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Just Words

By Larry Johnson on March 17, 2009 at 8:28 PM in Current Affairs

The Great Bamboozler is at it again and wounded vets are in his gun sights. The U.S. Government sends troops into combat. One would think that the Government would incur a responsibility and an obligation to care for those who sacrifice their bodies and lives. Well think again. Here’s Veteran Administration chief Eric Shinseki this week:

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance. …

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

The groups also cited an increase in “third-party collections” estimated in the 2010 budget proposal — something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under “consideration.”

“A final decision hasn’t been made yet,” he said.

Well, what in the hell? Remember when Mr. Hope And Change made this promise?

Yep, Barack promised it and you can take that to the bank. Of course, what he does not tell you is that AIG has the policy and the Lehman Brothers owns the bank. If you are a wounded vet here’s a promise you can depend on–go fuck yourself!

Another reminder that Barack’s words are, are . . . .What is the word I’m looking for? Oh yeah, WORTHLESS.

Just thank Barack. When it comes to screwing the troops, he’s the man.

  • Ferd Berfle

    Thank you Larry.

    Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance. …

    So now our veterans not only risk their lives for our country but they have to potentially co-pay for any treatment they receive as a result of their service-wounds or even pay for their entire care? This is wrong on its face. What has become of this country?

  • blogforce one

    U.S. vets should NEVER be treated like this… Obama’s first 4 year plan is to turn the U.S.A. into Venezuela…. After his Re-installment as “ruler” for the next 4 years his Finishing touch is to complete the “job” AND TURN THE U.S.A INTO ZIMBABWE!!!!!!!!!!! Stop this madness now! Support our troops and PROTECT our VETERANS!

    • Katmoon

      I spit on Obama! We have one left, my son, to return home after serving yet another tour in Iraq, (out of the three 2 are home safe finally all served 15+ months) and I read this crap. Thank you Larry for letting us know, but I can’t take it. I can’t imagine the excuses and I swear none will work, from any supporters mouth or some policy fool. This is pure disrespect, and treating our military as less than human. I for one will not put up with it and will do my best to get the ear of every one I can to stop this particular new brand of madness. Selfish, disgusting creature. This Army Mom, has just plain had enough. No matter what our military does or where they are sent, somehow as we all sit safe and sound, no one seems to give a shit unless they have served, or have someone they love serving, otherwise, similar to those over fifty, our military are becoming invisible, being treated as so much disposable trash. I am furious.

      • RalphB

        Thank you for your son’s service to our country and for your sacrifice making it possible.

        Let us never forget, we are only the land of the free, because of the brave!

      • no kidding

        katmoon — this will not pass. This is the moment when someone asks Mr. Obama have you no humanity. God bless you and your family for the sacrifices you have made for the rest of us. Hannity and Levin said on their radio shows today that they will do whatever is necessary to stop this bill from coming to the floor. Also top Dems as well as our John McCain have said this will never become law.

  • PO’dVet

    And of course the insurance companies would then classify the injuries as pre-existing conditions. Leaving the vets to pay everything out of pocket. So sign up for military service now! Go to war and get shot, so you can be penalized for serving your country for the rest of your life. Sounds like typical Obama to me…fucking America in any way he can….

    • Ferd Berfle

      The other distressing news, though, is that these insurance companies will be lining up to charge these veterans. Don’t gloss that one over. They are just as culpable as That One in that they probably own him.

      • CentralMass

        The lobbyist’s must be wringing their hands.

      • FLDemFem

        The actuarial tables on combat risk must be amazing. I can just imagine the glee with which the insurance companies will write the policies, knowing that they will be able to stall on payout while the vets suffer and perhaps die while they are waiting for treatment. Imagine a wife of a wounded soldier having to deal with insurance forms while also dealing with the fact that her husband is wounded and suffering. It is one of the most refined forms of torture I can imagine. Makes anything they do at Gitmo look like amateur hour. It is also un-American. Remember the outrage and fury when the conditions at Walter Reed were made public? America takes care of her vets, at least she makes a good faith effort. Now here comes Obummer, talking about how he wants all the homeless vets off the streets, doesn’t say he wants them to have homes, just off the streets. Now this. No wonder the soldiers wonder if they will follow his orders. I wouldn’t. In the military, the one certain thing is that your buddies watch your back. We are supposed to watch their backs too, and Obummer just opened fire on them. This idea cannot be allowed to go any further. The Senator in the story said that it would be dead on arrival in Congress. Let’s make sure it is!!!

    • PO’dVet

      Sorry for the profanity if it offends anyone…but you know…Bush tied the vets up, now Obush is wanting to nail us all in the keester on the down low!

      • Ferd Berfle

        You have every right to be incensed, PO’d. I am, as well, and I’m angry at those who put That One in the WH. at those who would make a buck off a soldier’s wounds, and at those who would think this is a good idea.

  • J.J. (The PUMA)

    I’m not sure I get the outrage on this one. If I understand correctly, the Federal Government is not saying that they are not the party primarily responsible for caring for the vet. But, if there is another insurer, what is wrong with passing the cost off of the government.

    Is it not like being in a car accident. Your health insurance takes care of you, but they reserve the right to attempt reimbursement from the other driver.

    What am I missing??

    • Katmoon

      JJ it’s the third party collections, veterans would have to pay for treatment for their injuries.

      • cynic

        …veterans would have to pay for treatment for their injuries.

        Says who? Have you seen any particulars concerning the proposal?

        If you’re a vet who is elibible for and pays for group health insurance, why should the insurance company charge you the same premium as everybody else, but then refuse to help pay for services you’re entitled to receive from the VA? Doesn’t that add up to private insurance companies increasing their profit margins at the expense of the taxpayer? And to selective discrimination by those companies against their VA-eligible policy holders?

        • WMCB

          What if their private insurance has a big deductible? They need care, and can’t just go to the VA, because they have to use their private insurance as primary. So vets with GOOD private insurance might be okay, but vets with crappy insurance get screwed?

          The chief thing to consider here is what is best for THE VETS. All other considerations are secondary.

        • beachnan

          Cynic- Obama wants to have these vets get private insurance, because as you know, insurance companies are so helpful, and never want to make a buck off the insured, so that he can save $541 million. Yet, he gives ACORN two billion dollars, for what? Please explain why that group is more important than the men and women who were injured defending our country.

        • lark

          I’m with you here for a change, cynic. I think they are looking at improving a few things regarding vets health care that may make a lot of sense. I for one think that co-pays always make sense when speaking about insurance. That limits the number of times patients seek care by knowing there is a cost to each request for services. What’s important is to care for the vets as required but to ask the vets to see that they don’t overuse the system.

          What happens is that sometimes a few bad apples spoil it for everyone. Maybe you have a few vets that abuse the system.

