I can't imagine this will fare well...

[Mango]

A good article here explaining how this came to pass........CNSNews.com - White House Declines to Explain Plan to Make Veterans Pay for War Injuries

Trader, did Bush's budget pass? Either way, it's still very close in increased VA funding.

 

[traderx]

Benefits proposal outrages veterans

This article clarifies a bit. So, if we send our men and women into harm's way and they get shot or fragged, Obama wants private insurers to bear, or share, the burden of medical care for injured vets. It is a silly idea at best.

WASHINGTON - An Obama administration proposal to bill veterans' private insurance companies for combat-related injuries has prompted veterans groups to condemn the plan as unethical and powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill to promise their opposition.

Nevertheless, the White House confirmed Tuesday that the idea remains under consideration, and a meeting to discuss it further is scheduled for Thursday between chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and leaders of veterans groups.

The proposal, intended to save the Department of Veterans Affairs $530 million a year, would authorize the VA to bill private insurance companies, or so-called third-party billing, for the treatment of injuries and medical conditions related to military service, such as amputations, post-traumatic stress disorder and other battle injuries. The VA already pursues third-party billing for non-service-related conditions.

 

[Mango]

From my article above:

?The VSO--Veteran Service Organizations--who we?re here yesterday meeting with the president, the VA chief and the chief of staff, and who will return later in the week to meet with the chief of staff, can have confidence that the budget the president proposed represents an historic increase in discretionary spending to take care of any wounded warriors.?

Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Glen M. Gardner Jr. came away from the meeting with a different impression, however. "The president told us that he would not go through with the third-party billing proposal if he felt the veterans' community didn't approve of it," Gardner said in a statement. "We made our opposition clearly known."

 

[Lynnie]

In private health care policies, there are also exclusions, one of which is 'acts of war.'

 

[BeachSiO2]

It appears to have been real, and it appears to be over....

From The Hill website.

"The White House on Wednesday backed off a controversial plan that would have dramatically altered the way the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles insurance claims, after veterans groups staged an all-out fight against such a proposal.

President Obama will not pursue a proposal that would have allowed the VA to charge private insurance companies for the treatment of veterans with service- and war-related injuries. The proposal raised the ire of prominent Democrats on the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs panels. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was the first to announce Wednesday afternoon that the president won?t pursue such proposal."

 

[traderx]

A good article here explaining how this came to pass........CNSNews.com - White House Declines to Explain Plan to Make Veterans Pay for War Injuries

Trader, did Bush's budget pass? Either way, it's still very close in increased VA funding.

I don't know. Tried to research it at the VA site but my eyes glazed over in two minutes.

 

[TooFarTampa]

It appears to have been real, and it appears to be over....

From The Hill website.

"The White House on Wednesday backed off a controversial plan that would have dramatically altered the way the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles insurance claims, after veterans groups staged an all-out fight against such a proposal.

President Obama will not pursue a proposal that would have allowed the VA to charge private insurance companies for the treatment of veterans with service- and war-related injuries. The proposal raised the ire of prominent Democrats on the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs panels. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was the first to announce Wednesday afternoon that the president won?t pursue such proposal."

Well, at least they listen.

 

[ItzKatzTime]

I don't know. Tried to research it at the VA site but my eyes glazed over in two minutes.

My father is a veteran and he has had a hard time with the same thing....red tape and a gallon of glaze!

 

[Will B]

It appears to have been real, and it appears to be over....

Phew!

Nevertheless, he has shown his hand regarding where the military stands with him. Not good...

 

[TooFarTampa]

Phew!

Nevertheless, he has shown his hand regarding where the military stands with him. Not good...

Well I don't think that's quite a fair assessment. Clinton had a somewhat difficult relationship with the military as a whole but I have a different sense overall from Obama, despite this obvious gaffe.

Michelle Obama is all over the news talking about the importance of ongoing support for military familes. Since this "policy" idea seems so opposite from that philosophy, I wonder if it was just a bean-counter thing. Maybe it was even a true lack of understanding of what it is like to be military. But, in my mind even if that is the case, at least it is not outright hostility or even ambivalence. At least I certainly don't think so. I would not jump to conclusions yet.