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WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama on Wednesday abandoned a proposal to bill veterans’ private insurance companies for the treatment at VA hospitals of combat-related injuries amid an outcry over the measure from veterans’ service organizations and members of Congress.
The proposal would have authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs to charge private companies for treating injuries and other medical conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, that are related to military service. The measure was intended to save the VA about $530 million a year, but the administration’s pursuit of third-party billing sparked resistance from leaders of veterans groups, who met earlier this week with Obama.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement Wednesday that the president has “instructed that its consideration be dropped.”
“In considering the third-party billing issue, the administration was seeking to maximize the resources available for veterans,” Gibbs said. “However, the president listened to concerns raised” by veterans’ groups ’ leaders that “this might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families’ ability to access health care.”
Veterans groups said the policy would jeopardize the insurance benefits of veterans and their families and would be an abrogation of the government’s responsibility to care for those wounded in war.
“We’re very pleased that the White House and the president have made the right decision,” said Rep. Glenn Nye, a 1st District Democrat who had organized opposition to the proposal . The administration announcement came shortly after Nye’s office delivered a letter signed by 68 House members from both parties that urged Obama to reaffirm that treatment of service-disabled veterans will remain the responsibility of the VA.
A strong tide of Obama supporters helped propel Nye, a political novice who represents Norfolk, to victory in last fall’s election. He said he’s been pleased to support the new president on a variety of issues and was encouraged by Obama’s commitment to increase the VA’s budget dramatically.
But when the insurance proposal surfaced “and it became clear it wasn’t going to resolve itself,” he had no hesitancy about rounding up other lawmakers to register their disapproval, Nye said.
This story was compiled from reports by The Washington Post and Pilot writer Dale Eisman.
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Con't
Brush off your Constitution and you’ll find that universal government-supplied medical care, redistribution of wealth and other items on the liberal agenda are nowhere in it. National defense, however, is. Requiring military members to pay for their health care would undermine this most basic federal obligation. Very few would enlist – would you support a draft? Frankly, it’s unconscionable to me that a soldier who goes off to war, loses a limb defending your rights and you think it’s perfectly reasonable he be required to pay for his medical care. People so unappreciative scream for the need for universal service, because they just don’t get it. They make no sacrifices for the country, constantly keep their hands out, and show unbelievable envy at those who do sacrifice. "Ask not what your country can do for your country" has become "What have you done for me lately?"
markk33831
I didn’t dodge the subject at all. People in the military have to work to earn their health care benefits. Under most liberals’ vision of health care, the government would pick up the tab for everybody whether they work for it or not. Big difference. People like you bemoan things like the military’s retirement and health care benefits, saying they aren’t “fair,” but they are available to you, too. Enlist. We could use the help. You talk about other dangerous jobs – if the health benefits aren’t adequate and you take the job, that’s your fault. You know the situation going in. Yes, service members chose to go it, but requiring them to pay for their health care and recruiting will go down the toilet. I doubt I would have joined and I KNOW I wouldn’t have stuck around if I had to pay for my medical care.
Mark K.
Your logic dodges the question though . . . why is this struggling person who has no health care not considering the military as an option? Recruiting is still down. Everyone wants someone else's son, daughter (or self) to go to Iraq or Afghanistan. These folks are heroes (and the ones who are willing to go, but don't get sent, have some degree of heroic nature not available in many typical human beings today). I believe in universal service but, that aside, I definitely believe the military earn their perks and the belly achers/naysayers have tunnel vision when it comes to the fact that they, too, could have volunteered (and still can!).
My church insures its staff (about 50 people, since we have a school) with a better medical policy than the civilian plan we have in our family. By your logic, I should withhold my offering on Sunday out of jealousy that someone else has a better plan than me.
Dodging the subject - continued.
The people paying the tax dollars for the free medical care our military personnel get, have to deal with the rising cost of medical care. Many of them, paying their tax dollars for the care of military personnel, can't afford medical insurance themselves. If they get sick or ill, they can't afford to go to see the doctor. Getting treatment can and does bankrupt American citizens. The system, that generates the tax dollars to pay for military personnel to get the care they do, is hollow this way: the taxpayers paying for medical care for the military can't afford health care themselves. If there ever was an example of how broken the American medical care system is, this is it.
It still dodges the subject
Military personnel have a system of socialized medicine, plain and simple. The people that went into the military weren't forced to go in: they made a choice to join and serve. With that choice came the chance that they would get injured or possibly killed, and they knew it or at least they should. I don't have a problem with them getting free care through their 'company' - the U.S. government. What I do have a problem with is them complaining and saying no aspect of that care should be privatized even when the U.S. government is going to still be paying for that aspect. Many of these same said people complain about the government getting involved in anything and scream 'socialism' but yet they demand their socialized medical care.
Now take this comparison: here in America we have more people injured or killed working in dangerous jobs such as logging, fishing, mining, and emergency services. Those people made a choice too of what careers they took on. But those people can and do go bankrupt paying for their medical care or they are refused care by their insurance companies. The irony of this is, the people earning the tax dollars to PAY for all that free medical care ca
he must have been lagging in his approval rating from vets
so he "gave us back" something he never had any intention of taking away in the 1st place. isn't politics great??
mark33831
Socialized medicine means everybody gets free medical care whether they do anything to earn it or not. Military members and veterans don't get free medical care from the government, they have a medical plan from their employer. If you want military medicine (and, frankly, I doubt you'd put up with what I have for the last 15+ years in the military medical system) enlist and EARN it. Most American wouldn't tolerate never seeing the same doctor twice in a row, waiting six months for surgery, rampant misdiagnosis (here's some Motrin and don't run for a week, I'm sure it'll get better), botched medical procedures with no ability to sue for malpractice, etc.
Go to war for your country, get wounded in combat, pay for your medical care when you get back. Exactly how does this sound remotely fair to you?
And George K, President Obama didn't "accept" the tasks he has. He demanded them and now he has to live with the results.
mark33831
I'm guessing you typed your post with both hands and all 10 fingers. Probably got out of bed this morning on your own 2 legs and managed your daily routine without assistance. Thousands of Vets earned their right to free health care by losing the abilities you enjoy every day.
What's the big deal?
The average veteran isn't even authorized to use the VETERANS hospitals. They are expected to rely on private insurance. That's one reason there is a mad rush at retirement time to get any possible ailment certified as 'service connected'. Well, that and the 10 point veteran preference for government jobs. It becomes just another scam. For those retirees who don't make the cut, there's always Tricare. Except that plan doesn't want to be first pay either. Congress outlawed employer sponsored supplemental insurance in an effort to force retirees off Tricare into private insurance. It's become an expensive game of entitlement. Should you be included just because you are a vet, or a retiree, or got shot up in some dirty street in Iraq? This latest Obama saga is another clue to the government's answer. In short, government health care is means tested. Rationed. Yet every time universal health care is mentioned, the politicians proudly point at how well the VA system works. Imagine how well it would work if even our combat injured were required to use private insurance first.
Veterans for socialized medicine
So American veterans get to keep their system of socialized medicine while the rest of the country has to put up with the high cost of privatized medicine. Is there irony in this or what?