your mistake was trusting washington - they always lie to you. and they use you and they couldn’t care less.
There is no such thing as a contract when dealing with Congress. If one Congress can promise something a later one can take it all away.
That’s well established law. See Fleming v Nestor.
Never believe ANY politician who promises you something later if you do something now. Ever.
L
In early 90s Hillary care did away with fee basis in the VA system. Forcing vets in rural areas to drive hours and hours for their healthcare. In my case, 3 hours to nearest VA Hospital. And 3 hours back. She was able to delete hundreds of vets from VA system. I was one of them. Thus reduced patient load. Bitch!
not just with congress or DC, but with any business or personal relationship, nothing is a given forever, unless both sides choose to keep affirming that agreement.
We all get our trust trampled on at times. I do believe and support medical help and other services for vets, but I don’t see where it has to be for life of each and every one. Just as battered women escaping with children or various other segments of society orchard working country supporting jobs people do, exposing them to chemicals and severely dangerous conditions, are they all to have some sort of coverages for life? even our ridiculous policy of covering govt leaders with lifetime healthcare or perks of sorts.
It’s just not practical, biblical or commonsense to think it should be so.
Help people as need be but help them in ways they don’t need help for long, except in a small amount of situations where truly completely disabled and cannot contribute to society in any way to afford for themselves. And where is the family unit/relatives around people going thru crisis of short or long duration? isn’t it common sense and God’s best for us to chip in, helping hand support our own best we can and get assistance when that is not enough?
I understand military was mandatory for a time, but that has not been the case for a while now. people volunteer as they do for any job or volunteer service of any kind that is not compensated.
it’s a wonder our country ever started with such selfless people and to see now so many segments now expecting much in many ways from the govt. it was never meant to help in so many ways and it should not if our country is to remain.
people need to think outside the box and stop waiting for long term disability when they have ability to work in any way, waiting for medical care when some is induced but their own behavior/actions, waiting for all sorts of handouts when they have a good brain and some level of physical ability to remedy their situation some, waiting for govt help instead of reconnecting with family or friends, relatives, seeking help from church or such but that would make them feel shame or have to be the bigger person. God allows hardship in our lives to help us grow, not just stay stuck by the physical or mental or emotional situation and get cranky, throw our hands up or bury ourselves under covers or in some other form of habit.
I’m giving thanks for my problems of the past and current ones because God in time helps me come thru them all and prosper in some small way or another. I am determined to continue daily to a stand strong against the enemies coming at me from all methods of attack - spiritual, mind (self) and body.
May God be with you all in your circumstances too. Happy Thanksgiving everyday.
Personally, I am not in favor everything often asked of healthcare benefits for Veterans.
Personally, I think there is a difference to how far that “lifetime” commitment ought to be, and I think it should be relative to (a) service related health issues most of all, (b) continuation of “Tricare” to those who made a lifetime commitment to military service (”lifers”), followed in priority by all others and to them benefits related to income situation.
Yes, I do not think a military stint of 2-3 years with no service related issues and income in the median income range or greater, for persons their age, deserves the same military and/or VA health commitment as those who did 20 years and/or have service related issues.
As a combat disabled vet, I strongly believe the VA needs to be kept up and running. What it needs is fixing. The VA specializes in combat related mental disorders, prosthetics and other wartime disorders. There is no such thing as sending a PTSD’d vet down to the local shrink and have him treated solely for depression when the problem is much worse.
I visit the VA at least every few weeks for lab work and tests to monitor my heart after open-heart surgery 6 years ago. I always get timely treatment and seldom run into a caregiver who is not pleasant and motivated.
Maybe we are just lucky to get our medical care from the Malcom Randall VA hospital in Gainesville, Florida but they do a great job. No complaints from either of us.
Reading about the problems in the VA system is not the same story we experience at our facility.
“The U.S. Code used to read “shall provide” authorized and established free health care”
You forgot to add the words, on a space available basis, which is in there. This is one of the reasons military hospitals set up their appointment times for active military and their dependents, and a much smaller amount to retirees. If you’re a retiree, and prime, you can get an appointment if one is available or you can walk into the military hospital emergency room and get help. And you will get it.
The VA is not there to fix a cold. It is there to assist government recognized military related injuries and injuries related to them. I have received emergency assistance there, but they generally do not have time for the common cold unless in my case I have a 100% lung disability and it can cause problems. People have been treated there if they have a PCM, but only as a favor and there is time. This, of course, will also be effected by facility size and patient amounts.
Champus was a ripoff to the taxpayer. The insurance company that got the bid paid 80% of the allowable of money awarded to them by Uncle Sugar. You got the other 20% and incidentals the provider wouldn’t pay for. And understand, the insurer determined what was allowable, so they got picky. And at the end of the year they were allowed to retain any of the funds not used. Hence the picky.
Tricare for life was put in to cover pieces of the bill medicare didn’t cover. You always paid for Tricare prime so you could have a provider on the military reservation. Medicare is no different than paying for Tricare, just more expensive. Tricare for Life doesn’t cost a thing.
I’ve had four heart procedure done in the last 6 years. The last one was done downtown because the military hospital was not set up to do it. The last one was going to cost over a quarter million to do. It cost me nothing. None of them cost me a thing.
I believe in health insurance just like life. If it to be used, it’s worth every cent. If you use your head, it will cost you just the basic fee. Everyone else pays for medicare,and they have to also pay for that company to cover the other 20%. If you’re over 65, you don’t.
Back in the 50’s when uncle sugar made the call to assist retirees with medical care, they never thought it was going to be this big especially with patients living longer than before. It is not a business as it is today with troops going for 20 years and retiring in these numbers. And with the economy walking on the edge, they are panicking wondering where the money is going to come from. Trust me it’s going to get worse before better.
rwood
I still like my Dad’s answer to the VA when they asked him how much money he made.
“I didn’t see anybody standing on the goddamn dock asking us how much money we made when they loaded us on the troopship for Korea.”
Slightly off topic.
However, there’s a VA benefit that some on at FR may not know about.
It’s a Pension Benefit called “Aid and Attendance”
They will pay;
$1153 per month for a Surviving Spouse
$1794 per month for a Veteran
$2127 per month for a couple
They also pay a retroactive lump sum to when the application was filed to the VA. It can take the VA 6 months to a year to be approved.
Eligibility Requirements, generally speaking (there are a few details)
1. Service member having served at least 90 days of Active Duty with at least one day during a time of War,(there are specific dates)and anything other than a Dishonorable Discharge.
2. The Recipient of the Benefit MUST have a NEED for help with certain Activities of Daily Living, ADL’s, Bathing, Dressing, Meals, Toileting Mental heath etc..
3. Their Income MUST be insufficient to cover the cost of the care AND they must be receiving/paying for that care (It’s a catch-22)
4. Liquid assets of under $80,000. There may be the ability to do some “Pre-Planning” unlike medicaid’s five year look back.
This benefit is usually introduced to a family/Vet when they visit an Assisted Living Community as they are trying to figure out how to pay. It is also available for “In-Home” Care.
I strongly recommend using an Accredited VA Agent when pursuing this Benefit as opposed to talking to folks that work at the VA. I’m NOT a VA Agent.
I literally talk to a dozen families and Vet’s everyday about this and the challenges they may encounter. I’ve talked to Families/Vets that were denied for stupid reasons. Families that say “Talking to the VA directly about this Benefit was like calling the IRS for tax help”. Families that waited two weeks for an appointment only to hear the VA employee tell them “There’s no such thing”.
My two cents