          Second, I agree with cynic that private insurers do not need to get a free ride regarding vets that can get treatment through VA. Once a vet enters a private insurer carrier he should be treated same as others, provided they have been cleared from the case for a reasonable amount of time.

          Vets simply need to help out anywhere they can to reduce the cost of their own health care.

          • joker

            Lark, why don’t you take your lazy ass out and defend this country and then come back and run you mouth…………….

          • Ginger

            Lark, Search on how vets pay for medical care before opening your trap and talking about something you obviously have no clue on.

          • WhatNow

            Lark – you need to join the military. One reason so many people volunteer is for a benefit called “FREE MEDICAL” for yourself and your dependants because you are on alert 24/7 except for the 30 days ( this includes weekends, in civilian life you don’t count weekends as your vacation days) of vacation you get in a year.

            Your dependants are not in the military BUT they have to abide by all the rules, have to pull up and move when you move, they have to supplement on occassion what you need, to do your job because the military can’t get the supplies but you can go into the economy or on the internet and get the supplies you need
            to do your job.

            Yeah, the military aren’t pulling their weight, what a bunch of whinners – NOT

          • beachnan

            My husband is a vet. He has a co-pay each and every time he sees someone. He also pays something for any medication he get through the VA.

            • cynic

              Yep. It’s a common misconception that all war-era veterans who are eligible for VA services receive completely free care, medications, etc. The majority don’t. And those who do have more than paid for the services they receive, having made sacrifices that can’t be measured in dollars.

          • no kidding

            lark — All Obama is interested in doing is creating chaos so that everyone is so upset with their healthcare they demand the Govt take it over. He has decided to cut Medicare to the bone so that Seniors will be in a panic and thus demand single payer healthcare. He has set aside 650 billion for a healthcare plan which doesn’t exist but which has all the earmarks of rationed care. If it was so great why not let people decide of their own free will whether they would like to be part of it or not.

          • Lyn

            They didn’t say it was to improve the care for the vets, Obama said it was to save the Gov money…NOW he is worried about saving money? After wasting billions in the stimulus pork?

    • Ferd Berfle

      Private insurance wants to make a profit off of a soldier’s wounds, which is immoral.

      • Docelder

        This is the main problem with Obama’s health care in general. It depends on the existing medical insurers to administer and allocate the care. This is no reform. The insurers are a large part of the problem we have now with health care. Whatever the solution, medical insurers need to be excluded from it in as much as possible. Medical insurers provide no care, and are just expensive administrators.

        • NoBamaNoWay

          right on.

    • sandi78

      It is not like being in a car accident, unless you happened to be driving a military vehicle that was blown up by an IED in Iraq. No American serviceman or woman should ever have to wonder who will be paying for the medical care they need for injuries received while wearing the uniform of the United States. Ever. They should not have to go through reams of claims and then be told “Sorry”.

      Do you think companies will hire injured vets if they know that their company insurance will be paying for the vet’s medical care? It may be discrimination and illegal, but it would happen. It happens now to non-vets.

      Our country may be virtually broke right now, but we owe these veterans the best medical care they can receive.

      If Obama needs to save money, and he does, he shouldn’t be doing it on the backs of people whose jobs he could/would never do. He can take fewer trips in Air Force One for starters. How low can this piece of shit go?

      At least members of Congress have made it clear that if this stupid proposal gets to the them, it will be dead on arrival.

      • cathnealon

        “If Obama needs to save money”
        Yes, perhaps he could take back the 25 billion from ACORN and give it to the men and women who have sacrificed life and limb for their country. Oh, I forgot being a community organizer that can get the same voter to register 79 times is so much more patriotic.

        • beachnan

          I thought it was only 2 billion. Twenty-five billion is outrageous. I am disgusted beyond words.

        • cynic

          $25 billion to Acorn? Yeah, right. In what alternate reality did that occur?

        • Ginger

          It doesn’t matter if it was $2. Obama used a nonprofit that gets public funds for his own personal gain. It is against the law.

          Here is an example:

          http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2007/02/05/daily22.html

    • WMCB

      Because it’s morally wrong, to start with. They served, and our government is OBLIGATED to provide that care, not pass it off to a profit-making HMO. But as I am in the medical billing field, I can think of DOZENS of ways this would be bad:

      Who’s to say what kind of private insurance the servicemember has? Does it have high copays? A deductible? Restrictions on drugs covered? On procedures covered? Is it CRAPPY insurance (as many are)?

      What if they had one private insurance, change employers, then get a different insurance or none at all? How long will it take to straighten that out, while everyone fights with the VA over who is supposed to pay, and gets the required forms filled out and processed to change it over?

      Will the vet go without care while he/she tries to negotiate that nightmare, sitting on hold alternately with the VA and 2 insurance companies, who all say the OTHER guy should be footing the bill, getting passed along to yet another bozo who can’t help them straighten this out? That’s if they can even get a real live person on the phone.

      No way. Our men and women in uniform deserve better than that sort of headache and worry.

      They served. We FUCKING TAKE CARE OF THEM, period.

      • Lyn

        and the life time Max, goes really fast. I can imagine how expensive it could be for months of surgeries and months of rehab.

      • NoTrollZone

        makes me almost think of workman’s comp. Is this a work related health issue, Mr./Ms. veteran? Did you report it as such. Well, since you reported it as such, I’m sorry we can’t go ahead and treat you. It has to be done through workman’s comp. Oh nice. And it will make new bureaucracy as well. oh nice. I’ll bet Hillary would like to trip the twit down the stairs over this one.

    • Peggy Sue

      You’re right, JJ. It’s not like a car accident. That’s the whole point.

      These men and women willingly put themselves in harm’s way–For Us. Every frigging one of us! And to save shekels we’ll say: hey, we’re short on cash, dudes. Better ring up your private insurance company. And who, pray tell, will be the injured, half-dead vet’s advocate? Have you ever seen a head-injury? Do you know any idea what that costs or what it does to the individual and the family?

      Well, I have. I fought with the damn insurance companies for over three years for every cent of my son’s care. He wasn’t a soldier. His injury “was” accidental. But I never want to see a veteran or a veteran’s family have to plead for funds or enough therapies or a decent rehab to give their son or daughter a chance to come back to the world.

      I don’t give a shit how much it costs. We ask these men and women to serve. They step up to the plate and we owe them. We owe them everything!

      Honor, duty and sacrifice. Obama better get his damn dictionary out.

    • termo

      What you are missing are two things:

      1. If Captain Clueless is allowed to enact this then watch as all of our health insurance rates start skyrocketing – so much for cutting health insurance costs.

      2. R – E – S – P – E – C – T These people sacrificed and deserve the full support of our government. This is a clear sign that Obama has no respect for the military inspite of his teleprompte words. Frankly he now deserves the same in return on his next visit to the troops.

