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Please hear me out and don't flame me. Raising co-pays and deductibles is happening to everyone. It is a huge necessity because it makes a person really think before going to the doctor - the patient has a financial stake in the decision. This is being applied to all medical benefits, including the richest private plans as well as to plans for the poor (Medicaid). All I'm saying is before you pan this decision please read about it and think it through logically.

So, you're 21 years old, and you are going to come here and enlighten us all with your vast understanding of veteran's health care.

Got it.

TRICARE is available to retirees. People who have been subjected to conditions that you simply don't understand. Conditions that take a harsher toll on the human body than their civilian counterparts have experienced... conditions that will likely make seeking medical care more frequently a real possibility.

But of course we want that veteran to "really think before going to the doctor". Let's make sure he/she has a "financial stake in the decision".

I recently lost an uncle who died an agonizing death due to exposure to Agent Orange back in the late sixties. His cancer came upon him suddenly, and he had very little time to burn up your precious dollars on his medical care. No one could foresee his situation.

I worry, because in '91 (about the time you were born) I was being forced to take an untested pill every day to supposedly offer some protection against exposure to nerve agents; weapons that my government ASSURED me (mistakenly) that I would subjected to. I was forced to take an injection against anthrax; an immunization that was STILL untested when it was used on troops again right after 9/11. Days were spent living in Kuwait, where the air was constantly black from the smoke of oil well fires, and the soot was in our food and water as well. Days without fresh food, adequate sleep, or even primitive personal hygiene. Never mind being shot at, or being in the vicinity of chemical weapons being destroyed, or clearing vehicles that have been destroyed by rounds made of depleted uranium.

Nah, no reason the troops who have endured those conditions should have any easier (or cheaper) access to a system to keep tabs on their health. Instead, lets jack up the premiums and co-pays so they will really "think" before going to the doctor.

Nobody is whining and crying because unlike my uncle, we were all volunteers. We went with the full knowledge and understanding of the situation we were going into. But we also went with the promise of our government that in return for the sacrifice, we would be looked after with regard to our health.

What are YOU willing to sacrifice, "Mr. Junior Staffer for Santorum"? (Yeah, I read your posting history.) Congratulations.