GOP Senator Calls Veteran’s Care ‘Entitlement’ We ‘Can’t Afford’

[nehalem256]

That has no bearing on anything -- you signed up to serve......it does not matter is you served in combat or not...it does not matter if you were disabled or not...what matters is if you are a veteran!!

Well I would think that it matters if your disability is related to your service in the military(whether in combat or not).

 

[nehalem256]

“I feel strongly we’ve got to do the right thing for our veterans. But I don’t think we should create a blank check, an unlimited entitlement program, now.”

Lol. Someone actually has a problem with him saying that?

No wonder liberals don't see fraud in entitlement programs.

 

[Orignal Earl]

He has plenty of money for the teeth, but they kept moving his appointment telling him they will take care of it.

Wtf...
You both sat there while his health was being endangered for a year and you could of fixed it in a day?

 

[Newell Steamer]

GOP: Go Fuck Yourself America!

 

[rpanic]

Wtf...
You both sat there while his health was being endangered for a year and you could of fixed it in a day?

I tried, but making him do anything is well I hate to say it "like pulling teeth".

 

[rudder]

As if anyone needs more proof how much Republicans hate the troops. Send them off to unnecessary wars then get cheap when it's time to treat them after they get limbs blown off. These people are slime.

Maybe... just maybe it is not the funding levels but an incompetent government organization. Funding for the VA has increased 133% since 2003. The 2015 VA budget includes $400,000,000 in medical-care funding that rolled over from 2014. The same has happened the last 5 years sometimes going as high a $1 billion in unspent medical-care funds.

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Ah I recall when the trillion dollar amount in veterans care was trotted out when arguing against right wing Americas war against common sense.

And here we are.

 

[TerryMathews]

Wtf...
You both sat there while his health was being endangered for a year and you could of fixed it in a day?

The part you're missing is that currently if you seek outside treatment for something the VA will do, that treatment is not reimbursable.

Not saying they made the right call, but I can understand the desire to get what you're owed - the health care from the VA in this case. Paying out of pocket and not getting reimbursed would make me not happy.

 

[nehalem256]

Maybe... just maybe it is not the funding levels but an incompetent government organization. Funding for the VA has increased 133% since 2003. The 2015 VA budget includes $400,000,000 in medical-care funding that rolled over from 2014. The same has happened the last 5 years sometimes going as high a $1 billion in unspent medical-care funds.

The VA 2014 budget request for 2014 was $152.7 billion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Veterans_Affairs

$400M out $150B is basically a rounding error. Would you rather they come back and request an extra couple of billion dollars 11 months into the year?

 

[rudder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Veterans_Affairs

$400M out $150B is basically a rounding error. Would you rather they come back and request an extra couple of billion dollars 11 months into the year?

$400M in medical-care funding which will account for $41B of that line item in the VA budget for 2015. So maybe it is still small potatoes... but I would rather the VA have to ask for more money and not have vets waiting months for an appointment when funding is there. In 2010 the roll over was almost $1.5b, 2011 it was $1.1B, the $400M is the lowest it has been in a number of years.

Hell, the VA will spend $3.5B on IT services this year... you would think they could keep better track of the cash flow.

 

[TerryMathews]

$400M in medical-care funding which will account for $41B of that line item in the VA budget for 2015. So maybe it is still small potatoes... but I would rather the VA have to ask for more money and not have vets waiting months for an appointment when funding is there. In 2010 the roll over was almost $1.5b, 2011 it was $1.1B, the $400M is the lowest it has been in a number of years.

Hell, the VA will spend $3.5B on IT services this year... you would think they could keep better track of the cash flow.

I wonder if the budget rollover is related to the amount of bonuses the employees received?

 

[Orignal Earl]

The part you're missing is that currently if you seek outside treatment for something the VA will do, that treatment is not reimbursable.

I didn't miss that, that's why I figured they couldn't afford it.
I can't even understand how all his vet *friends* sit around and brag how they are screwing the system over, while he is sitting there with no teeth.
Like I always say, so many people here live in entirely different worlds then I do

 

[xaeniac]

Maybe, but maybe there wouldn't be so much of this if people had better access to health care and weren't so desperate. I don't really know anything about medicare, so maybe i'm wrong and there are viable alternatives. It's like care shifting or something. People will do what they have to. Most people would. It's easy to criticize if you're healthy or well off. Am i completely off base?

