There was a time, not long ago, when the VA health care system was thought of as the epitome of socialized medicine - our own equivalent to the British National Health Service (NHS).

Then the VA computerized and modernized.  A RAND study found VA care superior to the care at most other hospitals, on the average; although RAND noted that the VA did better on criteria it chose to measure itself by.

Now, on the eve of Walter Reed revelations, a Miami Herald investigation (using the Freedom of Information Act) brings back images of the NHS, at least with respect to mental health care:

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