I believe you have several “Reverse in directions” here. One the opposite of a universal health care, the opposite of a very long standing mentality of taking care of injured soldiers and the opposite of the idea of “Workers comp”.
Soldiers work for the government and if they get injured on the job the company they are working for at the time should pay for it. In the private sector we have insurance to cover this, the government historically was “Self insured”. It would appear this plan shirks that duty and puts the burden on the “Employee” as well as on “Private” insurance.
OTOH it does make a move towards balancing the budget. Maybe we can just end food stamps, public housing and social security while were at it and we’d be well on the way to a balanced budget
There are medical benefits for life for career military and their spouses with some hitches and exceptions here and there.
For veterans who do not meet the time requirements for such career retirement benefits, the VA offers medical care for service related medical problems. For totally disabled vets, the care may be universal under the notion that all care is then service related.
As I understand this proposal, a veteran who lost a leg in combat is treated and discharged. Five years later he develops a problem related to his prosthesis and needs additional surgery. Currently, the VA pays for that care. Under the Obama proposal, the veteran must run this through his health insurance before the VA will pay or the VA will seek reimbursement from his health plan for such care or some such nonsense.
"So how does it work now? Do veterans have health care for life? "
Depends. If you do 20 years and “retire” you have access to certain medical benefits, like active duty clinics and hospitals. If you get out before 20, you don’t have the same access.
Everyone, when they leave the service, gets a medical exam, and any service related medical issues are identified. Those issues or subsequent issues that can be traced back to service related items usually can be treated at VA hospitals at govt’s expense. Depending on the issues, those medical problems may also qualifiy a person for some percentage of disability benefits.
Do they go on medicare when they qualify or does the VA take care of them forever?
My grandfather lives in a Veterans home and it seems like they cover everything. I know he can’t have much income and I believe he has to sign over his social security and any other benefits.
"Do they go on medicare when they qualify or does the VA take care of them forever?
My grandfather lives in a Veterans home and it seems like they cover everything. I know he can’t have much income and I believe he has to sign over his social security and any other benefits. "
Off the top of my head, I’m not sure. Again, I think it depends somewhat on if they made it to retirement, when they got out (since the retirement plan/benefits has changed at times over the years), and what medical issues we’re talking about. I think if you qualify for a veterans home, they cover more things than a normal vet living at his own home with medical issues, but they probably make you sign over your SS check to help pay for it, whereas the guy at home has to cash his check and then pay his own bills.
Not sure how much of the Armed Forces Retirement Homes (AFRH) is funded by the government, but every military member on active duty pays .50 cents monthly for those retirement homes. Also, the member that is living in the home has to pay a certain amount as well.
We have what they call tri care or life. Its meant for the retired after 20 years of service. Not sure how the medicare kicks in or when. I think that ends up being a co-pay thing, where tricare picks up the initial cost and medicare picks of the rest, that is if your age elegible for medicare.
Certain retirees, based on percentage level of disability can opt to have the VA hospital act as their primary care center. No cost to that retiree. It is not for family members. If the retiree does not qualify for that service thru the VA they use their TriCare which has an annual deductible cost. Tricare covers 80%. The member is afforded the option to find a primary care doc in the area they live in. Retirees can get all RX’s filled at military hospitals if their doc is registered with that specific military pharmacy.
The word I am getting via military channels is what another poster posted…20 y/o marine with service connected disability who is treated at a VA hospital will then have their civilian medical insurer billed via the VA, if the member has no med insurance, then no collection and member is still treated.
What this does is a pose a serious threat to employment for wounded warriors. Employers that provide medical will have serious doubts about hiring this wounded warrior if they have to foot the bill for a service connected disability.
Is “Lead in chest cavity” a “Pre existing condition”? That would REALLY piss a guy off.
Government “Sorry you have to go to your private insurer for that, we no longer cover war injuries”
Private insurer “Sorry we don’t cover that, that would be a pre existing condition and since you did not inform us of the condition when the policy was written we are also forced to drop you”
"What this does is a pose a serious threat to employment for wounded warriors. Employers that provide medical will have serious doubts about hiring this wounded warrior if they have to foot the bill for a service connected disability. "
I agree. IF (and it’s a big IF imo) this policy is adopted, the biggest immediate impact is to working age servicemembers who get out at some point before retirement and have a service related medical issue that would then have to be covered by their own or their employer’s insurance policy.
Again I’ll use the example of “Workman’s comp”. I know there is no way if a person was injured here that I could just say “Have your insurance company pay for it”. My workers comp insurance would cover it and if it was a “Long term” disability, lost finger etc., there would be some sort of settlement to cover all future expenses.
I have can’t even imagine someone in power considering this other than a “Brainstorming” idea and it’s inconceivable to me that it would ever pass.
Just the thought of this idea being kicked around is scary, regarless if it is ever put into action or not, especially for me, a 28 year active duty sailor that will be retiring soon and looking for a job in the private sector.