I think you are off base due to it not being a health care issue but a increase of pension/early retirement for individuals no longer looking to be in service that are getting older. Also these pay,nets are not taxable. Do the research.

 

[shortylickens]

I have met so many people that are frauding the system and they flat out say it and have no shame about it. The VA disability system encourages vets to fraud once they start collecting money they never get better only worse to get more money as they figure out ways to increase their rating.

PTSD really opened the flood gates to fraud. I know that people really suffer from it but there is no way to tell if somebody is just making stuff up. If we went by the way the VA works, every person that has ever seen someone die would be disabled.

I know people that have never seen active duty that are collecting. I will give you guys some examples of people that are working the system.

Friend collecting for stress from STD caught from chick on base, never went overseas he is 40 and as he has more health problems in life his rating will go up.

Coworker just started collecting for some hearing loss at age 65, he laughs about it all the time and is always looking for a way to raise his rating.

Family member at age 55 after being laid off is told by a buddy at VFW about collecting for disability. He started off at a rating of 30%, but with his horrible life style and some spinal damage from a motorcycle accident he is now at a 100% collecting twice as much money (netting over 3k month) than he ever made working, constantly brags about it as he buys about $500-1000 in lottery tickets every month.

Went to my dad’s military reunion, all of his buddies are collecting and they all brag about it and laugh.

I think a lot of the problem comes from the VA basically just writing checks out to people. Seems like every government program that just hands out money for a problem becomes
rife with fraud.

On the other side of the coin dealing with the VA as an advocate for my dad I have seen how the VA screws vets. After they pulled my dad’s teeth he had to wait for a year to get false teeth. He has been waiting over a year to have his cataracts on his eyes removed. His appointments are always being canceled which causes conflicts with other appointments. I have seen the VA delay care as if they are hoping people will die off before they can get to an appointment. I have seen patients being told that they will have to wait months for a life saving surgery, then a family member that is more coherent than the poor drugged vet in the hospital bed gets involved it turns into days.

The whole VA system is a screwed up and inconsistent.

Gee thats funny cuz at the VFW they dont brag about it and they damn sure dont laugh.

Mostly they worry about how they're gonna make ends meet since they cant work and 20% disability isnt enough to buy gasoline.

 

[JEDIYoda]

rpanic are you and charrison brothers?
You both do not seem to know what your talking about.....

 

[unixwizzard]

Actually veterans do not get free healthcare for life.

Some vets can and do get free healthcare.. for life..

-- Former Prisoner of War status

-- 50% or more compensable VA service-connected disabilities (0-40% compensable service- connected may take copay test to determine prescription copay status)

-- Veterans deemed catastrophically disabled by a VA provider

Also if you have a VA-rated service connected injury/disability, all treatment related to that is free.

As for the rest, they have to pay a co-pay for treatment: Primary Care Services: $15, Specialty Care Services: $50, Prescriptions usually run around $8 or $9 for a 30 day supply. A veteran can also become exempt from prescription co-pay's if their income is below a set threshold. To get this they must take a means test every year.

One other thing, if the veteran has private health insurance, for any services that are not exempt from co-pay then their insurance is billed - not sure how that works out with the co-pays.

 

[nehalem256]

As for the rest, they have to pay a co-pay for treatment: Primary Care Services: $15, Specialty Care Services: $50, Prescriptions usually run around $8 or $9 for a 30 day supply. A veteran can also become exempt from prescription co-pay's if their income is below a set threshold. To get this they must take a means test every year.

Sounds basically like an employer provided insurance plan.

 

[cuafpr]

VA benefits need to re-examined because it has become far to easy to get qualified as being disabled. Far too many disabled vets are middle age men with middle age ailments that have never been anywhere close to combat. I spent 10 years as contractor for the DoD and very few of the disabled vets I meet were anywhere close to disabled.

agree with this 100% i know to many vets at 90-100% disability but yet require no medical help for day to day life, have jobs at 100k+

hell sleep apnea will get you 70% in a lot of cases now.

and yes by the book VA benefits are entitlements; ones that are deserved but its what they are nevertheless. And the VA so doesn't need a blank check lol....

all said as a vet.

 

[shortylickens]

I should also point out that really good hospitals like Bethesda are patroned by congressmen, ex-congressmen, and ex-presidents. Also I would bet high level Maryland politicians. Like anyone who votes for the taxpayers to shell out road money or healthcare money that supports some bullshit research doctor.

