Obama Drops Plan to Bill Veterans' Private Insurers
By spalladino
@spalladino (17891)
United States
March 19, 2009 1:19pm CST
How come when we win one no one posts about it?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031803394.html
[i]By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 19, 2009; Page A03
President Obama yesterday abandoned a proposal to bill veterans' private insurance companies for the treatment at VA hospitals of combat-related injuries amid an outcry over the measure from veterans' service organizations and members of Congress.
The proposal would have authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs to charge private companies for treating injuries and other medical conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, that are related to military service. The measure was intended to save VA about $530 million a year, but the administration's pursuit of third-party billing sparked resistance from leaders of veterans groups, who met this week with Obama.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement yesterday that the president has "instructed that its consideration be dropped."
"In considering the third-party billing issue, the administration was seeking to maximize the resources available for veterans," Gibbs said. "However, the president listened to concerns raised by the [organization leaders] that this might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families' ability to access health care." [/i]
The rest of the article can be found at the Washington Post website linked above.
4 people like this
15 responses
@deejean06 (1952)
• United States
19 Mar 09
Hi spalladino! I'm so happy to hear that but I'm a bit cynical... will this be dropped now because there was too much resistance to the suggestion and then snuck in to the next spending bill? I certainly hope not. I hope this is the end of spitting on the military.
3 people like this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
21 Mar 09
Guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open. It looks like lots of folks, not just here, are paying attention these days.
@deejean06 (1952)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Well that seems to be the administration's method of passing measures with the least resistance...
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
20 Mar 09
This news just came out today and you are posting it today. As such I think it's impossible for you to say that nobody else would have posted it had you not done so yourself.
Either way I'm glad this has been dropped. From what I've read even congressional democrats were furious over his attempt to show such disrespect to the men and women who fight for our country. There is just no excuse for such a thing.
3 people like this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
20 Mar 09
The announcement was made on the 18th. I couldn't find the original article I read from the 18th. so posted the one the Post printed on the 19th. I do agree with the rest of what you posted though. 
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
20 Mar 09
I'm glad it was dropped, but this did expose Obama for the anti military, anti vet tapeworm that he is.
3 people like this
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
19 Mar 09
They are already doing this if you are retired or discharged. They charge medicare, medicaid, and private insurance. It was most likely a simple step to decide to do it with active vets who are in the National Guard. The only problem is, is that most of the private ins. companies have a clause in them if you are a weekend warrior. They will not pay for combat injuries. They only cover normal everyday stuff.
Shalom~Adoniah
2 people like this
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
21 Mar 09
I am a vet, and they will not recognize my problem as service connected. I spent years paying for my own medical until I could no longer work and lost everything. Now I live in subsidized housing and I do get the minimal VA medical. But if I needed to go to the hospital for anything on an emergency, I would have to pay for it myself. Which I cannot afford. Even when you get preapproved for VA payment, they do not pay much of it. I am still stuck with half of the last medical bill I got.
Shalom
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
21 Mar 09
This is true, they won't. My husband is 100% disabled vet so the insurance I had when I was working wasn't a factor but I've seen plenty of others with lower disability ratings sharing the cost of care with their private insurance companies.
1 person likes this
@gwoman2 (710)
• United States
19 Mar 09
Hi Spalladino,
come on Spalladino, you know as well as I do that the naysayers are NOT going to respond to something good that our Obama is doing, that's just the way it is...but they are sure fast enough to criticize any little thing that is negative...
Have you read the post about some book about Obama and his alleged affair?
People make me sick, but then again, people are people and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion no matter how WRONG they are!!
~G~
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
19 Mar 09
The man that wrote that book has been discredited by everyone that has interviewed him. I can't imagine that someone would publish such a book. I hope that Obama sues the publisher and gets a public apology, that's ridiculous. I didn't vote for him but I respect the office and he doesn't deserve to have a book of lies about his personal life published.
I heard the guy interviewed and at the end of it the talk show host told the audience that the guy was probably lying and please not believe any of that garbage.
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
19 Mar 09
Glad to hear they tossed that braindead idea out the window. This was a terribly bad move. I'm guessing though that this is not over. It might pop up after the next election. IMO Obama right now is still election minded and will drop unpopular measures for now. We'll see.
3 people like this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
21 Mar 09
It might but we'll be ready for it if it does. It's bad enough that it took 30 years for PTSD to be recognized as a real illness and it's bad enough that some vets get the shaft from the V.A. when it comes to their medical care now. One thing in their favor is that they're organized and, as a group, capable of making a lot of noise.
@snowy22315 (179697)
• United States
19 Mar 09
I like Obama alot and I'm sure his idea was just to save the taxpayers some money but the idea of making veterans pay their own health insurance when they have served their country I think is an idea that was just wrong. I think that Obama and his
administration are just asking for trouble with a bill like that.
2 people like this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
20 Mar 09
I couldn't agree more. My husband is a 100% disabled vet with PTSD, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and a few other things. He's on approximately 15 different medications and is cared for by 5 different doctors right now. There's no way we could afford his care and medication with private insurance...if anyone would even take him.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
19 Mar 09
I was quite upset when I heard about the proposal and I'm relieved that it's being dropped. I heard about it this morning but figured someone-a lot of someones!-would post about it so I didn't.