    • WhatNow

      Once a person goes on active duty, they CAN NOT get private insurance to cover any injuries while sustained on active duty. Even in life insurance policies they have an exclusion for the military. That’s why the government has their own insurance (SGLI) for active duty.

      So, this would apply for anyone that got injured on active duty, got discharged and works for someone with private insurance. The current private insurance excludes pre-existing conditions and if you have someone with a serious injury – not just the ex military, ALL of the primiums go up for EVERYBODY.

      This is being pushed by the insurance lobby. Disgusting scum!!!!

      • WhatNow

        BTW – the government is already doing the same thing with retired military. Not only do we have to pay annually to get military medical treatment that was promised to us when we joined up centuries ago, but we also have to get a supplemental insurance to cover what the military medical doesn’t cover!!!

      • Lyn

        and they will have to deal with all the bills and phones calls to insurance that since I’ve been fighting insurnace compaines to get things paid for 20 years now,I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy (well maybe Michelle) Plus IF they could get around the preexisting condition, they SOON would wipe out the life time benefits.

        Companies won’t hire injured service men, knowing THEIR company payments for insurance will go up, they won’t come out and say that’s not why they weren’t hired, but they will find someone else.

        Its even worse if you are covered on 2 policies, neither wants to pay and you are caught in the middle

        WHY should anything be more difficult for them? Why after serving our Country should they have to deal with any extra hasssle, to save money…but we can give scholarships to kids in the Gaza?

    • patm

      One problem with this would be that you can guarantee that Obama’s administration isn’t going to reimburse the private insurers for the full amount they will bill for , so then the private insurers will decline coverage to many vets or raise their premiums to an outrageous rate-or just have vets use Obama’s ‘national health insurance’ and wait a year for an appointment for substandard treatment.

    • TeakwoodKite

      Respectfully J.J, what you are missing is that a grateful nation takes take care of those it sends in to hostile at her request.

      What you are missing is about HONOR.

      The prick BO has none. BO could pick up the phone and kill this sucker before it’s first exale. But what does he do?

      NOTHING! His indifference is deadly.

    • mountainaires

      Here’s what you are missing JJ PUMA:

      Veterans benefits include medical care. Obama is stealing one of their benefits in order to raise $450 billion on the backs of military families who do not get paid as much as civilians in the first place. Medical care is a promise to veterans for serving their country. They lose legs, arms, have serious head injuries, from serving in WAR. It’s DESPICABLE, and this cannot stand. As a veteran from a military family, I know, all too well, the sacrifices veterans make. I am OUTRAGED by this. Obama is doing this during a TIME OF WAR? You’ve got to be kidding me. This is a slap in the face to every military family.

      Michelle Obama’s signature issue is Military families. She is going to find out soon enough that military families will not appreciate the First Lady’s visit, when they get wind of this despicable proposal. Veterans and their families will shun the First Lady at every stop.

      Here are the ramifications of Obama’s stab in the back to Veterans: [highlighted by me in bold]

      WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

      “It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

      The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

      Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior officials from veterans service organizations joining the President, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group’s early afternoon conversation at The White House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the President earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part, “There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”

      Commander Rehbein reiterated points made last week in testimony to both House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees. It was stated then that The American Legion believes that the reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate that VA treat service-connected injuries and disabilities given that the United States government sends members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies.

      The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran’s condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits.

      The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered.

      Additionally, the Legion is concerned that private insurance premiums would be elevated to cover service-connected disabled veterans and their families, especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in small businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board insurance policy pricing.

      The American Legion also believes that some employers, especially small businesses, would be reluctant to hire veterans with service-connected disabilities due to the negative impact their employment might have on obtaining and financing company health care benefits.

      “I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted,” said Commander Rehbein, “is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue. The American Legion has long advocated for Medicare reimbursement to VA for the treatment of veterans. This, we believe, would more easily meet the President’s financial goal. We will present that idea in an anticipated conference call with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel in the near future.

      “I only hope the administration will really listen to us then. This matter has far more serious ramifications than the President is imagining,” concluded the Commander.

      SOURCE The American Legion

  • PainkillerJayne

    Larry summed it up in one word……WORTHLESS

    • Docelder

      Wanna “googlebomb” that word “worthless” by linking it to whitehouse.gov? It wouldn’t help anything, but might make us feel a little better. ;)

      • PainkillerJayne

        ha! I’m in!

  • AnneinPA

    He thinks we could save $540 million on this plan,
    but gave how much (anyone, anyone know?) $2 billion or more to ACORN to rig primaries, the US census, etc., etc.

    Disgusting POS!

    • listing starboard

      Pelosi spends more than that on a mouse.

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        and an ugly mouse at that

  • http://none donnal

    What am I missing??
    _________________________________

    Are you kidding me? What are you missing?

    Nothing…as you are not the solider who is returning home to a system that is already not able to provide veterans benefits that are available to them when wounded.

    When a solider returns wounded it is our affirmative duty to assist them not only in their wounds but to inform veterans of benefits available to them and to assist them in developing claims that they have.

    Persons such as yourself can spout off about health availabiblity for those who will not fight or are not citizens, and ask why a solider should fight insurance companies and the goverment for their benefits?

    Insurance companies do not and will not insure soliders for their war injuries, and how would the solider afford this cost ?

    There are only two who will give their life for you, one was Jesus the other is a service man or woman.

    You walk in the shoes of these young men returning home and you will learn what you are missing; legs, arms, your earning ability, manhood, baseball games and the simple act of taking a shower by yourself.

    The least this country can do is pay for these wounded soliders…the very least.

    But this is a red herring, as the good men and women of our goverment will not leave a solider on his own. This is something that the President and Company will trade to have their budget pass.

    What you are missing is compassion and honor. We give our word to service personnel and we must not go back on that to save a few million dollars. My word is worth more than a few million dollars.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      AMEN.

  • http://www.marklevinshow.com/ Seattle Moss

    Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…

    Obama destroys the economy with class warfare and decides that the Vets will be on the absolute bottom.
    Maybe Obama hates the vets..I have never seen Obama cheer our troops..

  • fif

    This is exactly why Hillary insisted on UNC. If you do not do it, there is a hidden tax for all. Obama is now hungry for revenues to make up for his endless bail outs and massive spending plans. Why not extract it from wounded vets? What a self-serving coward?

    The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President’s Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment

    WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20090316/pl_usnw/the_american_legion_strongly_opposed_to_president_s_plan_to_charge_wounded_heroes_for_treatment

    • fif

      UHC, not UNC!

  • Peggy Sue

    I’m sorry. If we’re not willing to care for our veterans, we don’t deserve to have a country, let alone an economic future. We put these people out on the front lines. They don’t get to choose the mission; they serve, they sacrifice for us, each and every one of us, sitting infront of our TVs, driving our hybrids or not-so-hybrid cars and carping endlessly over this and that.

