Obama plans to charge wounded military members for health care.
Quote:
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 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."
About time. Those vets should be buyin' their own damn fries. Insurance-wise I mean.
You're kidding right? These are people who are willing to give up their lives for their country, and their employer can't provide them with decent health care?
You're kidding right? These are people who are willing to give up their lives for their country, and their employer can't provide them with decent health care?
If there's one group of people in the US who have profited massively over the last 6 or 7 years, and haven't suffered the same pitfalls and losses as the rest of us as a result of the recession, it's war vets. Plus, most of them just sit around all day claiming to be "injured" all the while milking the taxpayers dry. They're so lazy. You tellin' me they can't strap a machine gun to your wheelchair? Get back in there already!
Yeah, I'm joking. It's just hard to tell because teh jokes aren't funny.
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For some reason the American Government has never done even a passable job of taking care of their veterans. But this move by Obama smacks of both desperation and ruthlessness. If they need the money this bad then they should clawback on AIG for giving out gross bonuses worth several hundred million.
I kind of chuckled as our own Prime Minister got totally lambasted during the last election when he pointed out that there were good buying opportunities on the stock market due to the recession, yet Obama made the same speech a few days ago and he was saluted as being heroic and confident.
I always said at the start that there's no way that Obama is going to live up to his own hype. But he does make a pretty sound bite.
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If there's one group of people in the US who have profited massively over the last 6 or 7 years, and haven't suffered the same pitfalls and losses as the rest of us as a result of the recession, it's war vets. Plus, most of them just sit around all day claiming to be "injured" all the while milking the taxpayers dry. They're so lazy. You tellin' me they can't strap a machine gun to your wheelchair? Get back in there already!
Yeah, I'm joking. It's just hard to tell because teh jokes aren't funny.
At least you didn't use green text. That would have made it worse.
Either way, Obama is VERY desperate here. I hope this doesn't fly over well with all his supporters.
If he won't provide health care to the US Military, it makes me wonder how hard it will be to make a claim with his Medicare program for the rest of the Country.
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Huh, this is defiantly one policy that shouldn't even be considered. Gonna have to against Obama on this one. Those are the one people that should get free health care. I mean for god sake they risked their life for the country.
Yeah it sure looks stupid when Obama creates trillions to hand out to the banks and corrupt automakers of the world but when it comes to taking care of your fallen soldiers, hand them a bill. Chump Obama.
This is a bit of a misrepresentation of what is being proposed. Veterans will continue to receive the same care they do now and will not be charged by the VA for their service. If a veteran has a private insurance policy, the private insurer will become the primary insurer for all health care, and so the insurer will have to pay for these costs now. If the individual has no health care, then the VA continues to cover costs as is now. Veterans will not be charged any money.
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a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of 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.
There's nothing in there that says that the veterans are paying anything. This is about the employers (and insurers) of reserve servicepeople who drop their employees' insurance the minute they get called up for active duty. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.
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Ah, I didn't read it so I took it for granted that they had to pay for the insurance. But if it's a case that the insurance HAVE to pay, then I'm more on favour with this.
The guy from the American Legion thinks its a bad idea.
Why?
Because: 1) there's still a deductible to pay by the patient, 2) their insurance has yearly limits on coverage with the patient covering anything above and 3) this will certainly raise the yearly cost rates of private insurance for current veterans, and anybody who joins the military in the future.
I'm not totally surprised obama is going after them though. I'm sure private insurance companies have been shunting alot of stuff they should have been covering, over to the veterans affairs side for years. These insurance companies literally have armies of people hired solely to haggle over the price/who covers it/what is covered. I'm sure the government can't compete with this sort of garbage, and this one very simplified approach to level the field.
Last edited by NuclearFart; 03-16-2009 at 10:37 PM.
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There's nothing in there that says that the veterans are paying anything. This is about the employers (and insurers) of reserve servicepeople who drop their employees' insurance the minute they get called up for active duty. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.