The Follies of Congress and the Department of Veteran Affairs Budget

NewsMax.com ^ | 2/7/05 | Lonnie T. Shoultz

[Vetvoice]

Congressmen and Senators who have no knowledge of a subject - any subject - should stay out of the debate.

[mcgiver38]

They (media) are already spinning this as if we were throwing disabled veterans out on the street, they refuse to mention the VA budget has almost doubled under this administration. Another death toll for the dems, its to close to the election for all this grandstanding on the budget, prior to the election all they could talk about was the deficit, now that some common sense things are attempted their hipocricy is obvious to all.

[carumba]

bump!

[BlackbirdSST]

Congressmen and Senators who have no knowledge of a subject - any subject - should stay out of the debate.

Then, that begs the question, why do they exist? Blackbird.

[fastattacksailor]

bttt

[velund]

The $250 annual fee and increase in the co-payment from $7 to $15 doesn't sound unreasonable for those Vets who are not service connected and can afford it.

But, what am I missing in this article? Mr. Shoultz says he is "100 service connected", yet returned home from Viet Nam and entered a law enforcement career. How can that be?

Looks to me like he can wait in line like everybody else.

[roaddog727]

Bump

[Wristpin]

"The $250 annual fee and increase in the co-payment from $7 to $15 doesn't sound unreasonable for those Vets who are not service connected and can afford it."

The $250 annual fee is less than a retiree pays for TRICARE!

Personally, I'm glad President Bush is putting a stop to accessing more group 7&8's into the VA system. They knew when they seperated from the service with a clean bill of health that medical coverage stopped. Fewer of them means improved care for those with bona fide service connected health problems.

This policy has already shortened the wait for deserving veterans to get started in VA treatment by nearly 50 percent since it started.

[velund]

Thanks for your service, Wristpin.

I'm not familiar with Tricare, but I think retirees are just as deserving as any combat Veteran. If a Vet is not disabled and has a decent income, he should be willing to assume a part of the cost of his health care. Unfortunately, there are still those who exaggerate their need, as well as their degree of disability, and cases of outright fraud, which drives up the cost to the VA.

President Bush's budget proposal (see www.va.gov and look under "Hot Topics")is a record $70.8 billion for the VA in 2006. That's a 47% increase in health care funding since FY '01. This budget proposal includes funding for 28 new outpatient clinics, two new facilities in Biloxi, Miss., and Fayetteville, Ark., as well as additional construction projects at Las Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Gainesville (FL) and Anchorage. It also includes increases in specific health care benefits.

In general, I'm opposed to increased government spending. But I also think Veterans who have given so much for their country should get first class health care. We earned it. But for those of us who can help themselves, the co-payment and annual fee is money well spent.

By the way, in spite of what you've heard many times, some of us Marines really appreciated you Navy boys. I used to look forward to escorting prisoners down to the lockup at Da Nang so I could eat at that magnificent Navy chow hall.

[Peach]

Is this article worth sending to our soldiers so they understand the real facts of how the president's budget will pertain to their future medical care?

[jeterisagod]

The $250 annual fee and increase in the co-payment from $7 to $15 doesn't sound unreasonable for those Vets who are not service connected and can afford it.

Well, it also affects some who can't afford it. Every veteran in groups 7 or 8 would have to pay those fees. Yes, it includes some people who are making a lot of money, but it also goes to people who are making as little as $9,000 too. And the fees would probably drive some people from the health care system, even if they don't have other forms of insurance.

The key to remember is that this isn't a bunch of free-loaders. These are people who've actually given lots to this country, including those currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Vetvoice]

You are obviously not, nor never have, been gunshot. A gunshot wound heals over on the outside and wounds from assault weapons used by military combatants tear up the area surrounding the wound and over time that tissue breaks down and deteriorates. Bone injuries sour on you and chipped bone becomes bone spurs and then splinters. What I was able to accomplish at 25, 28 and 35 I was physically incapable of accomplishing at 40.

I passed all of the police physicals and psychological examinations when I returned home as a 21 year old man. Unfortunately, that good to excellent physical condition did not last.

I do wait in line like everyone else but they do not have episodes of boils and coruption in wound sites. Would you then have me wait four months for an appointment while the bookies, golfers and bankers take up the physician visit slots at the VA? Get real!

[Vetvoice]

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly Proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation" - George Washington

[Wristpin]

Vetvoice,

I agree with you. Clinton should have never opened up the VA to veterans without service connected problems. Doing so was a "CUT" to those without bona fide service caused health problems. I read where 30 percent of the VA patient load is group 7&8's.

Personally, I'm glad the President is taking steps to fix this.

[Vetvoice]

I don't believe those people with no service connections should be tossed out but $250 per year - about $21 bucks a month - is the cheapest medical insurance any of them could ever find. So, the choice is theirs. They can pay the $21 bucks to a month keep the VA Medical Centers and other VA medical facilities open or go down the street and pay Blue Cross $200 per month and the VA will close its facilities to all but those with service connections. I really don't understand why they are reticent.

[Wristpin]

I believe that with the paucity of resources and scandalously long waits for treatment, the MEDICAID Program is the appropriate program for those with no service connected problems.

That's the way it was for decades until Clinton changed it.

[Vetvoice]

I agree but you are just shifting the burden. It may be a good shift because wives and children could be treated on Medicare and they cannot be treated at the VA.

[Wristpin]

It took 6 and a half months for me finally get in and see a VA doc about a service connected problem from my 23 years of service. Nuff said!

[Wristpin]

You could argue that Clinton shifted the burden by schuffling those normally serviced by MEDICAID over to the VA, which effectively CUT VA medical service to deserving veterans.

[Vetvoice]

That's outrageous...