I assume this windfall of money will be short lived because of the “national health care” for all will soon be enacted. The gov will pay either way…But hey, might as well stick it to somebody for the short term, god forbid we try to save money by cutting health care to illegal aliens or anchor babies or peeps that have done NOTHING for the US besides spit out babies and collect welfare like our infamous OCTOMOM!
Have to collect that AIG bonus money some where! Might as well be on the back of the US Service Member!
All the article says is that the measure is on the table for consideration. Also, this seems like it would only apply to troops once they are “veterans,” i.e. no longer in the service.
Not a good idea, but let’s hold off on the “sky is falling” sentiment until someone actually makes it policy.
I agree. I’ve seen Dems and Reps float this sort of idea in the past. Look at the veteran’s riots of the early 20th century, when the government didn’t seem to be as supportive of veterans as many of them believed they should be. I’m eligible for Tricare myself, as a retiree, but I’ve never signed up for it because I’ve always had private or company-sponsored insurance. VAMCs have a come a looooong way in terms of quality of care these days, but any government-run health care network is just a huge, bleeding, hemorrhage in terms of money spent to actual services delivered.
Thank goodness for that, but really, should it have ever been “On the table”? Sure brainstorm, but you don’t put things like “Hey maybe we should execute all the sick kids” “On the table”.
As predicted by many, Pres Obama has now said that this idea is off the table. The sky hasn’t fallen just yet.
March 19, 2009Knight Ridder
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Wednesday abandoned a controversial plan to make veterans use private insurance to pay for costly treatments of combat-related injuries.
Stung by the angry reaction to the proposal, the administration made the decision after a meeting between officials from 11 veterans advocacy groups and top White House officials.
“Our voices were heard,” said Norbert Ryan, the president of the Military Officers Association of America. “They made the right decision on this.”
The plan would have reversed a longstanding policy of providing government health coverage for all service-related injuries. Few details emerged beyond its reported savings of $540 million, however.
Most veterans use private insurance only for health problems unrelated to their military service.
“This is a moral issue for us,” said Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
What was most puzzling to experienced activists and others was that the White House floated the idea in the first place. Several said the administration came off as politically tone deaf to the importance of the issue.
“They’ve grabbed hold of the ‘third rail’ and they shouldn’t have done this,” said Rick Weidman, director of government relations for Vietnam Veterans of America. “If they had asked anyone informally, we would have informed them, ‘Are you kidding? All hell will break loose.’”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the intent of the plan had been to “maximize the resources available for veterans.”
He said, however, that President Barack Obama, who met with the veterans groups on Monday in their first trip to the White House, recognized their concern that it could “under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families’ ability to access health care.”
A meeting on Wednesday afternoon with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel broke up without a resolution. By the time many of the same veterans advocates had reached Capitol Hill for a previously scheduled meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, the drama was over.
Pelosi said the president, en route to California, had just called her from Air Force One to say the plan was off the table.
“We are pleased that he has heard our concerns and taken them to heart,” said David Gorman, executive director of the Disabled American Veterans.
Veterans groups were quick to praise the president for his proposed budget, which they said would provide more money for veterans’ health care than ever before. They said they looked forward to working with the White House in the future.
The groups scored a second victory on Wednesday with the Pentagon’s decision to phase out involuntary enlistments, also known as “stop loss.” Rieckhoff called it a “huge day for veterans.”
The 11 veterans groups had written Obama last month to complain about the insurance plan.
He invited them to the White House on Monday, where they met for an hour. Obama called for further discussions but didn’t drop the idea.
Outrage quickly grew in the veterans community and beyond. Media superstars across the spectrum from Jon Stewart to Rush Limbaugh expressed disbelief at the idea, and it resonated across political and cultural borders.
In a tide of phone calls and e-mails, angry veterans and family members wondered if the administration’s next move might be to start charging military families for funerals.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans said making veterans pay for treatment of their war wounds and other service-related health problems violated the nation’s “sacred duty.”
Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, the chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, pledged not to advance legislation to do what the White House had proposed.
In a letter to Eric Shinseki, the secretary of veterans affairs, Republican Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri said, “This idea is irrational and callous to the almost 63,000 veterans living in my district and the more than half a million living in Missouri.”
Across the country, 25 million Americans have served in the military.
Blunt called it “clearly an affront to the VA’s mission statement reflecting President Lincoln’s promise ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.’”
The VA has had little to say about the plan. The only comments came a week ago when, under questioning before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Shinseki said that the plan was “a consideration.”
Apparently no longer.
No the sky hasn’t fallen. But it says quite a bit about a person who would even put such an idea on the table for more than about 13 seconds.
This is what we can expect from Obama and his merry men on the good ship lollipop.He is disconnected from real issues and futher more I feel he has never really walked in anyone’s shoes,and that goes for most in the D.C. beltway.Very glad he kept his ladle out of this.
No the sky hasn’t fallen. But it says quite a bit about a person who would even put such an idea on the table for more than about 13 seconds.
I really think it says a lot about Obama’s inability think things through and to anticipate foreseeable consequences for himself, or at best, his inability to provide cogent guidance to his staff. Take your pick.
