Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers debunked the suggestion that problems at the Veterans Health Administration bode ill for those insured under President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

On May 15, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee after the VA's inspector general launched an investigation into what The Washington Post described as “multiple reports of alleged preventable deaths and attempts to cover up treatment delays at VA health clinics.” Conservative media have suggested these events prove government provides inferior health care and have attacked Obamacare and pushed for the privatization of the VA's health system.

On the May 25 edition of Fox News Sunday, George Will echoed these claims, stating that the unfolding story shows that “big government is too big for meaningful oversight and effective management” and citing the Postal Service and Amtrak as other examples.

Asked by host Chris Wallace whether she agrees with the notion that “it's the VA now and it will be Obamacare later,” Powers pointed out that Obamacare and the veterans health system are very different. She went on to explain that “this idea that somehow putting things off into the private sector is going to make everything work also doesn't work if you consider your experiences, at least experiences I've had with insurance companies, health insurance companies,” and noted that Republicans “funnel” all their arguments through the notion that “big government is a problem.” Watch: 

POWERS: They're not the same thing. Of course, the VA is really government-run health care where you have the government controlling everything. That's not what Obamacare is. Obamacare is more like insurance. You don't have the doctors working for Obamacare. So I don't think it's the same thing. I also think the private sector has a lot of problems. You know, Amtrak, if you have a problem with Amtrak, well I have a lot of problems with USAir and American and United. So this idea that somehow putting things off into the private sector is going to make everything work also doesn't work if you consider your experiences, at least experiences I've had with insurance companies, health insurance companies. So this is not a surprising argument coming from Republicans. It is always their argument. Take anything that is happening in the world and this is the argument that they funnel it through. It's always proof that big government is a problem. So it's not surprising. 

As The Washington Post editorial board noted, “studies have shown that the VA system, which serves almost 6.5 million veterans annually, as a whole outperforms the rest of the health care system by just about every metric.” Indeed, VA hospital patients consistently receive better care than individuals in the private sector and have higher customer satisfaction.