the burns.”
COHN MODE: RETURNED FOR CLOSING ARGUMENT.
🧨 If you’re gonna burn the building down, you’d better file the paperwork.SOURCE CITATION:
All legal fire, bureaucratic ash, and righteous indignation in this transcript is based on the original report published by:
Military.com
Patricia Kime, August 4, 2025
“VA to Give Veterans One-Year Authorizations to Seek Care from Private Providers in 30 Specialties”
🔗 https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/08/04/va-give-veterans-one-year-authorizations-seek-care-private-providers-30-specialties.html
Because even when you’re torching the system…
You cite your sources.
🔥
Roy M. Cohn Mode: Case closed.
Next docket, please.
