[Ender's Mom]

Now THIS pisses me off and I am sitting here scratching my head and thinking... WTF?

The Obama Administration is proposing making veterans who have private healthcare use that insurance to pay for combat related injuries. WTF!?

Don't you think it's the least we owe our soldiers to take care of their healthcare... period. No Ifs Ands or Buts.

I'm all for cutting unnecessary spending... but the well-being of our soldiers is far more important than saving a buck.

 

[kaisdad]

Buts, not butts.

Just a question. Why would the vets need private health care if the government health care was adequate?

 

[MidwestGirl]

That is just sad.

On that note of our soldiers I heard where some of them that are serving also have no job to come back too.

 

[Ender's Mom]

Buts, not butts.

Just a question. Why would the vets need private health care if the government health care was adequate?

Thanks!

Our veteran's care (the part that's run by the government) is pretty good actually (I hear... I don't have first hand knowledge).

The way I understand it... if a soldier has private healthcare (for whatever reason... i.e. if I was married to a soldier, they'd automatically get covered by my insurance) then they aren't going to be allowed to use the government health care that all vets have access to atm. If everyone's private health insurance was as good as mine (a government employee) I wouldn't mind so much... but it's not so who knows the level of care they would be able to receive and how much it would cost them (deductibles... etc.).

 

[kaisdad]

I was just curious if there's any advantage to one vs. the other. For the government coverage, do they still pay into it with deductibles, etc.?

 

[Hunter]

Buts, not butts.

Just a question. Why would the vets need private health care if the government health care was adequate?

I am sure a lot of it has to do with service members is the National Guard or Military Reserves. Most of these service members have a outside job and will have private insurance.

With Government health care most service members will have to use some sort of Military care or the Veterans Hospital, or they can use a regular hospital if neither of the other 2 is available.

I really do not think something like this would pass, as private insurance company would fight the whole time against paying since the injury is most likely the cause from war and be a pre-existing condition. Also, this would just raise the rates for private businesses and citizens.

 

[Ender's Mom]

For the government coverage, do they still pay into it with deductibles, etc.?

My understanding is they do not have deductibles.

 

[Hunter]

I was just curious if there's any advantage to one vs. the other. For the government coverage, do they still pay into it with deductibles, etc.?

No, for a active Military member, health care is 100% covered, along with their family. If I wish, I could go to the VA hospital for all my medical care, everything would be covered with 0 dollars out of my pocket.

I have been to the VA Hospital in Minneapolis a few time. It is ok, not exactly where I would want to be operated on or be treated for a life threatening illness.

 

[MidwestGirl]

A lot of VA hospitals have interns so you never see the same one twice....that can be bad.

 

[gailatmsu]

I was just curious if there's any advantage to one vs. the other. For the government coverage, do they still pay into it with deductibles, etc.?

Medical coverage is free. We keep our private insurance when Jason is on long-term orders, but we don't have to. We just really like our insurance, but I do go to the base pharmacy and get our meds for free. Now, he hasn't had a really long deployment since Katrina so I'm not sure if anything has changed. When Jason was in the air force, we only had to pay for my (and the kids if we had any at the time) dental costs. The Tricare insurance for that was really good too though (we still have it and they pay 100% of routine care and 80% on almost everything else).

There's not only wound type injuries, but a lot of private insurance companies only pay for so many therapy sessions per year. I know we have great insurance, and it only pays for 12 sessions per year - that's for speech, occupational, counseling, etc.. With Jake, he had speech 3x per week for nearly five years, and we would have been in trouble had our state not had a 0-3 program and the public school districts took over therapy after age 3. I know quite a few soldiers are coming back and needing therapy for post-traumatic stress, and they probably need more than one counseling session per month or with injuries they need physical therapy for.

Then you have private insurance's favorite "pre-existing conditions" that may disqualify a few.

It's scary to think about what might happen.

 

[Bob Pr.]

No need to get your knickers in a bunch yet.

I googled this and couldn't find much that was clear. Apparently it came out of the disclosure that this was one of several hypothetical alternatives under consideration by the Dept. of Veteran Affairs.

This administration wants to set us on the road to a restructuring of the USA's health care delivery system -- which is by far the most costly per capita of any country's yet leaves so many people without any health coverage. Problems exist in the health care systems of Canada, Great Britain, or France, e.g., but they are miniscule in comparison to ours.

How this administration will be able to do this, I have no idea -- it looks like a Gordian knot to me. There are many inter-related twisted factors of which some of the most important are these:

The burden of paying for health care over the last 30-50 years has gradually, increasingly been shifted over to employers (&/or to employer-employee partnerships) which -- as health care costs have skyrocketed -- drives up enormously the costs of many US produced goods thus making it difficult for US manufacturers to compete effectively against foreign competitors which do not have those costs.