    We complain; they bleed.

    Obama and his minions should hang their heads in shame for even suggesting this idea. Have these people no shame?

    Disgusting!

    • http://www.marklevinshow.com/ Seattle Moss

      What can we expect from the retreat and defeat McGovern dregs…They hate America so much that they want to punish the troops.
      Just like they did when the troops returned after Vietnam.

      The most embarrassing moment for me in my travels is when a Canadian asks me how we can let Veterans sleep on street corners and panhandle all day in their wheel chairs.

  • Babs

    Thanks for posting this, Larry. I started reading about it a few days ago, and I still get sick to my stomach that a PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES would even have thoughts like this in his mind. Filthy, disgusting, evil man. Why isn’t Colin Powell speaking out about this?

  • MsSoAndSo

    No-one in their right mind will voluntarily sign up for service if this happens.

    The risk will out weigh the benefit (or what’s left of the benefits).

    Is the goal to destroy pride in being American?

  • Ginger

    This is an outrage! I am beyond disgusted. How dare he ask our troops to give up everything home has to offer by going to war yet will not provide them with the care they need upon their return.

  • Karma

    Obama should be ashamed of himself to even float this idea.

    I guess he won’t be making any appearances in front of the troops anytime soon. The press would have to insert an applause track it would be so quiet.

  • Babs

    I have become very weary watching the Obama disaster unfold, and then trying to figure out what evil motives lurk in these peoples’ minds. Nothing is as it seems, the smoke screens sent out to hide the real agenda are shamelessly paraded in front of Americans by the MSM as the “real news”, and I still find myself constantly surprised at how diabolical these people really are.

    • Karma

      Sums it up perfectly.

  • JustMe~~

    How can he be CIC send people off to war and then say you have to foot your own medical bills?

    MIND BLOWING??? This is beyond even thinking about.

  • I Like Obama

    I am sorry to see you do not like Obama.
    He really means well Larry.
    Perhaps you would prefer the insane warmonger McCain and Wizardess Palin instead?

    • FLDemFem

      If there is ONE THING we could absolutely count on McCain for it would be putting the veterans and their care on the front of the agenda. No one who has had his service record would dream of doing what Obummer is doing to the veterans and service people of this country. It is despicable, totally despicable. And so are you for suggesting that McCain would have tried to make the vets pay for their own care. Go away, you insane troll!!

      • athena

        McCain also said he would halt spending. Cut programs and make sacrifices to get us out of this financial mess. That is what should have been done instead of funding all these projects that have nothing to stimulate but Bobo’s politcial aspirations.

      • no kidding

        FLDemFem — McCain said tonight this bill will never reach the floor.

      • cynic

        You should take a closer look at John McCain’s voting history on veterans’ rights and benefits, rather than focusing entirely on what he says in his speeches.

        McCain has voted in favor of increased funding for veterans’ health care and benefits only 30% of the time. Obama has voted pro-vet over 90% of the time.

        • http://americanpumainitaly.blogspot.com/ American Girl in Italy

          I remember McCain talking about this, and he said it was because they always attached stuff to the bills, like Iraq Withdrawal deadlines, etc. There were reasons he voted down the bills, NOT to screw the vets, which I don’t think anyone believes he would do.

          I don’t care what Obama voted on, when he actually bothered to show up to vote. He did what would get him elected, and went which way the wind was blowing. It’s what he is considering now that matters, in my opinion. And he is considering screwing the troops.

          McCain has a lifetime of history to examine. Obama has a lifelong campaign.

          • cynic

            Talk is cheap. The votes are what actually matter. For whatever it’s worth, Obama showed up to vote more frequently than McCain did during the presidential campaign. McCain topped the list of the entire Senate for the most votes missed. He didn’t show up for the final vote on the 2008 GI BIll, for instance, after having argued against its passage.

            • Ferd Berfle

              Talk is cheap.

              Your ability to talk down the opposition does nothing for your Adored One, Buster. It makes him and you look foolish. We’re not taking about McCain, Goob. He isn’t POTUS.

              And I might add that your slacker of a master isn’t qualified to be in the position much less carry my stepson’s combat boots (or mine, for that matter). Did you serve, little boy? Didn’t think so. You talk a lot but have no walk. The next time you want to take on veteran’s issues, you ought to talk to an actual Veteran and not consult the Obot voices in your microcephallic cranial cavity or your fellow-traveler bots, who are just as clueless as you.

    • WMCB

      Oh, please. You remind me of people whose only response to a very valid criticism of an action of the USA is, “Well, Iran is worse, so go live there!”

      Pointless strawmen, and no answer for the criticism.

      And guess what? Mr “Ready on Day One, I Can Handle It, I Have the Chops, I Don;t Need No Stinkin’ Experience” does not get credit now for “meaning well”. Neither does my neurosurgeon. Some jobs are too important to skate by with that sort of allowance.

      He wanted the job, he got PISSY when anyone implied he might not be up for the job, so now he can DO the damn job or take his lumps.

      • FLDemFem

        Excellent points.. let me add one more. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that seems to be the road our country is on, courtesy of BO. So much for “he means well”!!

    • J.J. (The PUMA)

      I saw a bumper sticker the other day that I failed to see all through the campaign. It said.

      “Vote McCain. Yes, Obama is that bad”.

      • jwrjr

        As we now know (and many of us knew beforehand), the bumper sticker is, if anything, charitable to BHO.

    • Ginger

      It is not about like or dislike – it is about content of character. And, about the fact that he is CIC, can order troops to a place of danger for very little in the way of pay. Yet, wants them to figure out a way to pay for their own care in the event of injuries sustained while serving their country. That is insane.

    • WhatNow

      You’re changing the subject from Obama to McCain.

      Let’s have a draft to send you to Afganistan. You can buy your private health insurance before you get deployed and pay for it automatically out of your paycheck as you’re avoiding incoming bullets and HOPE you don’t have to use your private insurance if you live to get back home.

    • mountainaires

      Why yes. I would prefer McCain and Palin.

      Obama is quickly closing in on G.W. Bush for “worst president ever” award.

      • Katmoon

        Ditto, mountainaires, ditto.

    • joker

      To You who like nobamba fuck off

  • termo

    Larry thanks for bringing this up because you won’t read about it in the Obama Press Corps.

    Once again, Obama’s actions do not match his empty rhetoric.

    Also, his idiot economic advisors did not clue him in to the fact that if he does impose this it will drive up private health insurance rates on everyone else.

    But, of course, Obama never had to make payroll or even hold a real job so how could we expect him to understand this?

  • Patience

    The short-term goal seems to be to discourage, demoralize and gouge existing troops and veterans. I don’t know what the long-term goal is but I imagine that it may be to try to diminish the size of our military by attrition — who would volunteer or re-up if this were to be implemented?

