White House drops plan to bill disabled veterans for care

PRNewswire/Hawai`i Free Press ^ | 3-18-09 | Disabled American Vets

[AndrewWalden]

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

White House drops plan to bill disabled veterans for care By News Release @ 2:49 PM :: 61 Views :: Hawaii State Politics, National News, National Politics

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Disabled American Veterans today commended the Obama administration for backing down from a controversial proposal that would force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who suffered service-related disabilities and injuries. The proposal that had been considered as part of the president's budget would require private insurance companies to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs in such cases. But the idea was unanimously opposed by the DAV and other leaders of the veterans community who were invited to the White House Monday to discuss the plan directly with President Obama. Veterans were again united in opposing the plan in a follow-up meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel Wednesday. The decision to drop the idea was announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at a meeting with veterans groups after the meeting with Emanuel. "The president was very open and candid when he met with veterans groups earlier this week, and we are pleased that he has heard our concerns and taken them to heart," said Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman. "Our message to the president was simple and direct: that our government must not abandon its moral responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms." "Now that this ill-advised proposal is off the table, the DAV looks forward to working with the administration and Congress on crafting a good budget that will include sufficient appropriated dollars to cover veterans' health care needs," Gorman said. "We also urge the president to fulfill his pledge to include advance appropriations for veterans health care in his budget submission." A top priority for the DAV and other groups is passage of the recently introduced Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. The measure would authorize Congress to approve VA medical care appropriations one year in advance of the start of each fiscal year. The legislation also would add needed transparency to the process by having the Government Accountability Office review and report on the VA budget request. "This budget reform legislation would ensure sufficient, timely and predictable funding for veterans' health care. It has the added benefit of making government more efficient, transparent and accountable. These are three key elements that President Obama, Congress and veterans all agree are needed in these challenging times. And if enacted in conjunction with the fiscal year 2010 budget, advance appropriations for 2011 would not add one dime to the 2010 deficit," Gorman said. The 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation's disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation's disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization's Web site, www.dav.org. SOURCE Disabled American Veterans -0- The office of Sen Dan Akaka (D-HI) released the following statement today in response to the withdrawal of the Obama administration proposal: AKAKA PRAISES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR DROPPING PROPOSAL TO CHARGE VETERANS’ INSURERS FOR COMBAT INJURIES   WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called Secretary Eric Shinseki and issued the following statement today praising President Barack Obama for dropping a proposal to shift the responsibility to pay for care for service-connected injuries from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the private insurers of wounded veterans: “I thanked Secretary Shinseki for listening to the concerns the veterans service organizations, my colleagues and I had over this proposal to charge veterans’ insurers for combat injuries.  President Obama made the right decision not to move forward.  Veterans’ care and benefits are a cost of war and treatment for conditions directly related to service is the responsibility of the government alone.  I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Administration to enact the President’s funding increases and targeted programs to help VA adapt to the changing needs of veterans and their families,” said Akaka.      -END- RELATED: Sen Akaka opposes Obama plan to bill combat wounded for medical care, but backs Shinseki , Obama to bill combat wounded for medical care , Shinseki confirms plan in VA budget

[Savagemom]

I think one effect of this is that less people will join the military, thus paving the way for him to reinstate the draft.

[Scotswife]

so he gets praised for dropping an idea that was repugnant to begin with?
Good grief!

[whatshotandwhatsnot]

Why praise him for this? It was a slap in the face to veterans in the first place, yet he deserves praise?

“Off the table”, for now. Until he can find another way of seeing that it can be passed.

This veteran has no trust in or confidence for this administration.

[Old Sarge]

I am specifically thinking of the parent corporation that owns and manages Red Lobster and Olive Garden and also a steak house (cannot recall the name)

You're thinking of Darden Foods, and the steak house is Longhorns.

And you're dead on target about the attention span of The Sheep. Never forget, they are the majority now, and they want pie.

[mom4melody]

I was at the Grocery last Friday evening and saw an older man get out of a pick-up with an Obama sticker and a Navy Veteran sticker.

I pointed to the Obama sticker and asked if he had buyers remorse yet....he shoot his head and said “that guy sure fooled me.”

I looked him square in the eye and said “he didn’t fool anyone that was paying attention.”

The man said “I guess that’s right.” and walked away.

What were people thinking????

[devolve]

.

Thanks Old Sarge -

I saw the Darden CEO on cable yesterday -

A sharp thinking business guy - Let’s trade in Hussein II - pronto

He will fix everything fast without raising taxes, killing markets and jobs, and people will have more bucks to out for good Italian, seafood, non-Wagya steak (over $100/pound)

[WVNan]

Is anyone keeping tabs on how many assinine proposals this clown has floated and then retracted? I’m beginning to think that he is deliberatly doing this as a distraction from something else he is doing, or to keep the American people fighting so many “fires” they will grow tired of fighting and become complacent when the really “big” stuff comes down the pike.

[WVNan]

Looks like we are all thinking along the same line.

[torchthemummy]

Now we need to let no one forget that they tried to pull this stunt.

Exactly. This will be a valid issue to bring up in the 2012 campaign, be it at obvious venues like in front of veterans groups while also using it in the standard stump speech. This should never have been considered.

[torchthemummy]

He has made one blunder after another since he was sworn in. I think that this demonstrates the basic incopetence and irrationality of the left...

I believe that Obama & Co. feel they can blunder and BS all that they want because the LMSM will always excuse, explain away, defend any blunder. But this is not in a vacuum and is becoming less so each and every day.

[SkyDancer]

Fifty-five days or so and counting .... this guy has stepped in it more times than any other president at this juncture in his presidency ....

[unixfox]

No one can call themselves patriotic and support such a disgusting idea.

Sure they can. His name is 0bama.

[gman992]

Be very careful with this...if the libs can say that gov’t health care is good enough for vets, it’s good enough for everyone else. To be honest, I’m kind of torn on this, I’m all for the vets, but have you seen all of the scandals regarding the lousy care they get? Wouldn’t have happened if they were accountable.