Add to that, our health insurance companies are profit-making corporations that must satisfy their shareholders and create about a 30% markup in health care costs. Employers, employees, individuals, all pay them to handle all the paperwork to pay the health service providers who in turn must do all kinds of paperwork in order to get reimbursed less than their normal fees (further driving up costs). The health insurance companies lobby extensively to preserve their role in the system. But eliminating them would make millions unemployed.

The pharmaceutical companies charge USA citizens higher prices for their meds than the citizens in any other country and lobby extensively to preserve their role and policies within the system, their promoting of patented new expensive meds that are less effective than much cheaper generics. But eliminate these companies and endanger the development of new medicines?

So where do you begin, what do you do? You begin looking at alternatives, other possible ways of handling things.

My father was a 38 yr. US Navy veteran; I was born in a military hospital; served in two wars, and while in the service twice was injured and treated in them. I'm eligible for VA benefits, BUT I have Medicare and an internist with whom I'm well pleased. ALSO, having done a 12 month internship in VA hospitals and seen from the inside how that system can operate, for now I elect to pay more money and stay out of the VA system.

I DO strongly agree with the position others voiced that we must make sure that those who have been injured serving their country receive good medical care. But please, let's put our emphasis on that rather than on the provider who gives it or the location it's offered.

 

[chocolatecoverdlab]

That is just sad.

On that note of our soldiers I heard where some of them that are serving also have no job to come back too.

That and many other reasons contribute to the fact that war vets make up a large percent of this nation's homeless population

While I do not agree with it, I do understand the logic. What I don't understand is why they would opt for private insurance? I know sometimes only a percentage of healthcare is covered on a tier based system...maybe that is why, but usually the coverage and benefits are far superior to private insurance sectors (IMO).

 

[Ender's Mom]

we must make sure that those who have been injured serving their country receive good medical care.

Yes... bottom line that is what needs to happen and I could care less how much it costs.

 

[Labmom2Sun]

My only experience with veterans' healthcare was when my FIL was dying. He insisted upon only being treated at a VA hospital, and he received appallingly bad care. it still makes me mad.

I don't know if this was just a bad facility or is indicative of other hospitals, though.

 

[Golfgirlrobin]

My only experience with veterans' healthcare was when my FIL was dying. He insisted upon only being treated at a VA hospital, and he received appallingly bad care. it still makes me mad.

I don't know if this was just a bad facility or is indicative of other hospitals, though.

I would suspect that it was just some bad personnel. 90% of our company's work is for the VA. I've been in virtually every facility from 100 miles south of San Francisco to the Oregon border. (Yes, my life is fascinating. ) At least in Northern California, the hospitals are now models of patient care.

I have never been to a construction meeting at a VA facility where how the work would impact patient care wasn't their primary concern. There's a checklist a mile long and you have to satisfy the facility director that you have procedures in place for everything. Unlike a lot of hospitals we have worked in, the staff really seems to care about their patients. I have seen nurses spend their entire lunch hour in the cafeteria listening to a patient's tale of why they are there, when you know they just want to eat their lunch and be left alone.

I had always heard horror stories about VA hospitals, but I've been fairly impressed. It may not have always been that way but I think most people would be stunned by the modern facilities and care that exists now.

As I said, this is in Northern California. It's possible that a VA facility in Mississippi is still in the dark ages.

 

[Labmom2Sun]

That's interesting, Robin. I've wondered about VA hospitals in general and their standard of care since then. I really hope what happened with my FIL was an isolated incident. He was in a Northern California VA hospital. This was almost two years ago.

 

[theoconbrio]

I had always heard horror stories about VA hospitals, but I've been fairly impressed. It may not have always been that way but I think most people would be stunned by the modern facilities and care that exists now.

Although there are bad stories (Walter Reed is the worst), I think it's pretty well established that VA hospitals offer some of the best care around.

But wait, I thought the government couldn't do anything right...??? Wasn't it Glen who said he'd rather commit seppuku than submit to government-sponsored healthcare? I wonder if he'd go to a VA hospital if he had a heart attack?

 

[Golfgirlrobin]

Nathan, I think that the VA hospitals are actually an exception to "the government screws everything up" rule because caring for vets, and proper funding for it, is one of the very few things that everybody agrees upon.

It's hard to come up with very many others.

 

[Mocha]

Who voted for Obama again??????

 

[JollyMolly]

Every VA hospital and Military hospital I have ever been to, and I have been to many, SUCK. BIG TIME. And dont get me started on Tricare or what I call "Try to get care". Luke was 4 years old before his delivery was paid for.