Obama budget defunds veterans' choice program that he touted in SOTU

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Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#1
Obama's budget would defund VA program allowing vets to seek care outside system

The Obama administration is seeking to allow the diversion of funding from a program the president signed into law just in August, after much dispute.

The Veterans Choice Program, authored by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, provides military vets with a "choice" card that allows them to seek healthcare more quickly at designated facilities outside the dysfunctional Veterans Affairs medical system. The Department of Veterans Affairs, though, says many Choice card holders aren't using their cards, and that most veterans prefer receiving treatment at VA facilities.
Veterans aren't using the program because the bureaucracy of the VA is not giving them access to it. I got a notice in the mail myself regarding the Choice Program. It has a toll-free number I was to call, but since I already have Tri-Care and my wife's health insurance, I didn't bother. Friends, however, have told me of a nightmare experience calling the number, having to answer a slew of questions, and then waiting on hold for as much as an hour while some "customer service representative" keeps them on hold -- with music, of course -- before telling them he/she can't confirm their eligibility at this time, and to please try later.

It's bogus horse hockey. The VA wants to keep vets in their system so they can continue to get big budget dollars they then lose, abuse, and misuse, and Obama doesn't want the Choice Program because it would undermine his secret agenda for a single-payer healthcare system for everyone. And this after he, in the State of the Union address, and the Democrats in Congress, touted their support of more money for the VA to build new hospitals and pay more doctors.

Republicans and Democrats may both be most incompetent, but at least some Republicans are trying to cut the budget and support veterans. What are the Democrats doing, other than lying to their faces and then stabbing them in the back?
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
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#2
Got my card too..............but from talking to the Doctors at my local Clinic, it seems that maybe 1 or 2 percent of Vets might end up being eligible for "full coverage" under this program.

If a Vet uses it, they are more likely to be stuck with an expensive Hospital/ER bill when the VA refused to pay it.
 
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Just another way to chunk vets to the corner......I personally think that before a man/woman is elected president they should serve at least 4 years in the military........and they must have an honorable discharge.....

I also think Congress and the President, Vice President should have the same medical services that veterans get.......!
 
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Viligant_Warrior

Guest
#4
I also think Congress and the President, Vice President should have the same medical services that veterans get.......!
If they did, we'd be getting the same medical services they get! :cool:
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
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One topic no one in Washington, or any State Legislature is addressing:

Obama Administration and the Dept. of Veteran Affairs has stopped issuing Identification Cards to Vets........now, granted, Vets can still get medical benefits/treatment by applying at their Local Clinic and being entered into the System, but they will not be issued an ID Card.

This may not seem like a big deal................but it is.
 
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None of you ever think about a national healthcare system? I've lived here all my life and the NHS has never done me wrong. I've been in car accidents, had appendicitis as a kid, got pretty badly hurt in a riot, had stitches and staples several times, been under the knife three times, broke my leg playing soccer, I didn't have to worry about a single penny in any instance, nor did my parents.

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None of you ever think about a national healthcare system? I've lived here all my life and the NHS has never done me wrong. I've been in car accidents, had appendicitis as a kid, got pretty badly hurt in a riot, had stitches and staples several times, been under the knife three times, broke my leg playing soccer, I didn't have to worry about a single penny in any instance, nor did my parents.

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I have actually spent 31 days in Australia over the last three months and through association have come to believe that the health care system in Australia is very good and if the leaders of the U.S. could get their heads out of the loo and the doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, political leaders etc. could come together it might be a good thing for here as well.....the problem is quite simple...the U.S. is or at one time was the main designer, developer of drugs and at one time had had the best medicine in the world.....the cost associated with the above have been past down to the average (joe) and as long as there are hundreds of billions of dollars at stake it will never change in this country.........and lest we forget...we have 20 something million illegals here who pay nothing and clog the system up......more illegals than the population of Australia!
 
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I have actually spent 31 days in Australia over the last three months and through association have come to believe that the health care system in Australia is very good and if the leaders of the U.S. could get their heads out of the loo and the doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, political leaders etc. could come together it might be a good thing for here as well.....the problem is quite simple...the U.S. is or at one time was the main designer, developer of drugs and at one time had had the best medicine in the world.....the cost associated with the above have been past down to the average (joe) and as long as there is hundreds of billions of dollars at stake it will never change in this country.........and lest we forget...we have 20 something million illegals here who pay nothing and clog the system up......
Yea Australia have MediCare, it's a little bit similar to the NHS but not as comprehenseive as far as I'm aware. Then again, it's only a recent addition to the country. The NHS has been around since 1948!

