| Mar 13 @ 10:50 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance
Tue March 10, 2009
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- 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.
But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.
Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.
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.
Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.
Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.
A second senator, North Carolina Republican Richard Burr, said he agreed that the idea should not go forward.
"I think you will give that up" as a revenue stream if it is included in this April's budget, Burr said.
Murray said she'd already discussed her concerns with the secretary the previous week.
"I believe that veterans with service-connected injuries have already paid by putting their lives on the line," Murray said in her remarks. "I don't think we should nickel and dime them for their care."
Eleven of the most prominent veterans organizations have been lobbying Congress to oppose the idea. In the letter sent last week to the president, the groups warned that the idea "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."
The groups included The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
At the time, a White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the option was being considered. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/10/veterans.health.insurance/index.html
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| Mar 13 @ 10:58 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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This is NOT what was planned when Obama selected Shinseki to his Administration!
President's 2010 Budged Request Strongly Supports VA Programs; Funding Plan Improves Access, Modernizes Technology
Feb. 26th
President Obama’s first proposed budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expands eligibility for health care to an additional 500,000 deserving Veterans over the next five years, meets the need for continued growth in programs for the combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides the resources to deliver quality health care for the Nation’s 5.5 million Veteran patients.
The 2010 budget request is a significant step toward realizing a vision shared by the President and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.
“Our success must encompass cost-effectiveness,” Shinseki said. “We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we will include appropriate metrics to accurately gauge the quality of our care and the effectiveness of our management processes.”
If accepted by Congress, the President’s budget proposal would increase VA’s budget from $97.7 billion this fiscal year to $112.8 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2009. This is in addition to the $1.4 billion provided for VA projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The 2010 budget represents the first step toward increasing discretionary funding for VA efforts by $25 billion over the next five years. The gradual expansion in health care enrollment that this would support will open hospital and clinic doors to more than 500,000 Veterans by 2013 who have been regrettably excluded from VA medical care benefits since 2003. The 2010 budget request provides the resources to achieve this level of service while maintaining high quality and timely care for lower-income and service-disabled Veterans who currently rely on VA medical care.
The new budget provides greater benefits for Veterans who are medically retired from active duty, allowing for the first time all military retirees to keep their full VA disability compensation along with their retired pay. The President’s budget request also provides the resources for effective implementation of the post-9/11 GI Bill — providing unprecedented levels of educational support to the men and women who have served our country through active military duty.
The new budget will support additional specialty care in such areas as prosthetics, vision and spinal cord injury, aging, and women’s health. New VA Centers of Excellence will focus on improving these critical services.
The proposed fiscal year 2010 budget also addresses the tragic fact of homelessness among Veterans. It expands VA’s current services through a collaborative pilot program with non-profit organizations that is aimed at maintaining stable housing for vulnerable Veterans at risk of homelessness, while providing them with supportive services to help them get back on their feet through job training, preventive care, and other critical services.
Finally, the President’s budget request provides the necessary investments to carry VA services to rural communities that are too often unable to access VA care. The President’s budget expands VA mental health screening and treatment with a focus on reaching Veterans in rural areas in part through an increase in Vet Centers and mobile health clinics. New outreach funding will help rural Veterans and their families stay informed of these resources and encourage them to pursue needed care. http://ericshinseki.org/2009/02/presidents-2010-budget-request-strongly-supports-va-programs-funding-plan-improves-access-modernizes-technology/
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| Mar 14 @ 1:40 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 13,662
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just a few questions here Angel...
if a veteran pays for private health insurance.. does he get a discount on his premiums because he is a veteran and as such is expected to go to the VA for his health care for war related injuries?
.. while utilizing the insurance for everything else?
or does he pay the same amount as non-veterans do for the same coverage ???
Obama Plan In The Making;
is it really Obama's plan?? or is it... only a question that needs to be addressed??
"Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan" to make veterans pay
to be reimbursed by veterans private heath insurance if they carry their own heath insurance ..that they are paying for...  with money that they get from???
for treatment of service-related injuries .....
as ...
Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.
