Sticking it to the Private Sector and our Service Veterans

WedNEWSday - March 18th, 2009

Barack Obama’s hatred for the private sector and his disdain for our military and apparently now our soldiers, were married on Monday.  Obama announced his administration’s plans to unfairly make veterans’ private health insurance responsible for what he describes as their “fair share” of the costs for service related injury treatments received through The Department of Veterans Affairs. 

So, in addition to flipping the bill to insurance companies that are not and never have been in the business of insuring one against injury sustained in war, Obama claims his plan will generate $540 million for the government.  When confronted with opposition from 11 veterans service organizations, Obama and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told them to come up with something else if they don’t like it, refusing to listen to arguments concerning the government’s moral and self-avowed obligations to its service men and women.

What follows is an excerpt from Investor’s Business Daily, entitled Wounded Vets Under Friendly Fire.

A furious Commander David K. Rehbeinof the American Legion left a meeting with President Obama Monday “angered” that Obama plans to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries.

Rehbein added that this “reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle,’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies.”

If the U.S. reneges on its moral obligations for budgetary reasons, it will make it harder for future veterans to get private insurance. A statement by the American Legion pointed out that depending on the severity of the war injury, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran’s condition alone. The rest of the family would wind up with nothing.

Premiums would be increased to prohibitive levels, and many insurance companies would require a hefty deductible before any benefits are paid. Some employers might now be reluctant to hire wounded veterans because of the impact on their company health-care benefits.

“Depending on the severity of the medical conditions, those medical insurance policies with a calendar-year benefit maximum or a life-time benefit maximum could result in the rest of the family not receiving any health care benefits,” Legion legislative director Steve Robertson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week. “Many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered.”

The VA now bills third-party insurers only for non-service related injuries and illnesses such as the flu. If the injured vet requires prosthetics or ongoing therapy for a war injury, the VA picks up the tab. Obama would change all that.

A letter sent to the president on Feb. 27 signed by the leaders of 11 prominent veterans organizations rightly said: “There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”

As you can see, the Obama administration’s proposal is problematic on a number of levels.   First, it will be more difficult for the veterans to obtain private health insurance given their “preexisting condition.”  Deductibles will be driven up and premiums will undoubtedly become prohibitive.  The wounded vet is surely to eat up the majority of his families’ maximum coverage limit, leaving the rest of his family at risk.  Finally, employers will be apprehensive to hire veterans as they are suspicious of how their health status might impact  the cost of providing employee health-care benefits.

The policy proposed by Obama allows the government to shun the responsibility of providing health-care to wounded veterans.  Private insurers and veterans, who are not at fault, are unjustly and severely punished.  Outcomes of such policy would be consistent with the Obama that we conservatives already knew: adversary of private industry and animosity towards the military. 

Thanks for the hug, Mr. President.  It’s comforting knowing you care so deeply.

METALLICA

ONE

I can’t remember anything
Can’t tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This terrible silence stops me

Now that the war is through with me
I’m waking up I can not see
That there is not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me

Back in the womb its much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But can’t look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I’ll live

Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me
Now the world is gone I’m just one
Oh God, help me hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God help me

Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell

This from Investor’s Business Daily - March 17, 2009

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=322183610326971

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