To be fair, if you cut US military expenditure in half you could probably subsidize most hospitals and bulk buy pharamaceutical drugs and equipment to a degree sufficient until the next budget comes through. Like, per persn, the UK gov't spends less than half what the US gov't spends on healthcare (and we as citizens get treatment FREE at point of contact) and that's because of deals with pharmaceutical companies on prices.

British people are fiercely anti-privitization when it comes to healthcare so anybody who wants to sell drugs in the UK is best to approach and appease the NHS.
 
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Yea Australia have MediCare, it's a little bit similar to the NHS but not as comprehenseive as far as I'm aware. Then again, it's only a recent addition to the country. The NHS has been around since 1948!
Yeah I know.....it amazes me how little they have to pay for it as well.....my personal friend went to the doctor like last week and the prescription was only $1.70....I was amazed! In the U.S. it would have been $50!
 
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Yeah I know.....it amazes me how little they have to pay for it as well.....my personal friend went to the doctor like last week and the prescription was only $1.70....I was amazed! In the U.S. it would have been $50!
Ours are absolutely free, for everyone.

$50 for a prescription is just extortionate
 
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The reason healthcare in the US is so expensive and inaccessable for so many is really fairly simple; it's for profit. The NHS only runs a profit for medical research, to pay its overheads, costs and staff. It's not got that whole ''let's make billions off this'' vibe to it. It was set up to treat people, to help people, and to provide health for people, and that is (and I hope always will be) its primary function in existence.
 
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Ours are absolutely free, for everyone.

$50 for a prescription is just extortionate
That is awesome.....and to be frank......man that is a generic prescript.....A lot of Americans have to pay hundreds of (pounds) a month for the drugs they need to keep them alive...and let us not talk about chemo....like $5000 to $15000 a dose....My kid when he was born spent 5 months in intensive care....cost $885,000 dollars and over $185,000 in drugs.......crazy over here for sure........!
 
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The reason healthcare in the US is so expensive and inaccessable for so many is really fairly simple; it's for profit. The NHS only runs a profit for medical research, to pay its overheads, costs and staff. It's not got that whole ''let's make billions off this'' vibe to it. It was set up to treat people, to help people, and to provide health for people, and that is (and I hope always will be) its primary function in existence.
I agree for sure......money hungry corporations......!
 
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That is awesome.....and to be frank......man that is a generic prescript.....A lot of Americans have to pay hundreds of (pounds) a month for the drugs they need to keep them alive...and let us not talk about chemo....like $5000 to $15000 a dose....My kid when he was born spent 5 months in intensive care....cost $885,000 dollars and over $185,000 in drugs.......crazy over here for sure........!
Mate, my heart is literally aching for you right now. $885,000 to pay some people to save your child's life? That's just insanity. Absolute insanity. That's 14 times the national average wage in the USA.

If you were here it wouldn't cost you a penny.
 
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Mate, my heart is literally aching for you right now. $885,000 to pay some people to save your child's life? That's just insanity. Absolute insanity.

If you were here it wouldn't cost you a penny.
Well, all I can say is welcome to America........she had a good run, but has grown base for sure.....thanks and even to this day some 19 years later it takes $300,000 a year to take care of (booger) and provide the things he needs to sustain his life......Even though you and I fire each other up sometimes I appreciate the sentiment...thanks bro!
 
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I really can't believe it's that bad. The hospitals in the USA must make numbers of money I can't even fathom. That's almost a million dollars, or closer to £500,000 in the UK. That's more than I make in ten years.

I really don't .... I mean, how can this be considered okay??
 
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Well, all I can say is welcome to America........she had a good run, but has grown base for sure.....thanks and even to this day some 19 years later it takes $300,000 a year to take care of (booger) and provide the things he needs to sustain his life......Even though you and I fire each other up sometimes I appreciate the sentiment...thanks bro!
Naw man if ever you've said something that offended me, or otherwise, I think to know this has given me a profound compassion towards you. If you're ever angry, I'll think back and know, understanding, that you don't have it easy man. I really can't express enough how much of an injustice this seems to me. It's just barbaric.
 
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I really can't believe it's that bad. The hospitals in the USA must make numbers of money I can't even fathom. That's almost a million dollars, or closer to £500,000 in the UK. That's more than I make in ten years.

I really don't .... I mean, how can this be considered okay??
Yeah I know.....I can tell you that many American has lost everything due to medical bills....Like someone who needs a bypass....you might as well right off a $100000 or more.....It really is a big business for sure....
 
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Naw man if ever you've said something that offended me, or otherwise, I think to know this has given me a profound compassion towards you. If you're ever angry, I'll think back and know, understanding, that you don't have it easy man. I really can't express enough how much of an injustice this seems to me. It's just barbaric.
Thanks and appreciate it bro.......!