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| Mar 14 @ 1:53 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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Lots of questions GH, and the USDVA has the answers 
http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/costs/ohi.asp
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| Mar 14 @ 2:35 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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onoudn
Posts: 6,354
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Until it's officially annouced it's not an Obama plan. Obama has repeatedly said that he will listen to all options. Someone must have brought it up, more than likely a Republican so he could bash Obama about it later, and now peeeps are jumping to conclusions.
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| Mar 14 @ 2:46 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Laidback742
Posts: 4,679
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Someone must have brought it up, more than likely a Republican so he could bash Obama about it later, and now peeeps are jumping to conclusions.
So, who's jumping to a conclusion .... ?
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| Mar 14 @ 3:10 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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So, who's jumping to a conclusion .... ?
Exactly...lol. It was 11 Veteran administrations that brought this to Congress.
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| Mar 14 @ 3:59 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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onoudn
Posts: 6,354
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It's not the official poliy of the administration yet.... 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.
all we know is that his administration considered it....that's all....nothing is for sure..it's premature to presume that this policy ever would have been anything but someone putting it on the table, and another person saying, 'I'll consider it"....
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| Mar 14 @ 6:37 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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capobeachguy
Posts: 4,742
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I am a veteran and thankfully I have no medical issues due to my service.
Why is this issue even under consideration by the current administration? Have not the medical problems incurred by these men and women been enough to justify our paying for their treatment?
I may rail at other issues with this administration but this one really disgusts me.
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| Mar 14 @ 6:59 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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DirtyOldManNamedHank
Posts: 54
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this policy ever would have been anything but someone putting it on the table, and another person saying, 'I'll consider it"
Yup. A thousand problems in this country right now. I image there is a stack of proposals sitting on Obama's desk:
"Here's an idea," someone says to the President, "let's make the vets pay for their war injuries."
"Sounds kind of dumb," Obama says, "but toss the proposal on the pile and I'll read it later."
I wouldn't want a President who would summarily dismiss a proposal without first giving it a look-over. Sometimes, an absurd idea can suggest a different, but appropriate, coarse of action that has not yet been considered.
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| Mar 14 @ 7:04 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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capobeachguy
Posts: 4,742
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DirtyOldManNamedHank said:
I wouldn't want a President who would summarily dismiss a proposal without first giving it a look-over. Sometimes, an absurd idea can suggest a different, but appropriate, coarse of action that has not yet been considered.
Okay, if you really believe this, please propose a course of action that would take away medical treatment from our veterans for injuries incurred as a result of their service that makes sense to you.
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| Mar 14 @ 7:38 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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I wonder if this came up when Michelle Obama went to Fort Braggs Thursday:
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — First lady Michelle Obama is visiting Fort Bragg, meeting with military spouses and speaking to groups that support soldiers and their families.
The White House says Obama will tour Fort Bragg on Thursday afternoon. Obama has said that she wants to focus on working with military families during her time as first lady, and she often spoke on the issue during the presidential campaign last year.
Obama will meet with military spouses and learn about the family support services available to them. She will then speak to community organizations in Fayetteville that provide support.
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| Mar 14 @ 7:43 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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Jankia
Posts: 11,909
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make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.
This is nonsense because I doubt there is any private health insurance company that even covers a service-related injury in the first place.
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| Mar 14 @ 7:45 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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I just found my answer:
First Lady Makes Visit to Fort Bragg
March 13, 2009
Michelle Obama called on the nation to support military families in a speech she delivered Thursday in Fayetteville, N.C. The visit was her first trip away from Washington since her husband’s inauguration. She spent most of the day touring neighboring Fort Bragg, meeting with military spouses, and thanking members of the community for helping military families.
“Military families bear a very heavy burden,” Obama said. “As a nation we need to find ways to lighten their load.”
Calling Fayetteville, “a shining light,” Obama said that other cities should follow Fayetteville’s example by actively seeking ways to help active duty servicemembers, National Guardsmen, and reservists.
“I encourage everyone out there, within the sound of my voice, to reach out on your own – through schools, PTA, Little Leagues, churches, workplaces – and find out if there is a Soldier or a Soldier’s family right there in the community who needs a little extra support,” she said.
