Big Dogs Weblog

Maybe Veterans Should Pay For Their Own Care

by Big Dog on Mar 14, 2009 at 12:46 Political

During the campaign there was all this noise that Bush and the Republicans had let down the veterans of this country and had not properly taken care of those who were wounded because of Bush’s “illegal” war. Obama told people that he would do many wonderful things to take care of veterans because, as we know, only the government can run health care efficiently.

It was ridiculous to even suggest that Obama cared more for vets than McCain or Bush did. Bush increased the VA Budget by more nearly 60% and McCain voted against bills dealing with vets because he believed some of the provisions in them were wrong. It is important to see all the components of a bill to avoid unintended consequences. For instance, if one did not pay attention he might sign an Executive Order lifting the ban on federal funding for Embryonic (which is a fertilized egg Mr. Clinton) Stem Cell Research and then sign a bill banning federal funding for it. That is what happens when one fails to pay attention.

The Obama administration is floating the idea of making veterans pay for health care for service connected injuries. Currently, vets who use the VA for non service related items like the flu use their private insurance to pay for it. Obama’s plan, which is being considered, would require the vets to use their priate insurance to pay for any visit including those for service related injuries.

Of course this will never fly and will be soundly defeated long before it ever gets any serious consideration. The nation has an obligation to provide the care and even Obama cannot change that. There are probably many Democrats who would like to do it but they know it would be political suicide.

But considering such a thing brings up a few interesting points. First we have to look back a few years ago when a big stink was made about the conditions under which wounded warriors were living. Walter Reed hospital came under fire because of a building it was using to house the injured. The building did not belong to the Department of the Army (DA) and the DA was not responsible for its repair. Walter Reed is on the BRAC list and is set to shut down some time in the future and that means spending money on repair is not an option. Couple all this with months of delays in care for our troops, paperwork problems, computers that run on different systems and can’t “talk” to each other, and the numerous other problems that were exposed and you end up with a full blown investigation. You end up with commanders being relieved of their command and finger pointing as to whom takes care of the troops better. What we all miss is the underlying problem and its implication on our society as a whole.

The Veteran’s Administration is a government agency that runs government health care. It is responsible for ALL the health care of our eligible veterans and it has been around for a very long time. One would think that it would be able to provide great services at low cost. It is obvious that Obama would like private insurance to pay for the service related injuries but that is not part of the deal. The government is obligated to pay for the troops injuries. What is a crime is that they must go to the VA to get the care in the first place.

Our troops should be able to go to real, non government, hospitals that are not bloated like the VA. They should be able to get care and have the government billed for it. This would reduce greatly all the problems with the health care system that is run completely by the government.

Remember now folks, the VA has had a very long time to get things right and they still have all the problems people associate with the government “red tape.” Now, the government wants to take that well run success and force it on the entire population under some misguided idea that everyone is entitled to free health care. Notice how I wrote that? You see, everyone in this country (those here legally) has a right to access to health care and as far as I can tell that exists. What people do not have a right to is for someone else to pay for it. People should be required to pay for their medical care just like they pay for other things and if they have to, it should be paid for over time. There is NO RIGHT to free health care and there is certainly nothing that says it is government’s job to provide health care.

All one needs to do is look at the VA model to know what the rest of the country will get if health care is nationalized. It will be so expensive that decisions will be made by administrators as to whom gets care. Obama wants vets to use their private insurance for service related injuries because the care of the VA is expensive. When they have effectively mandated health care coverage and have eliminated or reduced private insurance how will they reduce costs? They can’t push it to insurance that does not exist so they will ration it.

We have learned a little from this story. The first is that Obama does not care for veterans one iota more than Bush or McCain did and those suggestions in the campaign were ridiculous then as they are now. We learned that government run care is extremely expensive, wrought with inefficiency, and not on a par with that provided int he private sector. We learned that universal health care is a STUPID idea that has failed everywhere it has been tried.

Keep this in mind. When Fidel Castro needed surgery he did not allow his socialized medicine to take care of him, he flew surgeons into his country. When Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a brain tumor he did not fly to Canada or Europe to be treated. He went to the best the US has to offer.

Under universal health care Kennedy might have been seen because he is part of the elite who run the country. You can bet your bottom dollar that any regular person who had the same demographics as ole uncle Ted would not have all that money spent to take care of a brain tumor. How many people from other countries (especially the wealthy, rulers and connected) come here for care? Why is that?

We never see the celebrities going to Europe, or Canada, or Cuba for their medical care. I wonder how many times Michael Moore has been treated in these other countries. It would be interesting to see what he does should he develop a terrible illness. I am betting he would not ask to be shipped to the countries he applauded in his crockumentary.

Obama’s desire to cut costs associated with veteran care is an insight into the problems of Socialized medicine which is what the VA and Medicare (as well as Medicaid) are all about. Government has never run these things efficiently. Why does anyone think that giving them a larger part of the health care system will make them do it better.

And you can bet, Obama and all the politicians will NEVER use Socialized medicine when they can be like Uncle Ted and get great care anywhere.

Some might look at the idea of charging vets for their service related as a problem and it is. However, the whole sordid mess exposes the dark underbelly of Socialized medicine and how terrible it would be for us.

Others:
Don Surber
Hot Air

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Tags: health care, Obama, payment, socialism, socialized medicine, veterans