[StBernard] Obama to screw over our Veterans

[Westley Annis]

Is President Obama's Proposed Budget Good News or Bad News Veterans?

The Administration last week unveiled a preview of its budget for Fiscal
Year 2010. The good news is that the Obama Administration is calling for a
twenty-five million dollar increase in appropriations for the VA for the
next five years. This outlay assumes enrolling approximately one half
million non-disabled veterans in the VA health care system. However, the bad
news is that disabled veterans will be the bill payers for this largesse.
The FY 2010 budget request for VA includes a proposal that would bill
veterans with private insurance for their service-connected disability
treatments. The budget calls for about a $1 billion dollar increase in
collections from FY 2009. We believe that the revenue projections for the
proposal make up the bulk of the third-party collections increase. The
Veterans of Foreign Wars vehemently opposes any attempt to pass healthcare
costs on to wounded and service-connected disabled veterans. Billing a
veteran's private insurance could lead to higher premiums and make it
difficult for veterans and their families to obtain or retain their health
insurance, as well as discourage employers from hiring disabled vets. 

The VFW is asking all members as well as all Americans to contact their
congressional delegations and urge them to stop this proposal from becoming
a reality. This is a classic case of double speak, President Obama is
calling for a national health care system which contains costs for families.
Health care for disabled veterans is not a gift it was earned by their very
blood, pain and suffering. We find it absolutely unconscionable that
disabled veterans should bare the costs of care for non-disabled veterans.
To send a message to Senator Nelson, Martinez or your member in the House of
Representatives to: http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=12844211
<http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=12844211> . To read the VFW
Press Release, go to: http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4952.
<http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4952.>