The Virginian-Pilot
©
WASHINGTON
Veterans groups flexed their political muscle Tuesday, warning the Obama administration to back away from a plan to shift some of the cost of caring for vets with disabilities from the federal government to private insurers.
As the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other groups voiced their disapproval of the proposal, which has not been formally introduced, some lawmakers also denounced it.
"We do not give our veterans health care - they earn it," Rep. Glenn Nye, a Norfolk Democrat, wrote in a letter to the president being circulated for signatures from his House colleagues. It would be unacceptable, the letter says, "to ask our veterans to pay for the treatment of injuries received while serving our nation."
Nye and other lawmakers, including Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a Vietnam War veteran, asserted that care of veterans disabled during their service is the responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Shifting the burden to private insurers, Nye wrote, "could lead to increased health care premiums" for veterans' families "and could potentially discourage employers from hiring veterans."
More than two dozen House members had signed Nye's letter by Tuesday night. In an interview, the congressman called the administration proposal "an idea that's been floating around" but never an Obama policy.
Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, stressed Tuesday that "no decisions have been made."
The president's draft budget includes "an 11 percent increase in discretionary spending in the VA budget, a historic jump, because this president takes very seriously the needs of our wounded warriors," he told reporters.
At a meeting with veteran leaders Monday, "the president told us that he would not go through with the third-party billing proposal if he felt the veterans community didn't approve of it," Glen M. Gardner Jr., VFW president, said in a statement.
Aides to Obama are expected to meet with representatives of the veterans groups again today.
W hatever the administration decides, the plan was pronounced dead on arrival on Capitol Hill by Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"Under my chairmanship," he said, "the Veterans Affairs Committee will not advance any such legislation."
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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Shrill Ronnie
I'm not defending the Obama half-formulated, never-offered, never-presented plan. I thought it was dumb. I find shrill the rantings of the rightwing koolaid chuggers contingent who throw around shrill "Dems disdain the military" tripe that you appear to be fond of.
If there's any "disdain for the military" its the Bush admin...
- starting an unnecessary war on cooked, cherrypicked, & lied-about intel where 4259 troops have died, 45k wounded
- unending stoploss policies for troops
- providing inadequate body armor
- outting CIA agents working on Iranian-targeted anti-nuke work because their husband accurately reported that the admin was lying
- the disgraceful conditions at the Walter Reed, the key facility for treating our wounded vets
- the reaming of General Shinseki by admin POLITICIANS
Comprende?
RE: TR
Wrong again, did you not see the word calm in parenthesis??? You are clearly in the tank and drinking kool aid. The military is more the Virginia. Hey got a question for you....if the plan was sooooo great why did the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, say the president's plan would have increased premiums, made insurance unaffordable for veterans and imposed a massive hardship on military families. It could have also prevented small businesses from hiring veterans who have large health care needs. LOL Low and behold the plan was just junked! Thank God!!
Ronnie, please relax
"If you know the left you know the level of disdain for the military is clear and present."
It was a lead-filled trial balloon. The Obama admin (the same admin that you have studied in great detail) has an 11% INCREASE in discretionary spending in the VA budget. They are looking for ways to cover the budget INCREASE for the VA.
Oh, please....
This is nothing but a dead subject that Rubber Stamp Nye wanted to pipe up about so that he could say he "disagreed" with his democratic socialist boss for once. Try something else like actually voting against your croney buddies on a real vote.
one more thing
This is a big enough story not to get buried like its being. Shouldn't this be local news? The military is a big part of HR's. Come on Pilot!
hmmmmmm???
(calm) Not surprising at all! I knew B.O past(far left/radical) and I have listen to and studied every word he and his associates have spoken or written. If you know the left you know the level of disdain for the military is clear and present. There is more to this than meets the eye. This is just one of many examples.
Third Party Insurers?
To be eligible for VA medical care, veterans must have a service connected disability which would make them ineligible for most private insurance due to a pre-existing condition, or have a low income which would make them unable to pay for the private insurance. So, for many, its VA medical care or none at all.