    This shows disrespect and disdain — plain and simple. The POTUS probably figures the vast majority of these people aren’t within his constituency anyway so he’s not inclined to be generous (as opposed to nationalizing student loans as a pay-off to the gullible).

    • Docelder

      discourage, demoralize and gouge existing troops and veterans

      Yes, but why stop at veterans? When you can just as easily discourage, demoralize and gouge the entire middle class of the U.S.? How will veterans feel when they are paying for post war injuries? When illegal aliens can get the same care for free? Yes, paying fro care… when you buy insurance you are paying for the care it covers… it is built into the cost of it. How could you even think something like this up… unless the idea is to demoralize the middle class and ruin them between escalating costs and rising taxes?

      • http://www.marklevinshow.com/ Seattle Moss

        Yes, but why stop at veterans

        If Obama can do this to vets just think what they have planned for the rest of us.

        Better eat your wheaties
        Because you will have to pay a surcharge if you fall in predisposed groups or have health problems related to smoking or obesity.
        Along with our vets a huge underclass is about to be born from these groups which will be disenfranchised by the state through increased costs and invasion of privacy by pressuring employers who may not hire them.

        • Docelder

          Yes, and with computerized medical records there will be no privacy. Somebody with pre-existing medical or maybe even with lifestyle factors such as smoking may very well not get employment. The question of what Obama can do is an easy one… He is going to do anything and everything we allow him to do. He is just testing the fence right now. He is probably amazed at how easy all of this has been until now. We need to wake up and make him work for the socialism he wants… we need to quit rolling over and handing it to him.

  • J.J. (The PUMA)

    I’m going to try to make my point once again. It is my understnding that the VA would not abandon responsibility for caring and PAYING for tratment.

    Of course, if I am wrong about what we are intending, then I would like to join everyone else in the outrage.

    • Docelder

      No, it’s just that the shift is one of responsibility. We have no problems “entitling” all kinds of services to those who never lifted a finger in the service of this country and indeed to those who are not even legal citizens. Yet, we now have a problem making lifetime medical care for war injuries an “entitlement” for our military. In order for insurers to even have any contract obligation to pay for any of this care… the bills for that same care need to be billed to the patient receiving the care. So, unless the VA is going to “bill” veterans for this care… insurers have no obligation. So apparently, they do mean to bill veterans for this care. This is appalling and shows a disdain for the military and their families. This is beyond socialism, this is beyond incompetence… this is a moral outrage. This President is demonstrating a “by any means” strategy to push his broader agenda… it is one thing for a “community organizer” to work this way… quite another thing for the President to work this way. He is an embarrassment.

      • Ginger

        All true and well said.

      • lark

        I don’t see it that way and I also don’t think that vets are sacred cows with reference to a lifetime commitment to their medical care. And I also think that vets are more than capable of modeling the guts that are necessary to limit what some may be abusing or perceiving as a limitless resource. It isn’t limitless. It must have limits and once a vet enters civilian life and is covered under a private party contract, then that private party should attend their needs by absorbing the vet as a normal member of society.

        I am pretty sure that cases related to combat service will always be the responsibility of VA. But vets too need to apply themselves to limiting their care like normal people do and paying a co-pay or a minor portion of their treatment like normal people do.

        Veterans tend to have many privileges that normal people don’t have because they are a large voting block. But normal people need vets to normalize themselves and accept that normal people need for them to become normal too. We all should be treated equally under the law.

        • Docelder

          There are a whole lot of people who received life long impairment injuries fighting in places that their CIC sent them. They have never received even what they are owed. They have never been over paid for their service… if that were even possible.

          • lark

            But I am sure they are not talking about that. It is okay with me for vets to demand treatment for injuries related to their military service and career. I am sure the government is not looking at willfully limiting treatment for a combat or service related injury, even if it appears later on in life.

            I think the issue may be about how to improve a system that may be capable of being improved.

            • Docelder

              But that is the care the VA gives… it is for war related conditions. These would be pre-existing to private insurers and would be non-covered by them. If the vet had the coverage and say was drafted… and then got injured for life… then the private insurance has a clause to not pay for war injuries. The VA is all these folks get for these injuries. Personally, I would prefer a dismantling of the entire health system… replacing it with a basic public system that is government run with non-essential or vanity “fluff” services beyond basic care privatized. I don’t think we need insurers to administer this system at all. The insurers are one of the biggest problems with the system we now have.

              • lark

                Well I am your opponent about the way you think on health care. I am not for insurance perse. I am for normalizing the population. As difficult as it is ‘veterans’ injured during their service should also be normalized. That way we all contribute to the benefit of the other and the health care cost can be reduced for everyone. No one is talking about by-passing treatment or penalizing anyone. The question is how to bring cost down so that everyone, veterans and civilians can afford medical services. Injuries, like pre-existing conditions need to covered for everyone too.

                • Docelder

                  To reduce cost either restrict care or take out administrative cost. I say make sure the care is necessary and give it “at cost” to everybody. I am open if somebody really doesn’t have the “at cost” part. But, “at cost” wouldn’t be anywhere near $12 aspirins or $1000 beds either once the corporations get cut out. Look, I have been a republican forever… mainly because I think at heart I am for personal freedoms… which as of late I think makes me more a libertarian really. At any rate, I am no socialist, but health care is an exception to me as it is a necessity for life and for quality of life. It can be done better and for way less cost than it is now. Cut the corporations out. Make health care a service again and not a business. Let the businesses do business… somewhere outside a hospital.

                  • lark

                    To reduce cost either restrict care or take out administrative cost.

                    Both would be huge problems. Instead make it a very cut throat competitive business. Then it will be affordable.

                    • Docelder

                      I think the hybridization of this system is the other half of the problem. Take either product…electric scooter chairs or diabetes supplies… both must have a huge profit as both are heavily advertised on television and companies are doing back flips to be able to supply this to medicare people at “no cost” to them. So, competition only will lower cost if the government wasn’t paying a fixed “x” amount for these. No, to me it is a lost cause… just take over the whole mess of basic care… nationalize it and cut out hospital corporations and insurers. They can compete for “vanity care” as some will not want to go to the public clinics and public hospitals… fine, then let them compete privately for that up-sale market. Actually removing government payments from that system will help to lower that cost as well.

                    • lark

                      Actually I think you can go to Puerto Rico and find what you are asking for. Puerto Rico has Medicare and Medicaid, VA hospitals and some other Federal plans including private insurance plans for Federal employees. But also offers government run health care facilities of all sizes, large hospitals as well as neighborhood county and city clinics; free to the public or at income adjusted rates. I don’t know that much about them anymore.

                      Are Puertoricans happy with that?

                      Now that the island government is laying off 30 thousand people from the government payroll, where do you think the bulk of the lay offs will be coming? From medical facilities.

