DAILY MYTHBUSTER: Health Insurance Reform and Veterans
November 14, 2009 posted by Bob Higgins · 14 Comments
Health insurance reform opponents continue to spread myths about the recently-passed Affordable Health Care for America Act, including saying that reform will undermine the health care that veterans and military families have now. The latest myth spread by some Republican Members is that the bill passed by the House fails to ensure that veterans and service members will have the choice to purchase insurance through the Exchange. But the facts continue to knock these myths down.
MYTH: "The House-passed health insurance reform bill reneges on a promise to ensure veterans, service members, and their dependents have the choice of enrolling in the new Health Insurance Exchange."
FACT: The Affordable Health Care for America Act fulfills Democrats´ commitment to ensure choice for veterans, service members, and their families. The House-passed bill allows veterans receiving VA health care or service members and their families receiving TRICARE to also enroll in an insurance plan through the bill´s Health Insurance Exchange.
Section 302(d) specifically allows all individuals into the Exchange except those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and certain employer-sponsored insurance. Listening to veterans´ organizations, the bill was strengthened to provide that veterans, service members, and their families are now permitted into the Exchange at their option in addition to maintaining enrollment in veterans´ health care or TRICARE. (In H.R. 3200 as introduced, veterans enrolled in VA health care and service members enrolled in TRICARE did not qualify for the Exchange.) This provides veterans and service members the opportunity to obtain additional coverage for themselves and their dependents if they desire.
This provision addresses clearly a key concern of many veterans´ organizations. For example, the Disabled American Veterans had written: "Any national health care reform legislation must make certain all veterans, including those enrolled in VA health care, remain eligible to enroll in any exchange-participating health benefits plan offered under [the bill] through the Health Insurance Exchange, or in any other public or cooperative health insurance program."
MYTH: "Enactment of the House health insurance reform bill would undermine the health care that veterans and military families are receiving now."
FACT: Veterans´ health care and TRICARE (for military families) would not be impacted by passage of the House passed Affordable Health Care for America Act. Nothing in the bill would affect, change, or undermine the health care that veterans enrolled in VA health care and military families enrolled in TRICARE are currently receiving.
Further language has been included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act that makes clear that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense retain full authority to operate the VA health care system and TRICARE without interference from the Health Choices Administration or other agencies established by the legislation. In addition, specific language has been included to exempt TRICARE from the requirements of the essential benefits package and other insurance requirements.
MYTH: "Veterans and military families enrolled in VA health care and TRICARE will be penalized for not having acceptable coverage – being forced to pay the penalty of 2.5 percent of adjusted income."
FACT: The Affordable Health Care for American Act as passed recognizes VA health care and TRICARE as acceptable minimum coverage—so enrollees are already meeting the shared responsibility requirement and will face no fee or penalty.
Specifically, the bill contains a section that states that 1) individuals enrolled in the veterans´ health care program; and 2) individuals and dependents enrolled in TRICARE will be considered as having acceptable minimum coverage – meaning they have met the bill´s shared responsibility requirement for individuals to purchase insurance if they can afford it. In other words, individuals enrolled in VA health care or TRICARE will never be subject to the bill´s 2.5 percent fee for those who choose not to purchase affordable health insurance.
I was wondering if the rumor that our tricare premiums will go up with this new health care bill is true. If so what will that involve?
David, not to be a smartalect, but you’re typing that and posting while at your computer, like All others, me included, and information is Easily Found, though sites can be abit confusing. Anything to do with the Government can be readily found Especially when many follow ‘rumors’, not to mention that’s why you hire representatives, now that may be even more confusing if your reps Spin Everything and are either parroting the rumor or starting it!!
But Government Information Is Found On Government Sites Pertaining To, in this case Congressional Records and Bills!! Reason most don’t follow a fox/rush/beck meme. Reality is a click away.
Also don’t listen or watch CNN, ABC, CBS or MSPMS!
Saturday November 21, 2009 Harvest Community Church, 44th and Teller, Wheat Ridge Colorado – 2:00 4:00 THANKSGIVING GATHERING TURKEY ALL YOU CAN EAT
WE WILL DISCUSS our http://www.veteranschamberofcommerce.org; solar energy training for Wounded Warriors Incarcerated. Please join us
The War Widows
Veteransjustice@aol.com
Saturday November 21, 2009 Harvest Community Church, 44th and Teller, Wheat Ridge Colorado – 2:00 4:00 THANKSGIVING GATHERING TURKEY ALL YOU CAN EAT
WE WILL DISCUSS our http://www.veteranschamberofcommerce.org; solar energy training for Wounded Warriors Incarcerated. Please join us
The War Widows
Veteransjustice@aol.com
Saturday November 21, 2009 Harvest Community Church, 44th and Teller, Wheat Ridge Colorado – 2:00 4:00 THANKSGIVING GATHERING TURKEY ALL YOU CAN EAT
WE WILL DISCUSS our http://www.veteranschamberofcommerce.org; solar energy training for Wounded Warriors Incarcerated. Please join us
The War Widows
Veteransjustice@aol.com
It appears to me that the VA will be okay, but for the retiree’s under Tri-care and Tri-care for life better look out (Me). As the government does, it robs peter to pay Paul and us retiree’s are Peter.
