The Government-run Health Care We Already Have...

[4est_4est_Gump]

Remember when the Demoncrats were blasting Bush over the conditions at Walter Reed?

Now, how have they managed on their watch?

Phoenix (CNN) -- Mike Rioux can't go to the grocery store without making a list, even for a single item.

He can't drive without gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white. And he can't stand any longer than 30 minutes because of severe back pain.

This is Rioux's life after Afghanistan, where firefights and a roadside bomb blast left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

His ears still ring from the explosions. He suffers from vertigo, headaches, insomnia and nightmares. He has terrible anxiety, evident in an interview with CNN -- Rioux could hardly sit still, and his memory loss and inability to concentrate meant questions had to be repeated at times.

"I need to discover who I am again," he said.

As a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, Rioux most recently was deployed in 2010 to one of the most dangerous spots in Afghanistan. There he survived firefights and blasts and witnessed much carnage in Paktia province, near the volatile Afghan-Pakistan border.
After returning home, Rioux faced a much different battle, one that neither he nor his wife, Maggie, expected.

Confusion is 'monumental'

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it is on track to process 1 million disability claims this year.

With the war in Iraq over and the one in Afghanistan winding down, the VA is sorting through a backlog of more than 860,000 disability claims from American veterans. More than a quarter of those vets -- 228,000 -- have been waiting for a year or more.

Rioux has been trying to get his disability claim fully processed since January 2011, shortly after he returned from Afghanistan.

The litany of delays includes lost paperwork, long wait times for appointments and erroneous lab results. At one point, a doctor prescribed him medication for a bladder infection he didn't have; he'd never given as much as a urine sample.

Because of his debilitating injuries, neither Rioux nor his wife, Maggie, is able to work full time. Rioux said without his wife's care, "I'd be in the fetal position. I'd be curled up in a ball. I couldn't do it."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/29/health/delayed-veterans-benefits/index.html

 

[kbate]

So you are arguing that we should speed up the process of putting just about every vet who served in the 'war on terror' into the system as 'disabled' and get busy with the lifelong benefits?

Are veterans the next welfare queens?

A million case backlog of vets wanting to get a disability cheque? That seems high in an era when the entire active military is only 3 million.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Yeah, this guy sure sounds like he is looking for a free ride and his Obama phone...

 

[Wat_Tyler]

A free phone for the teepee? What will they think of next.


I bet I still have to find my own squaw, tho'.


I have to run away, because a stimulus is sneaking up on me.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Prolly a squaw too...


Men are always the last to figure it out.

 

[kbate]

I did not say that guy was looking for a free ride. How about the "890,000" case backlog though, how many of those are looking for a monthly bonus?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I did not say that guy was looking for a free ride. How about the "890,000" case backlog though, how many of those are looking for a monthly bonus?

Uhhhh...

I thought ya'll supported the troops but hated the mission?

If the administration spent as much time on the VA as they did staffing the White House, adding Czars and planning golf outings and vacations, then there might not be a backlog and we might find that a small percentage of the applications were slackers...

Life is a Bell-curve.

Remember when the Democrats were belly-aching about how many survivors we had because of advance battlefield medical logistics...

One would have thought that they would be more prepared for casualties.

Lord knows they have quit counting deaths...

 

[kbate]

I thought ya'll supported the troops but hated the mission?

If the administration spent as much time on the VA as they did staffing the White House, adding Czars and planning golf outings and vacations, then there might not be a backlog and we might find that a small percentage of the applications were slackers...

Life is a Bell-curve.

Remember when the Democrats were belly-aching about how many survivors we had because of advance battlefield medical logistics...

One would have thought that they would be more prepared for casualties.

Lord knows they have quit counting deaths...

A small percentage? What would be small to you? 1%? 45%?

The white house spends more time fundraising and campaigning than it does on veterans affairs. So has every white house ever. That is why they have a Veteran's Administration @ $130 billion a year (and increasing).

I don't support supporting every troop for the rest of her or his life, I do support the idea of getting them the care they need.

Aren't we allowed to wonder if some of the troops might be attempting to scam the system and get a life time disability cheque? Shouldn't the review process be exacting before permanent disability is granted?

If we stop foreign adventurism, perhaps we'll have time to fix the veterans problems instead of adding to them every day.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

They are not getting the care they need.

That is the point.

Stop worrying a second about some soldier getting one over on you; we get that you fucking hate the military. Whenever the topic comes up, you go fucking mental...