                    • Docelder

                      Are Puertoricans happy with that

                      Happy is not the test. It is not the governments role to make us happy. But, how does the care relate to our own? I don’t know that. No matter how good we think care here is… it is nowhere near the top… but no matter how good… tell that to the patient who declares bankruptcy for outstanding medical bills. Hospitals hire full time staff whose only jobs are to figure ways to legally charge more for less services. There is no way to candy coat that.

                  • lark

                    The system you want is the Puertorican system. I don’t think you will be able to stand it. There is no such thing as a appointment, anywhere. It is a first come first serve system and people wait up to 8 hours to see the doctor. My father in law, who is 90, his last appointment was for 2:00 p.m. and was seen at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. if I recall.

                    Oh and the quality. No comment. After giving birth, the mother may be release after a few days but newborns are now routinely kept up to seven days in the hospital. How would you like to give birth and return home without you baby even when the baby may be in perfect health? Why? Money. Longer stay, higher billing.

                  • lark

                    Docelder, in Puerto Rico, I am hearing, people are lining up in front of the doctor’s office entrance door at 4:00 a.m. just because they want to be seen in the morning, I guess.

                    The place is a health services nightmare of the unbelievable kind.

                    But is much better than in the Dominican Republic where a lot of people don’t make it because of a procedural acquired infection or other type of mishandling. Free but you come out dead.

            • RalphB

              Enlist you worthless assclown. Then maybe you will be able to talk about this. Until then, crawl back in your hole.

        • WhatNow

          You have NO CLUE about what vets do or do not do. When a vet gets discharged, they STOP getting medical care UNLESS they have injuries from active duty and than the VA takes care of them. JUST the injuries they sustained while on active duty. The vets DO get insurance from their employers just like everyone else EXCEPT the private insurance doesn’t cover MILITARY INJURIES

          DO you understand what I wrote? Do I need to break it down further for your miniscule brain to comprehend?

          • lark

            Great. What’s the argument then. I have no problem with that. Why should I?

            People suddenly want to kill those who even may be mistaken about a veteran issue.

            • WhatNow

              Lark, you’re confused about Vets ( no benefits upon discharge) and military retirees. Military retirees are suppose to get free medical BUT they have to pay from their military retired pay back to the government for medical care. No one is getting anything for free or abusing the military medical system.

              The military was the guinea pig for the computerized medical records. IF someone uses the medical “TOO MUCH” they get a phone call and you have to explain why.

              • lark

                I am confused, I know. But do you understand what are the benefit of a normal population? The benefits are that you can then ask for a discount. Like when you go to the store and the sign says, 25% off over the mark down prices. That’s a discount on top of a discount.

                Otherwise you get what government officials have, which are privileges.

                • WhatNow

                  Lark,

                  I’m assuming you mean Congress and appointed officials when you say government officials?

                  In the military system, you don’t ask for a discount, you either pay what they tell you or you do without. That’s it.

            • Docelder

              But, with this understanding… doesn’t that them make the whole concept of cost shifting this care to the private insurance pools wrong? It will just make already expensive insurance even more expensive and may well make these vets un-insurable… and perhaps unemployable with the new computerized medical record system.

              • WhatNow

                Ding Ding Ding – you got it Docelder. We’ll have unemployed vets roaming our streets looking for a handout.

                • Docelder

                  I guess that will be “penance” for being associated with the armed forces to begin with. Yes, this administration has disdain for the military. But, most of us here already knew that from association.

                  • WhatNow

                    Yeah, Sarah Palin (son on active duty and in charge of the Alaskan National Guard ) and Bill Clinton(spent I’m sure at least 1 hour in the Army and than being in charge of the Arkansas National Guard) have more military experience than Obama. It shows.

                • lark

                  But that’s not completely true. Computerized medical records like computerized criminal records will stigmatize everyone, children, civilians, vets, women, disabled, impaired. Records now follow people for the rest of their lives.

                  On the contrary. Someone with a military service record is privileged in many areas, including employment and housing.

                  Actually, blogging and posting in the internet also follows people and sometimes requires explanations. Teenagers are posting nude photos of themselves. Those will also in some cases cause unemployment.

                  • WhatNow

                    Lark – What priviledges do people get that have military service? Tell me so I can get these priviledges.

                    • lark

                      Every year many laws are enacted that are directly benefiting active personnel and veterans. They are passed with large majorities and anyone who oppose them are excoriated. They are justified because they are considered rewards and due-diligence for the service rendered to the country. I too consider them due-diligence and rewards and forms of appreciation for those years of service. These laws are in my opinion privileges and are to be enjoyed by them. I have no objection.

                      On the other hand, when applying for many jobs, veterans are given first consideration and many corporations hire mostly veterans.

                    • WhatNow

                      I’m not aware of any laws that give me more priviledges than others just because I served.

                      I’ve heard about veterans getting hired because they have the background and discipline that a lot of employers are looking for. The employers consider the vets trained and can start being productive from day 1. They also know that whatever the vet does at work it’ll be done at 100%, it’s training that you can only get from the military. The civilians benefit from it.

        • WMCB

          No, he is proposing this for *combat related injuries* as well.

          And you are dead wrong on this. Vets do not have “privileges”. They have the respect and care they have EARNED by risking their lives for you. They were promised lifetime medical care if they made that sacrifice, and they should get it.

    • mountainaires

      You are wrong. See my reply to you above for the reasons.

  • joker

    I have something to say here. I am dying from something I got from Viet Nam….I would do it again cause it was for my country….I still have tears when I hear the star spangled banner…I will never give up on my country and nobomba can go to hell…………..

    • Docelder

      Thank You… and my prayer is that you be with us long enough to see this country returned to the people.

    • Lyn

      Thank you

    • http://www.marklevinshow.com/ Seattle Moss

      God Bless you Soldier!!

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        you are one of AMERICA.S HERO.S!!
        thank you.

    • politicalidentitycrisis

      Thank you for your service Joker! I admire you!

      • JustMe~~

        Joker TY it is due to people like yourself we are all sat here today!

        I commend your service..

    • stillwaiting

      Thank you for your service, joker.

      I lost an old friend last fall from cancer caused by agent orange exposure while in Vietnam. He was a tunnel rat, among other things. He came down with one of the cancers that are specific to agent orange exposure but didn’t know it until way too late.

      I wish you all the best.

  • http://liberalrapture.com/ John (from Liberal Rapture)

    Obama and his stooges are beyond the pale on this one. Appalling.

  • Disgusted

    To Obama “those who the government rely on” are not nearly as important as “those who rely on the government”. It really is that simple.

