Has John Kerry weighed in yet on a VA plan being considered?

[beachmom]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/03/17/veterans_insurance.html

The Obama administration is considering making veterans use private insurance to pay for treatment of combat and service-related injuries.

The plan would be an about-face on what veterans believe is a longstanding pledge by the government to pay for health care costs that result from their military service.

But in a White House meeting Monday, veterans groups apparently failed to persuade President Barack Obama to take the plan off the table.

“It’s a betrayal,” said Joe Violante, legislative director of Disabled American Veterans, which signed a letter of protest to Obama. “My insurance company didn’t send me to Vietnam, my government did. The same holds true for men and women now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the government’s responsibility.”

“Veterans of all generations agree that this proposal is bad for the country and bad for veterans,” said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “If the president and the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) want to cut costs, they can start at AIG, not the VA.”

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the president intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540 million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran’s condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits. The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered.

Sounds like a really bad idea to me, unless I am missing something.

[karynnj]

1. I'm with you on it really being a bad idea for two reasons

1) They are owed the best possible treatment paid by the VA with no problems.
2) This is an unfair burden on the private insurance plans. They could not foresee the risk that their covered person would be injured in war.

At first, I thought that this could just be the idea that was discussed in the campaign that the VA would pay for treatment at some non-VA hospitals if the distance was great to get to the VA hospitals.

I haven't seen anything from Kerry on this - but it seems to be the type of thing he spoke against from the moment he returned from Vietnam. The lack of a comment could mean he is working behind the scenes, but if Obama's plan is what vet organizations say on the left and right, it would be a betrayal of himself if he didn't fight it - even though he is an ally of Obama's.

[Mass]

2. I've seen that earlier and I could not figure out why they want to do that.

I agree it is really a bad idea.

[TayTay]

3. Not yet.

This is pretty new stuff. I had heard about this, but have not seen anything in print or anything close to a formal proposal on this anywhere.

Sometimes the Administration "floats" an idea to test reaction before they actually do anything formal with it. (Like get someone to introduce it as legislation.) Maybe that is what is happening here. SO, if you hate this, call your legislators. (Heck, call my legislators) and let them know.

[beachmom]

4. The proposal seems to be dead:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_03/017350.php

WHITE HOUSE BACKS AWAY FROM VA PROPOSAL.... Following up on an item from last week, the Obama administration was reportedly weighing a change in how military veterans' healthcare would be paid for. Under existing policy, private insurance companies help pay for veterans' care that is not service related. Administration officials considered the possibility of charging insurance companies for service-related injuries, too, at a savings to the VA of a half-billion dollars annually.

To put it mildly, the idea, which the White House never fully embraced, was not well received. Democratic lawmakers balked at the very suggestion. Veterans' groups issued strong denunciations. Even Jon Stewart expressed outrage at the mere possibility.

Today, the administration reportedly abandoned the idea altogether.

The White House on Wednesday backed off a controversial plan that would have dramatically altered the way the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles insurance claims, after veterans groups staged an all-out fight against such a proposal.

President Obama will not pursue a proposal that would have allowed the VA to charge private insurance companies for the treatment of veterans with service- and war-related injuries. The proposal raised the ire of prominent Democrats on the House and Senate Veterans Affairs panels. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was the first to publicly announce Wednesday afternoon that the president won't pursue such proposal.

Hat tip: Babylon Sister

[JI7]

5. but i don't know why they would think this would be a good idea at all

unless it's really something else they intend to do but kind of similar or related to this.