WE GET THAT!

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

When the Harrier squadron was wiped out to the sound of the national press's cricket chirps, you took the occasion to bash the Marines and displayed just as much ignorance about the Marines as merc did about the size of a typical Marine air squadron.



WE GET IT!

 

[Ishmael]

A small percentage? What would be small to you? 1%? 45%?

The white house spends more time fundraising and campaigning than it does on veterans affairs. So has every white house ever. That is why they have a Veteran's Administration @ $130 billion a year (and increasing).

I don't support supporting every troop for the rest of her or his life, I do support the idea of getting them the care they need.

Aren't we allowed to wonder if some of the troops might be attempting to scam the system and get a life time disability cheque? Shouldn't the review process be exacting before permanent disability is granted?

If we stop foreign adventurism, perhaps we'll have time to fix the veterans problems instead of adding to them every day.

Should be at least as rigorous as SSI applications, right.

Ishmael

 

[kbate]

They are not getting the care they need.

That is the point.

Stop worrying a second about some soldier getting one over on you; we get that you fucking hate the military. Whenever the topic comes up, you go fucking mental...

WE GET THAT!

I go mental, but you're into CAPS. Right.

No, I do not hate the military. I hate a system that goes to military intervention without trying anything else. Saddam farts, send a carrier group. Iran says, "Boo", send 3 carriers and a marine division.

You do not know if he is getting the care he needs, the article does not say he is not getting medical care or psychiatric care. He is obviously seeing doctors - whether they are good doctors is hard to say. What it does states that he is unable to work, therefore must be adjudicated as 100% disabled along with his wife and begin receiving lifelong payments.

So your recommendation would be what? Move all civilian doctors over to the VA under emergency orders and fund them with a new tax? Expedite all veteran's claims for permanent disability and get them all onto a dole program? What is your solution other than yelling, "Democrat not Doing Enough"?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

You are dumping on the soldiers because you disagree with the policies.

We get that. It is "small ball."

You are a turd.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Should be at least as rigorous as SSI applications, right.

Ishmael

As rigorous as VOTING???

Is it RACIST?

 

[mercury14]

So AJ is advocating for bigger government again this morning. I guess this is a good follow-up to his comments that the USPS needs to provide photocopying services to the nation.

The White House doesn't need to spend more time on the VA system. Time will do nothing. The fact is that the VA system is too small for the surge of wounded warriors we have in America. Right-sizing the VA is a congressional responsibility, one that will increase the deficit by tens of billions of dollars. Obama and the Democrats could get it done with significant Republican support, however Republicans will just turn around and count this spending against Obama.

The VA system now pays doctors more than it did a decade ago, however it still starts them at under 100k depending on specialty and experience. When I got back to the states a few months ago the first place I looked was the VA - they offered me about 50k less than what I was offered in the private sector (with the benefit of counting my years of military service toward the pension plan). The end result is though is that the VA attracts quite a few doctors (and nurses, social workers, etc) who can't cut it in the private sector. Most of them are perfectly fine but there's a significant subset of VA providers that are just poor.

 

[kbate]

When the Harrier squadron was wiped out to the sound of the national press's cricket chirps, you took the occasion to bash the Marines and displayed just as much ignorance about the Marines as merc did about the size of a typical Marine air squadron.



WE GET IT!

No, I took the occasion to say (again) that I believe the marines are unnecessary and their function could be filled by other units without detriment to our war making ability. The only place I was totally wrong, was in saying "Marines at Arlington" when apparently the guard is the Army Old Guard.

You as usual, fall into "Kill Good". Must Have Marines Forever Because I was Marine. (and then your guttural grunting and huahs).

Yes, your argument was compelling.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

So AJ is advocating for bigger government again this morning. ...

This is stupid beyond belief.

Whatever it takes to go on the attack, that's merc for you.

That's the way Democrats think.

 

[mercury14]

This is stupid beyond belief.

Whatever it takes to go on the attack, that's merc for you.

That's the way Democrats think.

Explain your plan for increasing VA capacity without increasing the size of government. Be specific.

 

[kbate]

Explain your plan for increasing VA capacity without increasing the size of government. Be specific.

Very simple - we just decrease the size of the EPA, FDA and DoE, transferring their budgets to VA.

Alternatively, we can get a rubber stamp that reads, "100% disabled" and move every veteran with a claim directly from active service to Social Security Disability and lower the VA budget in the process, save a lot of time and avoid the political headache for both parties.