 

[JEDIYoda]

agree with this 100% i know to many vets at 90-100% disability but yet require no medical help for day to day life, have jobs at 100k+

hell sleep apnea will get you 70% in a lot of cases now.

and yes by the book VA benefits are entitlements; ones that are deserved but its what they are nevertheless. And the VA so doesn't need a blank check lol....

all said as a vet.

So when a vet retires after say 20 years or 30 years in the military with benefits......and say they are 50 years old...what do they do? Just sit around and do nothing? They are entitled to get a 2nd job and are still entitled to those benefits that they served their country for 20+ years.......

Most of you who are crying about the benefits that vets get would never ever consider serving in the military or going to war for our country or for that matter your just afraid and scared and chicken #$@%`s...............it is what it is..deal with it!! They served you did not!!

Yet there was a time when all vets got free medical...that was just part of the package for going to war for our country or for serving in the military in a support capacity!!

 

[feralkid]

Seems like a big thing now for boomers that didn’t save. Now all of a sudden in their 60s they are “disabled”. Morbidly obese, hard of hearing, diabetic, bad eyesight, must be from the time served 30-40 years ago. The mass amount of scammers clog the system and are ruining it.

They served their country and earned the benefits.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Maybe... just maybe it is not the funding levels but an incompetent government organization. Funding for the VA has increased 133% since 2003. The 2015 VA budget includes $400,000,000 in medical-care funding that rolled over from 2014. The same has happened the last 5 years sometimes going as high a $1 billion in unspent medical-care funds.

dainthomas doesn't deserve a rational response...it's all lost on him, he's got the IQ of a pet rock.

 

[cuafpr]

So when a vet retires after say 20 years or 30 years in the military with benefits......and say they are 50 years old...what do they do? Just sit around and do nothing? They are entitled to get a 2nd job and are still entitled to those benefits that they served their country for 20+ years.......

Most of you who are crying about the benefits that vets get would never ever consider serving in the military or going to war for our country or for that matter your just afraid and scared and chicken #$@%`s...............it is what it is..deal with it!! They served you did not!!

Yet there was a time when all vets got free medical...that was just part of the package for going to war for our country or for serving in the military in a support capacity!!

of course they deserve them if the claims are legit, i'm saying its to easy to get to the 70-100% mark now.. if someone is 100% i'd suspect them to not be able to hold a job due to the extent of their disabilities, not out working like a normal healthy adult, going to the gym, playing sports etc.. I'd also expect the injuries to come from on the job related stuff if not combat related. E.G. I worked with a civilian that was 100% b.c. while on terminal leave to retire he wrecked his bike during a motocross event and hurt his neck, bam 100% for off duty accident. Thats the stuff I'm against. My last tour at an HQ was so eye opening watching 20-30 years in people retire get get 70+% retirement and come back as a GS-14-16 doing the same job as before... now triple dipping the system. (Again these are the ones you'd never be able to tell had a disability let alone a 70-100% one).


and in case you missed it I damn well did serve (Even labeled a combat vet though I hate that term for me cause i was never under direct fire) and would still be in if not for an idiot in the white house gutting our nuclear force to a shell of its former self.

 

[Oldgamer]

of course they deserve them if the claims are legit, i'm saying its to easy to get to the 70-100% mark now.. if someone is 100% i'd suspect them to not be able to hold a job due to the extent of their disabilities, not out working like a normal healthy adult, going to the gym, playing sports etc..

You do realize that certain types of mental health conditions keep a person from being able to interact on a job with co workers, or can cause all sorts of issues in job working with people right? That doesn't mean they can't go work out at the gym, which by the way may be recommended for a back injury or to help with a mental health issue. The perception that if a person is disabled should be something you can see is ludicrous. The perception that a mental ill person shouldn't look or act normal or go to the gym is also ridiculous. I help care for a family member who is disabled and we encourage him to get out and go to parks, and do things with people, like a gym if he feels up to it. But he is not capable of holding a job.

It's amazing how lay persons can sit back and judge others because they think a disability has to look or be a certain way in their mind.

 

[dainthomas]

dainthomas doesn't deserve a rational response...it's all lost on him, he's got the IQ of a pet rock.

Lol, what did I do to you? Did I bang your sister or something?

Not sure why the VA is rolling over money for medical care. Maybe it's an issue with leadership, who knows. But this thread is about a Republican wanting to cut money going to veterans. I stand by my assertion that he's a lowlife.