Posted on 04/17/2009 12:25:09 PM PDT by zaphod3000
Civilian workers who suffered devastating injuries while supporting the U.S. war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan have come home to a grinding battle for basic medical care, artificial limbs, psychological counseling and other services.
The insurance companies responsible for their treatment under taxpayer-funded policies have routinely denied the most serious medical claims. Those insurers -- primarily American International Group (AIG) -- recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in profits on this business.
The civilian contractors have played an indispensable role in the two conflicts, delivering fuel to frontline troops, guarding U.S. diplomats and translating for soldiers during dangerous raids. More than 1,400 civilian workers have died and 31,000 have been wounded or injured in the two war zones.
Yet unlike wounded soldiers, who are offered healthcare, rehabilitation and support services by the military, the civilians have to battle a federally supervised insurance system marked by high costs and excessive delays, an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica has found.
SNIP
"It's almost like we're this invisible, discardable military. Once we've done our jobs, they can actually sidetrack us and not worry about us anymore," said Tim Newman, a sheriff's deputy from South Carolina who lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Once back home, he fought an insurance company for a year to get a prosthetic leg that his doctors recommended.
"It's like we're disposable soldiers," said Newman, 44, who worked on a police training program in Iraq.
The insurance system for civilian contractors has generated profits for the providers, primarily AIG, the war zone's dominant player. Insurers collected more than $1.5 billion in premiums paid by U.S. taxpayers and have earned nearly $600 million in profit, according to congressional investigators.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Yikes!
NCO’s are the backbone of the military.
Always have been.
True, but today’s military couldn’t operate without civilian support. They supply the fuel, guards, food, transportation, etc. and endure the same risks as the military in a war zone. Particularly in places like Iraq where the front line could be that pile of junk on the roadside hiding a IED.
Injured contractors deserve as much support as the injured military, and companies should be allowed to profit from it.
If they were at the same risk as military personnel, there’d be a hell of a lot more wounded and KIA civilians.
We need them, but they’re not the backbone and they don’t endure the same risks, in most cases.
bttt
We don't have the same risks as the combat troops, that's for sure.
But we certainly have high risks. For example, when the terrorists were bombing the bases regularly, those mortars and rockets didn't care who was military and who was civilian.
Same with transportation—food and fuel trucks are driven by contractors.
Yes, I lost a couple of co-workers in a fuel convoy attack in '04.
People who aren't here and have not been here have no idea.
It's calmer these days, but the threat persists. We're still surrounded by blast walls for a good reason.
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