  • JustMe~~

    EDITORIAL: Guns on a plane
    Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns

    Tuesday, March 17, 2009
    Comment
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    You Report
    Click-2-Listen
    Buzz up!After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

    Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

    The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/guns-on-a-plane-obama-secretly-ends-program-that-l/

  • Babs

    Why isn’t the MSM covering this more than they are? Because they’re too busy covering Obama’s butt once again with the “outrage” over the AIG bonuses. The AIG bonuses are a drop in an ocean of earmarks and “stimulus” money and bailouts for Obama supporters. Hope the Vets organize and march, I’ll contribute if they do. Obama is evil.

  • JustMe~~

    Can u dish me out of spam?

  • JustMe~~

    EDITORIAL: Guns on a plane
    Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/guns-on-a-plane-obama-secretly-ends-program-that-l/

    • Docelder

      Remember the Joyce Foundation… Obama is testing the fence. Take on the assault guns… take on pilot’s guns… just a couple careful steps onto the ice to see how “thick” it is. Oh yes, Obama has a thing for guns… or rather that middle class people can have them.

  • I’m a Linda too

    You know things are bad coming from this president when even the reality based world who SAW him is now even saying, un-F@CKIN’-believable.

    When Weary Barry goes so far that he has us in shock.

    Yo W B, why don’t you go on a looooong vacation and learn to play some air guitar.

  • rjj

    Open handed with the Mammonites, tight fisted with the vets? How Cheneyesque/Rumsfeldian.

  • daisyjane

    Folks, I think you’re missing the boat, with all due respect.

    Obama isn’t doing this to help these mean, nasty, for profit insurance companies make more money. It is designed to BANKRUPT them, which it will. They will lose money on the veterans they now insure. In the future, veterans will be unable to find private insurance companies willing to insure them, even as a part of a group policy. Then…

    VOILA !!!

    He now has a another previously privately insured class of citizens who will have to be covered by his dream of socializing our medical system. As he proved with the S-CHIP bill (another group of mostly privately insured individuals now on gov’t insurance) they made the eligibility so generous that there is a financial incentive to drop your own insurance.

    Whether you like it or not, if this man is not stopped, we are going to end up with the U.K.’s health system in this country. And that’s a pretty scary prospect, if you ask me.

    News, just from today, if you think I’m kidding:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52G6UT20090317?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

    and this:

    http://itn.co.uk/news/14197ee0899ef2f9fe05b2a84069c4e2.html

    • Greyledge Gal

      daisyjane, this exact thought occurred to me earlier today.

      Obama is just using this as a ploy to have more uninsured who will need blanket coverage and, in his mind, then support his healthcare plans.

      Another report on the news today suggested that one option the administration is kicking around would be to add the military to medicare. Oh joy – a system that is already going to go bankrupt without a major overhaul would have tons more people added to its rolls.

      Maybe Obama can tank Medicare too and gain an even greater army of folks without healthcare.

      I miss the good old USA. The USSA is a scary place. :(

    • mountainaires

      daisyjane: You clearly don’t get it.

      The government, in the form of Veteran’s Affairs has a moral obligation to provide medical care for veterans who serve their country. It is part of the benefit package veterans receive when they sign up to serve their country. When the Commander in Chief orders troops into harms way, he has a moral obligation to care for those troops after they have served him.

      Aside from that, your logic is laughable. The way you see it, the government’s coverage of veterans’ health care should be taken from the government, given to private insurance so that Obama can then GIVE IT BACK TO THE GOVERNMENT?

      What sort of logic is that? The government–TAXPAYERS–are ALREADY PAYING FOR VETERANS MEDICAL CARE. If BO turns that care over to private insurers, [as part of some grand plan in your fantasy], and veterans then have to pay for prosthetic arms and legs and surgeries, those insurance companies will pass those costs ON TO YOU anyway.

      It’s like this: You can pay me now, or pay me later. It’s heads they win; tails you lose.

      Oh, that’s a grand fantasy…

      ROFL.

  • TeakwoodKite

    Mr. Johnson, the corrosive elements within BO are coming to bear.

    No longer does one need to “stay tuned”.
    No longer will BO be even relevent to the sad betrayal of this nations honor, it’s blood and tresure.

    You think the Calvinist in the military are pleased right about now? Not me.

  • http://AmericasFavoriteTerrorist.com Gerard McNedich

    “It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

    —

    Boggles. The. Mind.

    WTF….

    When will the American people throw this clown out of office?

    oh. my. god.

  • Greyledge Gal

    Everything about Obama makes me queasy but this idea makes me projectile vomit.

    My father joined up with all his hometown “old buddies” as he affectionately called them in Company E, 29th Division in 1941. After the bombs were dropped on Pearl Harbor, he transferred out to go to Officer Candidate School and eventually ended up in the Pacific Theater.

    Little could he have known that most of his “old buddies” would end up storming the Normandy beaches on D-Day. Some fell in battle that day. Others carried bullets and/or schrapnel in their bodies for the rest of their lives.

    Later in life, Dad gave many hours of free legal service representing friends who routinely had to go to VA hearings to fight downgrades of their disability ratings. I recall one guy who had carried a bullet inches from his heart for 45 years (inoperable at the time) being downgraded to a 10% disabiilty. The government has tried for years to get out of paying for our Vets. They have closed down VA hospital after hospital and thought they were home-free as “the greatest generation” died off.

    Now we have another “greatest generation” who has fought for us. It makes no difference whether one agrees or disagrees with the war. These guys served for us and died and were wounded for us — for our country.

    We owe them the utmost debt and it is a tiny compensation to pay their medical care.

    This country better get its priorities straight and pdq! We cannot let Obama and his cronies continue to throw money down a rabbit hole for pie in the sky ideas while throwing our soldiers under the ObamaBus from Hell.

    • kenoshamarge

      Beautifully and honestly said. We owe them more than we can ever repay. Medical care should never even have to be questioned. We sent them, we owe them the very best medical care available without having to fight a buracracy to get it. Adding having to fight with Insurance companies to the hell they endure is despicable.

      No one has to approve of or believe in a war to respect the warriors. Some of them don’t believe in the wars they are asked to fight either. But they do their duty. Too many of them pay a heavy price. That any American would even suggest less than the absolute best medical care for them is repulsive. That a President, their CIC would do so is almost beyond belief.

