Obama Targets Military Health Care - 50% cut

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[SandRat]

After reading this, please notify your Senator and Representatives to vote 'NO' on this part, if you are against taking even more from our Military. No other job in this country asks you to risk your life for your job!!!! Prisoners get free medical as does the crack heads of this country.......WHY should we take from our Military to enable those kinds of people to have more??????!!!!! This will take away from Active and Veterans of our country.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON QUICKLY!!!!!

From: Retired O-6

Subj: Obama Targets Military Health Care-50% cut.

Guess we had better be ready to write our Representatives

I believe most of you are retirees or know someone who is and is enjoying the fruit of the sacrifice made, especially the medical benefit.

Pls read what I received from a trustworthy source-- I also went to the Congressional Budget Office site, page 189, to verify the proposed cut in our benefits; the email will tell you how to find it, too-- and we need to start making noise with our congressman and anyone else who can have influence in this. (this is not a forward. I actually researched this myself) My office just got word today that our new President Elect Obama has proposed a plan to cut military health care benefits! This is great news for the 99.9% Veterans and Active Duty members who are currently using health care benefits. The Congressional Budget Office has made public a proposal stating that Veterans (you know the men and women who have fought in wars and spent 20 plus years in the service) are now going to be paying up to 50% of their medical bill. Thats a big jump from paying nothing for the past 30 some odd years.

The biggest kicker is Active Duty Military (yep, I said Active Duty) will now be paying 10% of their total bill. They will now be billed for their kids visiting the doctor. Again, a big jump from being free!

Another benefit subject to change is VA medical benefits. Everyone who is receiving a benefit from the VA for a service related injury will have to be re-assessed and the proposal states this will affect "90% of vets receiving VA benefits and will save the government $53 Billion dollars over 10 years".

Needless to say, today is the first time I have heard from the few Obama supporters in my office say "if this gets passed they will not continue to be a supporter".

Isn't this the candidate that just a few months ago was preaching to get health care coverage too ALL! Isn't it ironic and moronic to steel $53 Billion from vets and active duty military families so the Crack Head down the street will receive free medical coverage.

If your as upset as I am then write your elected officials so hopefully some of the dummies running this country see the light and would never even dream of taking away a penny from a military member!

Here are some links to article.

http://soldiersmind.com/2009/01/07/proposed-tricare-cuts-could-cause-problems-for-military-families-and-retirees/

http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=4305

Feel free to Google if you're in dis-belief.

Below is a message from an Army General who also points out some links and ways how to contact your elected representative.

Subject: FW: TriCare for Life's Future

Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:14:10 -0800

To All,

This is for real. The heavy assault has begun on Veterans'/Retirees'benefits to pay for other programs. The word on the street is that these indeed are a high priority of the Obama administration. The one most of interest to Retired Military is in Article 189. If approved by Congress the first assault wave would hit the beaches in 2011 and would hit hard. It would initiate cost sharing to require retirees to pay the first $525 of medical cost and 50% of the next $4,725 for a first year cost of $2,888 per person. It would be indexed to increase with inflation. A reason given for this action (for PR effect) is "overuse" by Retirees.

For those of you who are covered by TFL you will want to pay attention to what BG Bob Clements has surfaced about the future of TFL.

If you know of anyone who is Retired Military, please forward this on to them.

I don't know how many of you partake of the TriCare for Life program but here is a very interesting note on the subject. Seems as though our President Elect has placed a priority on cutting it out of the budget as a means to provide funding for those things he promised during the campaign.

In any case, on page 189 of the Congressional Budget Office report, see the note below on how to get to that spot, there is a strong recommendation to eventually eliminate the program as it is too expensive. I would ask that you contact your elected officials and register your strong opposition to the elimination of this program. Just another move to slight those of us who dedicated much of our adult lives to the defense of our country.

Thanks for listening.

Heads-up from BG Bob Clements, USAF Ret (P38 Bob) The following has been added to the Congressional Budget Office Web Site http://www.cbo.gov/

a. Budget, Options, Volume 1: Health Care

(http://www..cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925

For those who have never opened one of these web sites from OMB :

1. double click on the above URL

2. click on PDF

3. click on the binoculars

4. do a search for TFL

"Now here it is folks and I will guarantee if you sit around on your behind and do nothing about it as they bring these options forward this coming year, you will lose one of the best healthcare benefits that the> Medicare eligible retired military have. It is short of the promises made that we fought so hard for back in the late 90s and early 2000s but it is still the best healthcare program that anyone in the United States has, bar none.

People who are professionals always look for the channel of least resistance when it comes to cutting money out of the Federal and DOD budget. I can tell you this straight on, military retirees are one of those channels of least resistance noted for sitting around, doing nothing, and waiting for ole Joe to do it for them. You had better wake up. Your medical benefits are prime target. If you lose them, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Let me repeat that ... you have nobody to blame but yourself.

The way to secure your benefits is to write to your members of Congress and to keep writing and writing and writing. ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH!! Keep repeating the above statement until you are blue in the face.

Now I'm going to make one more statement to all of you younger people out there who are not yet eligible for TriCare for Life. HEALTH CARE WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME THE DOMINATING FACTOR IN YOUR LIFE. Remember that . . . .it will impact you big time with the utmost in cruelty unless you are fortunate enough to die from a heart attack . . . or get run over by a truck.

