In the aftermath of the Walter Reed fiasco, questions have been raised as to whether the country is prepared to take care of our dedicated veterans. As more and more military personnel return home from Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict-ridden parts of the world, these questions are front and center. The idea of privatizing health care for veterans currently is being floated by Sen. John McCain and his allies on the Hill.

Veterans’ organizations have strongly opposed sending veterans to private hospitals because they know firsthand VA hospitals have a unique capability to best serve veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and other combat injuries. VA hospitals have been hailed, respectively, by The New York Times and U.S. News & World Report as being the “true future in American health care” and “a model of topnotch care.” There can be no doubt that when it comes to caring for our veterans, nobody does it better than the women and men working in the VA health care system.

But years of not ramping up staffing and resources to meet the growing and diverse needs of veterans have taken a serious toll on the VA health care system. Staffing levels at VA facilities across the country are driven by administrative budget dictates—not veterans’ needs. And instead of insisting on mandatory funding for VA health care and hiring enough staff to support the VA’s mission, some now are suggesting we turn over the responsibility of caring for our nation’s veterans to the private sector.

While it can be argued the VA funding process has not been very responsive to the growing needs of the veteran population, sending our veterans to for-profit medical centers with a credit card and pre-set spending limits is a terrible idea at best. At worst, it is tantamount to breaking this nation’s contract to take care of the brave men and women who protect our rights, liberty and freedom.

The concept in whatever form is not new, nor is the consequence: the end of affordable, accessible, quality health care designed for veterans. Vouchers and credit cards mean privatization, pure and simple. It would dismantle the current veterans’ health care system and move veterans into the unregulated, over-priced, insensitive corporate health care system—the boondoggle that is failing to cover more than 47 million Americans and failing to serve tens of millions more. Can you imagine a veteran with a pre-existing condition trying to get treated in a privatized veterans’ health program?

As “the” patient advocate, the registered nurses of RNs Working Together—thousands of whom work in the VA—are not turning our backs on the men and women returning from war. We are opposed to the privatization of the VA system and are fighting to keep the only health care system that is capable of meeting the unique health care needs of our men and women in uniform.