Michelle Obama, in her Open Letter to Veterans,
published on Sept. 30, says, “If you are a veteran who is uninsured and
hasn’t applied for [Veteran's Administration] coverage, you may be
eligible for [Obama] care through the VA.”
Yet the VA states if you have
non-service related ailments or injuries, you don’t qualify for free
coverage with the VA, fees and co-pays would apply.
The HealthCare.gov website Mrs. Obama recommends veterans go to stipulates that veterans who are enrolled in the VA system are considered “covered” and therefore do not qualify for care under the new health care law. Similarly, veterans who may be enrolled in Tri-Care, the military health care system, do not qualify to use the new Health Insurance Marketplace.
It’s no secret that “there are an
estimated 1.3 million uninsured veterans,” according to Mrs. Obama’s
letter. What may be a secret are the estimated 400,000 veterans
suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - a leading cause of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can lead to social, physical,
mental and emotional health complications, including suicide - which
claims the lives of 22 veterans every day based on the VA’s own data
reported by 21 states from 1999 through 2011. That’s one veteran every
65 minutes.
Mrs. Obama doesn’t even mention these
two devastating conditions for veterans, their families and loved ones.
The VA backlog and ill-equipped and trained VA service providers barely
make a dent in helping those afflicted with TBI and PTSD.
What is the best way to honor our fallen heroes?
“Take care of those who came home,” is the answer given by Dr. Chrisanne Gordon, founder and chairwoman of the Resurrecting Lives Foundation and
physical and rehabilitation physician. Who could disagree with making
sure veterans, our most noble of citizens, who write a blank check to
every man, woman and child in America for their lives, are cared for
when they make it home alive?
Dr. Gordon, on her website, states
that, “It is estimated that only 36 percent of the veterans returning
from the Iraq & Afghanistan wars actually receive treatment through
the Veterans Administration, although all are eligible.”
That’s only 792,000 out of 2.2 million returning veterans.
How will the Affordable Care Act
provide relief for veterans if the VA can’t do it? How can Obamacare
hope to even scratch the surface of treating ailments the government
already can’t get out of its own way on?
The HealthCare.gov website claims that
if a veteran can’t afford private health care coverage they “may be
eligible for Medicaid.” The website also says that “if you’re a veteran
who isn’t enrolled in VA benefits or other veteran’s health coverage,
you can get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.”
But is the Marketplace ready for these
special needs patients? And if they are, can the veteran not enrolled
in VA health care afford it?
“Getting coverage,” means “paying” for
coverage through the Obama Care Marketplace. Why would a veteran, who
qualifies for VA coverage, not go to the VA? It doesn’t make sense.
It’s as if Michelle Obama is trying to
get “caring for veterans” points with a health care merry-go-round that
will deposit the veteran exactly where s/he got on!
Veterans need to be directed to the
VA, and then some need to have their hands held to even get them to sign
up. Medicaid should cover the non-service related costs should the poor
veteran not be able to afford these costs, however, because the Supreme
Court ruled last year it would be up to the states to decide whether or
not to implement Medicaid expansion, an estimated 284,000 poor
veterans, who would have qualified for Medicaid under the expansion,
will not be able to access it.
Obamacare has NOTHING for the veteran,
nor should it. But why the smoke and mirrors towards those who already
are faced with a daunting, bureaucratic labyrinth and well deserved
mistrust of the efficiency of a government program?
It’s a shame that in this age of
returning veterans with complex health care issues we can’t find a
better way to address their needs than with just a confusing “open
letter” to them about something that can do nothing for them.
What we need is to allow veterans to
seek out treatment at any municipal health care facility, just like
Medicaid patients can do. Restricting care for veterans only through the
ridiculous bottleneck of Veterans Administration facilities, which are
inaccessible to most veterans who tend to live far from these
facilities, for an estimated 400,000 suffering the effects of
service-related TBI alone, is trite, myopic, unnecessary and a dishonor
to their sacrifice.
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