Now, I am going to attach AGAIN exactly what OMB has in store for military retirees using TFL. This source is directly from OMB and is not something that I have dreamed up. They are telling you exactly what they are going to do with your benefits. If you do nothing, this is what you will get.

The service organizations will put up a fight and are aware of this and will put up a fight but, they will need your help and can't do it by themselves..

I hope this makes it clear as to what you can expect if you do nothing.

To show you how stupid these professionals can be at times if you will read the attached document closely you will see that in spite of the MTFs (Military Treatment Facility) need to get patients back to keep their doctors busy and the hospitals from going to clinic status, these people from OMB would employ a means to keep retirees from using MTF facilities by charging them a fee for services. How dumb can you get.

Even if you are an Obama lover, and believe that changeth cometh, TFL option from OMB will not go away. They need the money they spend on you for other programs for people who produce nothing but votes to keep their boss in office. chk 6 .. bob"

A footnote: BG Bob Clement is known with affection as"P38bob". He flew P38s in WWII. He was one of the stalwart warriors that led effectively from the front when the hard battles were being fought to bring TriCare for Life to reality. I was honored and pleased to a player in that effort by following P38 Bob's lead.

MilVets: it looks like we will again be confronted by the 'attack of the beancounters' who, by and large, wouldn't know (and probably never will know) genuine unselfish service to our country and are solely motivated by crunching numbers so that those numbers will reflect favorably on their bosses and their boss's causes. They have no thought to the havoc they would cause . . . in many cases the loss of any amount of TFL benefits would be a an insurmountable hardship ..... and to some it would truly be a death sentence.

It is well that we gear up for the fight now. As P38 Bob says, we must write, write, write and write. Once is not enough! In time I will be preparing letters for your use in writing to your elected officials and submitting them to the TREA Membership, and to others who may want to join the fight.

[MSF BU]

These are options, they are not something that are going to pass tomorrow, or pass at all. I think all of this should help firm up support for candidates who’ll oppose this nonsense.

[pabianice]

Nothing in Google or Copernic. Smells like bullshit.

[BobS]

Bullshit. One third of injuries and death in peace or war are because of accidents with big equipment. What happens to those warriors?

Tally up people that Obama doesn't like so far:

Active Duty military;

White people in states that need help.

This is getting bad. I would not re-enlist for that and keep my mouth shut until I am discharged with my DD-214 in hand. Big companies will hire ex-military folks while they are laying off.

[Colonial Warrior]

Liberty once lost is lost forever." John Adams, July 7, 1775

[SandRat]

see reply #13

[SandRat]

don’t forget people clinging to their guns a Bibles.

[oiler]

I hope some good person here on FR is keeping a list of all this!

I feel dizzy....

[yazoo]

A little research on the internet doesn’t shed much light on this except that it isn’t a proposal to cut benefits but to change the way benefits are delivered. I’m not suggesting it’s a good thing, but I think it is a little early to be jumping on the “they’re taking away our benefits” bandwagon. Better to keep the powder dry in case a bill does come up that reduces health benefits for veterans.

[MilspecRob]

I just got an email the swinging a dead cat over your head at midnight brings good luck.

How about a link to something verifiable.

[SandRat]

see reply #13

[SandRat]

See Reply #13

[yazoo]

Which I think confirms my point. These are options, not recommendations. I would doubt very seriously Obama is going to alienate such a large segment of the population as veterans. He may not like them, but he certainly wants their vote.

[BobS]

"...don’t forget people clinging to their guns and Bibles."

Mao Tse Tung said the countryside will take over the cities in China. Read his book. Hijacking supplies to cities will spark unrest within.

He was correct. He will never know that his observations can be used in a way that is completely opposed to his ideas. Trust the Chinese. They are 5000 year old smart.

[conservative gal in PA]

Ping

[Ciexyz]

This must be why the latest Zogby poll asked if you or anyone in your family is covered by Tricare. They’re already polling in advance of sh@@ hitting the fan.

[amigatec]

From the Article. While nothing has been approved at this juncture, the Congressional Budget Office director at this time is President-elect Obama’s choice to be his director of the Office of Management and Budget, and who led the work on this proposal, Peter R. Orszag, so it very possibly will have a very real, very devastating affect on our Troops and our Veterans. This IS an Obama plan.

[Marie]

We joined, and stayed in, JUST for the medical benefits.

What kills me is that they’re not even talking about Grandfathering it in. It would affect everyone - NOW.

50% for retirees? Insane.

[defconw]

I hear you. I have to do some digging. My Rat Congress Critter is on the veteran affairs committee, so I am going to give him a call.

[mw19]

place keep

[CRBDeuce]

If this is the case it should be front and center on the VFW and American Legion website!

Now I firmly believe ALL these guys are salt of the earth! That said, might take the Amer Legion a while to get this one up and running....since so many of them voted for 0! (I'm thinking of one in particular, so don't try to disopinionate me on this). The emasculation of the military has begun (a la Carter), and will continue til 0-be-one Can-o-B[S] is gone!