Earlier in the day she had lunch with Soldiers and then met privately with military spouses, where she vowed to support their families and they told her they were concerned about issues such as access to healthcare on post. She toured the Soldier Support Center, a building with some of its windows boarded up, which is the first stop for Soldiers in-processing to Fort Bragg. She also visited a childcare facility, where she read the Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat to a dozen preschoolers and helped other children make cards for wounded Soldiers. http://www.military.com/news/article/first-lady-makes-visit-to-fort-bragg.html?col=1186032310810&ESRC=topstories.RSS
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| Mar 14 @ 8:01 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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DirtyOldManNamedHank
Posts: 54
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Okay, if you really believe this, please propose a course of action that would take away medical treatment from our veterans for injuries incurred as a result of their service that makes sense to you.
I don't believe the proposal is about denying treatment, but rather, how it is to be paid for. It is simply a proposal that someone has made.
However, you've asked me to present hypothetical chain of events that might lead someone from a bad proposal to a good one. Okay, I'll give it a shot (off the top of my head):
1. Someone proposes Vets acquire their own insurance to pay for their own war injuries.
2. Obama and staff meet to discuss it, because, after all, it is simply one of the thousands of proposals that have been presented.
3. "Bad idea," Obama says, after minimal consideration.
4. "I like that insurance idea," says (someone else), adding, "War's a crap shoot--who knows what it will cost to treat the injured in the end. Perhaps we can hedge our bets. The United State could purchase a blanket insurance policy that covers the whole thing. Put it out for bid. Could save the taxpayers some dough, our soldiers will receive the same treatment as before and we'll know what it'll cost upfront."
5. "Not sure I like it," Obama says.
6. "The military still pays, just as it always has--but it might pay less this way."
7. "Guess it can't hurt to have the mathematicians run the numbers," Obama says.
Okay, a little absurd and thankfully for most people, I'm not the President, but you get the idea. Basically, you go from a bad idea to maybe a good one by mining one or two good bits from the bad. But, if you don't give a proposal at least a read-through and a bit of consideration at all, then you've got nothing.
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| Mar 14 @ 8:40 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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The Obama Administration has already brought this proposal to the H.R. Committe of Veterans Affairs of the 111th Congress. Due to the upcoming medical inflation with soldiers returning from Iraq, the committee is presenting a 15% overall increase for the next 3 years, which includes increases in VA health care costs in the federal budget.
To view the lengthy VA budget interaction, click link below and then click the button on the right "Previous Webcast"; (Media Player audio/visual).
http://veterans.house.gov/documents/plan111.shtml
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| Mar 14 @ 8:51 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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CowboyX
Posts: 613
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Due to the upcoming medical inflation with soldiers returning from Iraq, the committee is presenting a 15% overall increase for the next 3 years, which includes increases in VA health care costs in the federal budget.
All of which are due to Bush's wars of aggression.
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| Mar 14 @ 8:55 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,201
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So why doesn't Obama just bring them all home instead of redeploying them to Afghanistan?
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| Mar 14 @ 9:02 PM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries
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alivenwell351
Posts: 3,040
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All of which are due to Bush's wars of aggression.
You mean that war that the current VP, sec of state, dem prez candidate from 4 yrs. ago, and countless other dems voted to authorize and continue to vote the $$ to pay for??......THAT war of aggression??
Of all things the bamasiah has so far done and will likely continue to do to insure his status as a one term wonder, the stupidest thing he could possibly do is try in any way to pull something like not taking care of wounded vets. This thing will NEVER see the light of day. Bet on it!!
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| Mar 17 @ 1:42 AM |
Obama Plan In The Making; Wants Veterans To Pay For Service Related Injuries |
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musicianfriend
Posts: 2,287
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is it really Obama's plan?? or is it... only a question that needs to be addressed??
"Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan" to make veterans pay
to be reimbursed by veterans private heath insurance if they carry their own heath insurance ..that they are paying for... with money that they get from???
for treatment of service-related injuries .....
Since the risk is so high in a military job....this would overwhelm the insurance companies...perhaps destroy them with overwhelmin costs...
Bspecially now with investments not paying so well. Insurance companies make most of their monies on investments from the money paid for the insurance premiums...
This would ruin the insurance industry....especially in these hard times...just in time for social medicine...then we wont need them..
But the government cant just bring in social medicine until they can ruin the insurance industry..
thats what this is all about..
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