  • Katmoon

    Source: http://www.legion.org/homepage.php

    From The American Legion Website

    “Don’t Bill Our Heros”

    http://www.legion.org/homepage.php

    Actual Letter Sent From Several Veterans Organizations:

    February 27, 2009

    The Honorable Barack Obama
    President of the United States
    The White House
    Washington, DC

    Dear President Obama:

    On behalf of the millions of veterans represented by the veterans and military service organizations that have joined our effort, we write to express our serious concerns about a policy proposal that has been discussed this week in conjunction with the release of your first budget. We have been told that your Administration may be considering a proposal that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system to bill a veteran’s insurance for the care and treatment of a disability or injury that was determined to have been incurred in or the result of the veteran’s honorable military service to our country. Such a consideration is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government’s moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms.
    As you know, the mission of the VA is “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” Similarly, the VA emphasizes that it will “provide veterans the world-class benefits and services they have earned—and to do so by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship.” Unfortunately, the proposal to bill veterans for the care of their service-connected disabilities ignores the most important aspect of this vision—that their care has been earned.
    This proposal ignores the solemn obligation that this country has to care for those men and women who have served this country with distinction and were left with the wounds and scars of that service. The blood spilled in service for this nation is the premium that service-connected veterans have paid for their earned care.
    We understand and accept that the VA bills third-party insurers of veterans who are treated for non-service connected conditions. However, we cannot and would not agree to any proposal that would expand this concept any further. There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable. If in fact your Administration is considering this proposal, we would like to meet with President Barack Obama you, as well as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
    Director Peter Orzag, to discuss this further.
    We strongly urge your Administration to drop consideration of any proposal to bill third-party insurers for veterans’ service-connected conditions. We appreciate your continued emphasis on caring for the men and women who have served in defense of this country, as evidenced by the significant increase provided for VA programs in your FY 2010 budget submission. You can reaffirm this commitment by not allowing such a proposal to be carried forward. We stand ready to work with you, Secretary Shinseki, OMB Director Orzag, and others in your Administration to ensure that appropriate care and benefits are provided to those who have earned and deserve it.

    The Letter was Sent BY:

    The American Legion
    1608 K Street, N.W.
    Washington, DC 20006
    (202) 861-2700
    http://www.legion.org

    AMVETS (American Veterans)
    4647 Forbes Blvd.
    Lanham, MD 20706
    (301) 459-9600
    http://www.amvets.org

    Blinded Veterans Association
    477 H Street, N.W.
    Washington, DC 20001
    (202) 371-8880
    http://www.bva.org

    Disabled American Veterans
    807 Maine Avenue, S.W.
    Washington, DC 20024
    (202) 554-3501
    http://www.dav.org

    Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
    308 Massachusetts Ave NE
    Washington, DC 20002
    (202) 544-7692
    http://www.iava.org

    Jewish War Veterans of the USA
    1811 R Street, N.W.
    Washington, DC 20009
    (202) 265-6280
    http://www.jwv.org

    Military Officers Association of America
    201 N. Washington Street
    Alexandria, VA 22314
    (703) 549-2311
    http://www.moaa.org

    Military Order of the Purple Heart
    of the U.S.A., Inc.
    5413-B Backlick Road
    Springfield, VA 22151
    (703) 642-5360
    http://www.purpleheart.org

    Paralyzed Veterans of America
    801 18th Street, N.W.
    Washington, DC 20006
    (202) 872-1300
    http://www.pva.org

    Veterans of Foreign Wars
    of the United States
    200 Maryland Avenue, N.E.
    Washington, DC 20002
    (202) 543-2239
    http://www.vfw.org

    Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc.
    8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400
    Silver Spring, MD 20910
    (301) 585-4000
    http://www.vva.org

    THe Letter was signed by:

    Sincerely,
    David K. Rehbein John C. Hapner
    National Commander National Commander
    The American Legion AMVETS

    Thomas Miller Raymond E. Dempsey
    Executive Director National Commander
    Blinded Veterans Association Disabled American Veterans

    Paul Reickhoff Ira Novoselsky
    Executive Director National Commander
    Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Jewish War Veterans of the USA

    VADM Norb Ryan, USN (Ret.) John P. Leonard
    President National Adjutant
    Military Officers Association of America

    John P. Leonard
    President National Adjutant Military Officers
    Association of America Military Order of the Purple Heart of theUSA,Inc.

    Randy L. Pleva, Sr. Glen M. Gardner, Jr.
    National President Commander-in-Chief

    Paralyzed Veterans of America Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

    John Rowan
    National President
    Vietnam Veterans of America

    Cc: Eric Shinseki, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs
    Peter Orzag, Director, Office of Management and Budget
    Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader
    Honorable Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader
    Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
    Honorable Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader
    Honorable John Boehner, House Minority Leader
    Honorable Daniel Akaka, Chairman, Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
    Honorable Richard Burr, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
    Honorable Bob Filner, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
    Honorable Steve Buyer, Ranking Member, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

    pdf located at: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/03/04/veterans.insurance.letter.pdf

  • Katmoon

    I just posted the actual letter, with contacts for all the organizations involved, and the link to the pdf, and I believe it is in the rinse cycle of the site filter, it is long but a good resource.

  • Katmoon
    • mountainaires

      Thanks much, Katmoon!

  • candymarl

    Harry Truman must be spinning in his grave. He was a WWI vet and saw the effects of the broken promises of the government to those veterans. That’s why he pushed so hard for military justice reform and to establish the Veterans Administration.

    Obama just authorized sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. He owes them and other vets injured on active duty.

    To those that say this will save money I have to say this: I agree with those who ask “what have we become”?

    Obama’s been compared to JFK. JFK was a vet. Do you think he’d agree with this? I doubt it.

    We can give billions to corporate America, spend trillions on pork-laden bills, provide a great medical care plan to Congress. But veterans? They cost too much.

    I feel sick.

  • tarma

    Besides all of the ethical issues, this will be an administrative nightmare. Each insurance company has a range of “products” that offer different deductibles, co-pays, and contracted rates of reimbursement. One insurance company or plan may remimburse a provider $60 for a service while another may pay $125 for that same service; a vet may have no deductible or a deductible of $5000; the co-pay might be $10 or it might be $45. Like private hospitals, the VA will then have to adapt it’s business practices to accomodate a fee structure that is continually in flux and is determined by a third party.

    What about insurance companies, like HIP, that only offer services at designated centers? Will vets be required to visit their HIP center before they can go to the VA?

    Will the private insurer be the primary or secondary carrier? What if a VET has private insurance and then secondary coverage through a spouse? S/he will then have to plow through two sets of claims prior to accessing VA benefits.

    IMHO, we should be seeking to transform our entire health care system into something that more closely resembles the VA. While the VA is chronically underfunded, the quality and accessibility of services is consistently good and, like Medicare, more money goes directly to pay for actual services rendered in contrast with administrative costs and profit.

    • Docelder

      transform our entire health care system into something that more closely resembles the VA

      Yes, everybody needs health care… and everybody is paying for it whether we get is given to us or not. Just level the field and let everybody have health care. Our present system best serves corporations and insurers… not patients. Like I said above… hospitals hire people and pay them a lot of money to figure out creative new ways to bill more money for less service. Try glossing that over… it can’t be done.

  • Retired

    We used to say. “Thank you for your service.”

    Now we say: “Fuck you for your service.”

    No, I did not write f***. This act is far more obscene than the pinted word will ever be. Delete this if you must.