 

[Ishmael]

As rigorous as VOTING???

Is it RACIST?

First of all Kate is right in more ways than you might suspect. He is undoubtedly getting health care from the VA, what is the issue is the disability. CNN wrote a very leading headline for that story.

My comment is based on the fact that if he'd applied to SSI he'd probably already be on the dole. And that's just not right. I expect my government to make sure that my tax dollar isn't being thrown around on fraudulent claims. That being the case I would expect the SSI claims to be subject to far greater scrutiny and periodic review than VA claims. Mainly because in the case of VA claims the government already has a medical track record on the individual, unless for some reason I can't begin to fathom the military has stopped keeping medical records on it's personnel. If it takes a year to process VA claims, then it damn sure better take 2 years to process SSI claims.

Kate brought up another point and one that I have first hand knowledge of. I recently applied for vet benefits. The entire process took 10 working days from application to award. The benefits are quite generous, unbelievably so as a matter of fact. Just one teeny, tiny problem. They AIN'T GOT NO FUCKING DOCTORS!!!!!!!!!! The docs they were able to recruit way back when, when you could get out of medical school without a half-million dollar monkey of a student loan on your back, are retiring as fast as they can get their paperwork processed. And the government pay, even for doctors, just won't cover that loan and leave the noobs with enough money left over to do much more than live under overpasses and eat from dumpsters. The millions they've thrown at advertising and campus recruiting has born little fruit. And this is the true vision of a future of government medical care, not the disability benefits.

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

You cannot read and comprehend for shit.


It is willful stupidity on your part to simply ignore the larger point.

You do not want to have a conversation, you want to bash the right-wing... sad and pathetic...

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

First of all Kate is right in more ways than you might suspect. He is undoubtedly getting health care from the VA, what is the issue is the disability. CNN wrote a very leading headline for that story.

My comment is based on the fact that if he'd applied to SSI he'd probably already be on the dole. And that's just not right. I expect my government to make sure that my tax dollar isn't being thrown around on fraudulent claims. That being the case I would expect the SSI claims to be subject to far greater scrutiny and periodic review than VA claims. Mainly because in the case of VA claims the government already has a medical track record on the individual, unless for some reason I can't begin to fathom the military has stopped keeping medical records on it's personnel. If it takes a year to process VA claims, then it damn sure better take 2 years to process SSI claims.

Kate brought up another point and one that I have first hand knowledge of. I recently applied for vet benefits. The entire process took 10 working days from application to award. The benefits are quite generous, unbelievably so as a matter of fact. Just one teeny, tiny problem. They AIN'T GOT NO FUCKING DOCTORS!!!!!!!!!! The docs they were able to recruit way back when, when you could get out of medical school without a half-million dollar monkey of a student loan on your back, are retiring as fast as they can get their paperwork processed. And the government pay, even for doctors, just won't cover that loan and leave the noobs with enough money left over to do much more than live under overpasses and eat from dumpsters. The millions they've thrown at advertising and campus recruiting has born little fruit. And this is the true vision of a future of government medical care, not the disability benefits.

Ishmael

merc seems to delight in telling us how well-paid he is...

Maybe he'll call you a liar.

Then again, maybe he'll find a word in there that indicates that all the right-wing wants to do is grow government instead of owning up to the unintended consequences to everything that the government runs.

 

[mercury14]

Very simple - we just decrease the size of the EPA, FDA and DoE, transferring their budgets to VA.

Alternatively, we can get a rubber stamp that reads, "100% disabled" and move every veteran with a claim directly from active service to Social Security Disability and lower the VA budget in the process, save a lot of time and avoid the political headache for both parties.

That's not specific. What elements of the EPA/FDA/DoE budgets should be eliminated, how much would you save, and is it in the ballpark of the VA's need?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I just get tired of :kbate:'s negativity anytime the military is mentioned no matter what the topic.

She's like a mini-merc when it comes to that.

 

[kbate]

Should be at least as rigorous as SSI applications, right.

One of my renters just went to court for a SSI disability hearing. I was on the list for potential witnesses as his long-time landlord (having never evicted him despite a somewhat spotty record of on-time payment). This was his second court appearance in a process that took almost 6 years to complete.

His documentation filled boxes and the government had only their standard, "We'd like to deny" - but no witnesses.

He ended up winning, getting his disability date set in 2007 and the government was ordered to pay from that date. (so I'll get some rent apparently).

I never had to testify, but a 6 year process seems adequate.