It seems the President and his people are considering a move to bill veterans' private insurance companies for continuing treatment of combat-related injuries---and oh my, what a hornet's nest they've walked into. Just wait until you see the veterans groups PR machine spool up and begin to criticize this proposal....they will wave the bloody shirt and make the President sorry he ever brought this one up.
I applaud the President for having the courage to consider taking on entitlement spending; I question his selection of initial targets. As we continue to prosecute two wars and his lapdog media presses for the "right" to cover the return of remains to military airbases, it seems odd that he would then begin to levy additional expenses on those who have been wounded in those wars.
As I've written here before, Veterans benefits are incredibly generous (and I am a willing beneficiary thereof), and I see reform here as a reasonable goal for a government seeking to control costs.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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Do you think this is the best vehicle for reform? I think a better one would be to reassess the disability rating determination. It's one thing to get your arm blown off in an IED incident, but quite another to have the highly suspect sleep apnea everyone seems to develop at retirement.
Think of the millions that are disbursed in bogus disability dollars each year. If you restrict that to 'disabilities' that can be directly attributed to service, you'd see a huge savings.
What is never discussed are the down-stream effects. Accessions, retention, the hallmarks of an all-volunteer force are tied to the benefits veterans expect to receive. What do we tell soldiers who are about to go into harm's way? Hey, have your Blue Cross / Blue Shield updated along with your DD93. What will we potentially be left with? Because Soldiers will see no chance of continuing health care, more will remain in Warrior Transition Units on Active Duty (and on the Army Force Structure books) even though their injuries warrant discharge. Some can return to duty, but others must be discharged to make room in the force structure for able bodied soldiers to take their place. This will affect readiness.
The Post reported that the President abandoned this effort. Maybe Veterans need to protest the stimulus package.
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