2 people like this
@patms1 (521)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Why are you surprised that something good he did is in the papers? Most of today's newspapers are so left they keep saying O can do no wrong. I read in mylot about a book that's coming out about what he did in Chicago. Thank God for mylot or I would never had heard of it. Making a speech using his ever faithful TelePrompter he read off the Irish Ambassador's TelePrompter by mistake. If it had been Bush we would be hearing joke after joke. I just hope America can survivor the next four years. I am starting to be very afraid. If O and his crowd have their way America will be a suburb of Mexico's.
1 person likes this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Hi, spalladino! So Obama decided to drop the plan, I am just wondering, why didn't he thought about this beforehand? Coming to an agreement should have been made after this was well thought through. He has confused many Americans and I am sorry that it had to be this way..
1 person likes this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Hi cream! It seem, more and more, that many things are not well thought out beforehand and that really concerns me. It's hard to tell whether it's due to a lack of understanding, a lack of caring or trickery. I guess time will tell.
1 person likes this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Yep you're right noone will talk about about it. I'm sure that people that hate him will continue to hate him and those that like him will continue to like him. This country is no longer the "United" states....
2 people like this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Well people are going to hate him for this because he WANTED to do it. It's good that he realized how stupid an idea it was, but the fact that he wanted to do it shows a blatant disregard for the health care and well being of our military.
I think many of those that were against him spent the last two months waiting for him to give them a reason to like him. So far, that just hasn't happened. Instead, many of those who liked him have changed their minds. That is evidenced by the fact that his approval ratings have dropped from 69% in his first week to 56% right now.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
3 people like this
@bmorehouse1 (1028)
• United States
20 Mar 09
Thank God for small miracles! I just couldn't imagine that Obama would be so inconsiderate to our soldiers and their families. I'm glad that it got dropped. I'm just waiting for the next proposal that he will try to impose on the American people. We have to stay on top of these things and let our Congressman know that we are not in favor of his bad ideas.
@AngryKittyMSV (4317)
• United States
19 Mar 09
You can't say "nobody posts about it", YOU are posting about it and you are certainly not nobody! 
There is so much going on at such a rapid pace lately that most of us can't keep up and the media has completely forgotten about actually reporting news, so it's left to the people - and we the people are looking in ten different directions at once trying to figure out where it's all coming from and what's coming next.
Thank you for sharing some good news. I suspect that it is because the people raised their voices so loudly against it is behind it being dropped for now.
We need to keep paying attention and raise our voices every time some questionable assault on the American people rears it's ugly head, and we also need to pay attention and let the powers that be know when we think they get something right. I just wish they'd get more right and stop doing so much messed up stuff - like the TRILLION DOLLARS (that we don't have) that the Fed decided yesterday to use to buy up debt from the Treasury, (which is basically shifting non-existent money from one pocket to another in the same pair of pants with holes in the pockets) and they will do this buy printing more money (with nothing to back it up) which will further devalue the dollar and result in hyper inflation just like what they now have in Zimbabwe where they carry wheelbarrows full of money to pay for a single loaf of bread.
There is so much going on at such a rapid pace lately that most of us can't keep up and the media has completely forgotten about actually reporting news, so it's left to the people - and we the people are looking in ten different directions at once trying to figure out where it's all coming from and what's coming next.
Thank you for sharing some good news. I suspect that it is because the people raised their voices so loudly against it is behind it being dropped for now.
We need to keep paying attention and raise our voices every time some questionable assault on the American people rears it's ugly head, and we also need to pay attention and let the powers that be know when we think they get something right. I just wish they'd get more right and stop doing so much messed up stuff - like the TRILLION DOLLARS (that we don't have) that the Fed decided yesterday to use to buy up debt from the Treasury, (which is basically shifting non-existent money from one pocket to another in the same pair of pants with holes in the pockets) and they will do this buy printing more money (with nothing to back it up) which will further devalue the dollar and result in hyper inflation just like what they now have in Zimbabwe where they carry wheelbarrows full of money to pay for a single loaf of bread. 2 people like this
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
21 Mar 09
One of the benefits of coming to this board is that so many people provide so much information. I don't have as much free time as I did before we opened the business so I miss a lot lately but I do make the time to send emails and make calls so that my voice is heard. Don't know if it does any good half the time but I'm not going to sit here and do nothing.
1 person likes this
@aprilj1231 (288)
• United States
20 Mar 09
This brings to mind a comment I heard about Obama prior to the election....I have heard it said that he is like a chameleon, and can be whatever he needs to be at the time. He reminds me of a man who wets his finger and holds it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing so he knows which way he should go. He is not a man of principle and honor, he's a man who does what he thinks will earn him the most "brownie" points. He doesn't do what's right, he does what's popular. As a senator he voted in favor of the war and then voted against supplying our troops with the equipment and body armour they desperately needed. Why the change of heart? I'm glad you asked, because people had calmed down a little after the heartbreak and outrage that had us all devestated after 9/11 and the war was no longer popular. War is never popular, but there will always be times when wars must be fought. He's an antiwar, anitpatriot and is known to not even salute the flag of the nation that he is now the leader of. Make no mistake, he did not call a halt to this Insurance proposal because he woke up this morning and had a sudden change of heart becuase he thought about the message he was sending to our fighting men and women and their families, he called a halt to it because he saw the public outcry his assanine brainchild sparked.
1 person likes this
