When veterans die -- from lack of health insurance
More than 1.5 million vets don't have it, and 2,200 vets die every year because of it
By Joan Walsh
It's Veterans Day, and members of both parties compete to show service members the most respect. How about passing health insurance reform?
Two Harvard researchers chose today to release a study showing that 1.5 million American veterans have no health insurance, and more than 2,200 die every year because of it. Working-poor veterans are at particular risk -- they earn too much money to qualify for certain Veterans Administration programs, but they work in jobs that don't provide insurance and they don't earn enough to buy it themselves.
"The uninsured have about a 40 percent higher risk of dying each year than otherwise comparable insured individuals," David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, told Agence France Presse. "Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 -- 2,266 veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance." Fourteen times as many vets died for lack of health insurance than were killed in Afghanistan last year.
Meanwhile, conservative Sen. Tom Coburn continues to block a needed veterans' healthcare bill because it's too expensive.
read more here
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2009/11/11/veterans_day/
Showing posts with label private medical insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label private medical insurance. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Nancy Pelosi announces end of private insurance talk for wounded warriors
Pelosi: Administration Will Not Force Veterans to Use Private Insurance to Pay for Treatment of Combat-Related Injuries
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this afternoon that the Obama Administration would not proceed with a proposal that could have forced veterans to use their private insurance to pay for the treatment of combat-related injuries.
Pelosi made the announcement at a meeting she and House Democrats hosted this afternoon in the Capitol with leaders of veterans' service organizations, who greeted the news with a standing ovation. Below are the Speaker's remarks.
"Good afternoon and thank you all very much for coming. Thank you for your leadership, for your service to our country, for your generosity of spirit to America's heroes, for helping us make better policy to honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, both when they are in active duty and when they come home. As you know, in the military, the expression is: 'On the battlefield, we leave no soldier behind.' And when they come home, working with you, we will leave no veteran behind.
"Particular to today's meeting and a subject of some conversation, I'm pleased to announce that we have some good news. Over the past several days, President Obama has listened to the genuine concerns expressed by veterans' leaders and veterans' service organizations regarding the option of billing service connected to veterans' insurance companies.
"Based on the respect that President Obama has for our nation's veterans and the principled concerns expressed by veterans' leaders, the President has made the decision that the combat-wounded veterans should not be billed through their insurance policies for combat-related injuries. [Applause.]
"I want to thank all of you, our friends came to me from the American Legion and many of you expressed your views on this subject. You had a great champion, of course, in Chet Edwards, who is Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on veterans; the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Bob Filner; the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Skelton, who is here; and the man who writes the budget, and he was never going to put this in the budget, I know, John Spratt.
"I want to thank them and you for making this important change. But it wasn't just the Chairmen inside the Congress, it was our Members as well. Mr. Brad Ellsworth is here, John Hall, Tim Walz, Jim Marshall, Glenn Nye, Vic Snyder; they and so many other Members, Gene Taylor. They -- and many members of the Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees and Mr. Edwards, Appropriations Committee on Veterans Issues -- worked hard to make this clear so that this issue is now behind us.
"We have important work to do. Because of you, we have been able to have the biggest increases in veterans' benefits in the history of the VA. We did that a couple years ago as soon as we took the majority. And last year, we even did one better and now, working together under the leadership of President Obama, in the budget we have even more dramatic increases to meet the needs of America's heroes.
"So thank you all for the role that you are playing in this, and we look forward to this discussion today. Thank you all very much for joining us."
SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this afternoon that the Obama Administration would not proceed with a proposal that could have forced veterans to use their private insurance to pay for the treatment of combat-related injuries.
Pelosi made the announcement at a meeting she and House Democrats hosted this afternoon in the Capitol with leaders of veterans' service organizations, who greeted the news with a standing ovation. Below are the Speaker's remarks.
"Good afternoon and thank you all very much for coming. Thank you for your leadership, for your service to our country, for your generosity of spirit to America's heroes, for helping us make better policy to honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, both when they are in active duty and when they come home. As you know, in the military, the expression is: 'On the battlefield, we leave no soldier behind.' And when they come home, working with you, we will leave no veteran behind.
"Particular to today's meeting and a subject of some conversation, I'm pleased to announce that we have some good news. Over the past several days, President Obama has listened to the genuine concerns expressed by veterans' leaders and veterans' service organizations regarding the option of billing service connected to veterans' insurance companies.
"Based on the respect that President Obama has for our nation's veterans and the principled concerns expressed by veterans' leaders, the President has made the decision that the combat-wounded veterans should not be billed through their insurance policies for combat-related injuries. [Applause.]
"I want to thank all of you, our friends came to me from the American Legion and many of you expressed your views on this subject. You had a great champion, of course, in Chet Edwards, who is Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on veterans; the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Bob Filner; the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Skelton, who is here; and the man who writes the budget, and he was never going to put this in the budget, I know, John Spratt.
"I want to thank them and you for making this important change. But it wasn't just the Chairmen inside the Congress, it was our Members as well. Mr. Brad Ellsworth is here, John Hall, Tim Walz, Jim Marshall, Glenn Nye, Vic Snyder; they and so many other Members, Gene Taylor. They -- and many members of the Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs Committees and Mr. Edwards, Appropriations Committee on Veterans Issues -- worked hard to make this clear so that this issue is now behind us.
"We have important work to do. Because of you, we have been able to have the biggest increases in veterans' benefits in the history of the VA. We did that a couple years ago as soon as we took the majority. And last year, we even did one better and now, working together under the leadership of President Obama, in the budget we have even more dramatic increases to meet the needs of America's heroes.
"So thank you all for the role that you are playing in this, and we look forward to this discussion today. Thank you all very much for joining us."
SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
President Obama, don't pass the buck of veteran's care
Good luck to them! According to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which we had at the time my husband's claim was tied up, the insurance companies do not have to cover any services related to serving the nation. According to them, it's the responsibility of the government to cover any condition caused, or related to serving this nation. If the insurance industry can figure that one out, then what the hell is wrong with Congress and what is President Obama thinking? He cannot pass the buck onto them for what serving this nation cost them in blood, body and mind.
Vets object to billing private insurance for service injuries
CNN - USA
Story Highlights
Possible change in billing angers veterans groups
White House would neither confirm nor deny the option is being considered
Argument for the proposal would be to free up more money for VA
Spokesman: Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust"
By Adam Levine
Pentagon Supervising Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans groups are warning President Barack Obama against going ahead with a possible administration move to charge veterans' private health care for service-related injuries.
Veterans groups say it's "wholly unacceptable" to charge their private insurance for service injuries.
In a letter sent by 11 of the most prominent veterans organizations, the groups warned that the idea "is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much."
CNN obtained a copy of the letter sent to the White House last Friday by groups including The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Read the letter (PDF)
A White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the option is being considered.
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