I Lost My Body Part In MILITARY Service & All I Got Was This Worthless Voucher.

[TheMastersNemesis]

If the GOP ever has its way veterans of military service will get a voucher for private insurance. Forget the VA. And we now know why the GOP has no reason to fix the VA. Like everything government they break or disable it so they can privatize it and send big profits to their business cronies.

The VA system has a lot of problems mostly because of GOP obstructionism. It still provides service to disabled veterans that is important and the government that sent vets into harms way should be responsible for caring for them. The next thing we hear will be that vets disability payments should be handled by the banking system.

The Koch's astroturf Concerned Veterans Of America of course pushes the voucher plan for its own reasons. And of course benefits for future vets under their plan would be more limited. Like we will fix you lost leg but as far as your lost arm it is up to you to take care of that. It is not covered.

The VA's problems play right into the hands of the GOP privateers. The largest reason for VA's problems is underfunding from the Bush years and GOP obstructionism that curtails funding and resources. Plus adding millions of vets to an already inadequate system.

Vouchering vets care is un American. And unpatriotic.

[Mnemosyne]

1. K&R! nt

[Arcadiasix]

2. Privatizing the VA might not be that bad of an idea

I work with a few retired vets none of them like the VA. Several have said they would like to be under Tricare instead of the VA. They want to be able to pick their doctors. Set up a system like Tricare for vets and dump the VA.

[Shrike47]

6. Any for profit institution will eventually screw the veterans, and everybody else.

That's how they make their money. As far as I know, every time a government service is privatized, service goes down hill.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. The VA sucks because it is systematically stripped of funding by the GOP

It's the 'starve the beast' model. Hollow it out, make everyone hate it, and thereby manufacture support to snuff it entirely.

[AwakeAtLast]

10. +1000! n/t

[valerief]

8. Ah, yes, the fucking charter schools of medical care.

Fuck privatization! Fix the VA! Fix public schools! Fuck the parasites.

[midnight]

3. I posted an article a few weeks back that talks about the success of the veterans hospital and why

they were used as a model for health care for all. So they were destroyed. and I guess this is how they are going to make sure they never serve the best with the best health care.

[yeoman6987]

4. You are not getting a monthly check from the VA

For any disability percentage?

[AwakeAtLast]

12. Ha Ha, are you?

If you are, then you know how appallingly little you receive for your sacrifice.

[yeoman6987]

13. I am. That is why I asked. I am not embarrassed by it

And actually hope you are. I was going to tell you to put in a claim and how to do it if you weren't.

[AwakeAtLast]

14. No, but my husband does

I apologize, tone is hard to read. I read your post as an argument for vouchers. I think the VA needs to be fully funded.

Hearing loss, MTBI, and short term memory loss nets him $130/month.

I think that is appallingly little for his sacrifice.

[yeoman6987]

16. I do too. 130 dollars....spit!

They need to pay him 10 times that at least.

[Politicalboi]

5. People should boycott the military

When NO new recruits come in they'll think twice about this stupid idea.

[AwakeAtLast]

11. As long as they keep the economy down

Poor 18 y/o don't have many choices.

[certainot]

9. but they will sell it from your local radio station and even

though its licensed to operate in the public interest that station will do what ALEC wants.

[Octafish]

15. Most people give up on paperwork.

It's great way for government to save money so it can give tax breaks to the warmongers and pay bonuses to banksters.

It's win.

[forthemiddle]

17. Vouchers can be great for some

My Dad lived over 2 hours from his VA Hospital. Although there was a satellite clinic closer, all the specialty care was in Milwaukee.
He had both Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Pulmonary fibrosis, necessitating two specialists. Those visits were NEVER made on the same day, or time so he would have to travel multiple times.
Even for basic labs he needed to drive 45 minutes to the satellite clinic.
As he got older, and more disabled this became impossible for him so me, or one of my siblings had to take days off work for basic check ups (15 minute appointments for a total of 5 hour round trip travel time?)

There should be vouchers for patients that need care without a long drive. During his final weeks of life, he was in the ICU at a local hospital (thankfully or me and my siblings could not have spent his final days with him around the clock like we could here), yet the VA refused to authorize payment. Thankfully by that time he was covered by Medicare. If he would have gotten so sick a few years before in the same circumstances he would have died with self pay medical bills in the $100,000 of dollars.

Vouchers would have been a godsend for us.