Now this all started with that sorry ass Clinton taking away us Retiree’s health benefits and stated a snow ball of different types of health coverage for us. In which all have only gone up and up in price and the sky is the limit.
Check out the Dental coverage, from what I see it will double and its almost useless as it is (for the West Coast). You pay 1,200 a year (now) and you can get 1,200 worth of dental work..duh…………..
I’m happy to see the Vets get more out of the VA but, Us retiree’s are paying the price for it. Good thing I kept my Fed Blue Cross, Blue Shield after I retired out of the DOD after the military…The VA is alright (50% disabled). But for my peace of mind, I kept my Fed Blue for a second opinion and so far its work good plus my wife is 100% disabled though Social Security and we need the Fed Blue for her meds (I use the VA).
The S.S. part for meds is sky high if my wife were to pick up that part, crap she wouldn’t get a check or very little…
I think us retiree’s are about to get hammered and hammered hard..just wait and see…as the democrats say, Its for your own good!!!
Sounds like you are listening to way too much of the Foxiganda station. Clinton was a good republican! He was a DINO (Democrat In Name Only). All this started with the Regan plan of “Trickle On”economics you big dummy! Why do you pee-on’s always vote against you own best interest and for the very ones that are screwing you? Oh yeah…I remember, it is for the three G’s…God, Guns and Gays. I am on the West Coast and get wonderful health care at the VA as a 100% Service Connected Vietnam Vet! Hell….They even pay me millage to travel there.
I am an Army Veteran who is 60 percent disabled and are now recieving Health care through the VA. I would like to know if my spouse is eligible for he healthcare bill
No, not at 60%
Has any one consider that as veterans who ETS with a medical discharge the impact it will have on our choices of care we are entitled to? As a wounded veteran there is no such thing as written or apply law which dictates our standard of care. It is not bad enough that we have to pay Medicare Part B and Tricare for Life fees so we can care for our service connected injuries? We can listen to every person and each has a different story about VA care we may or may not get or how much it is going to cost. As disabled veterans are we to fit into high risk insurance option? As the plan purposes for all with pre-existing conditions. I have stated reading the plan myself and it does not look good for anybody, not even the poor who for the most part already have insurance. Are do we qualify for the basic plan, or surely the premium plan or if we can afford it the Cadillac Plan (the Advance Plan which offers dental, etc)? Oop, VA dental care, do we pay for that now? I do not know about you guys but I have many questions which have yet to be explain by any proponent of the bill. Do we really believe that healthcare for us is going to be free, considering that there is no contractual agreement for the government to provide any care for us, or that anything that the VA provides is “merely gratuity”? according to the VA and the Supreme Court.
Wait until you see all the Constitutionists that are standing by to take the new health bill to court if passed by the democrats. No where in the constitution does it state that we have the ‘right’ to health insurance.
So here I am, in my humble abode, living the American dream (my car in the garage, frozen chicken in the freezer, you know) and I’m thinking about what the Government spends ‘my’ money on. On the news they tell me that the new socialized medicine / health care bill will cost the US taxpayers 1.2 Trillion dollars in 10 years time. I don’t know what a Trillion dollars looks like, a three story house perhaps, but how much do ‘We’ spend on health care costs now? I hear a bunch of Congressmen say “it’s too expensive”, then without blinking an eye they vote for a ‘Defense budget’ of 656 Billion dollars for this year only. So, how much is the ‘Offense’ budget you ask? Oh, that’s right, it’s the ‘Defense budget’ but they don’t want to call it what it really is, so they call it ‘Defense’ instead. Kind of like ‘Military Intelligence’, an oxymoron, got it?
Now I didn’t do so well in school waaaayyy back (the ol, “hey Suzy, let’s play doctor” wink, wink. gets em at test time thing), but as far as I can tell the ‘Defense budget’ in ONE YEAR is close to two thirds what the Socialized health care cost would be in TEN! If it takes THAT much to kill a bunch of guys with no education, no real home, owning just the clothes on their back (that’s terrible, no fashion sense at all, it clashes), can’t we all agree it costs too much (numbers please, how much is the yearly cost for (HA!) the ‘Defense’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just set down with them, have a party, drink lots and lots of beer (the good stuff, not the 3.2) and that’s all? How much would the costs of hangovers be as opposed to the ‘Defense costs’ now?
Personally I think this is how it goes. The Democrats being seen as representing the poor, (even though 44% of Congress is Millionaires now) want the bill passed so they can have more Democrats to vote and the Republicans don’t want the bill for the same reason. Then someone with intelligence, (strange, a public official with intelligence, another oxymoron) pointed out to RNC chairman, Steele that his party’s insurance allowed for elective abortions (a sticking point in the new health care bill) so he had to cancel his party’s insurance coverage for abortions, elective or not. He wanted lots more of ‘little Republicans’ around to have them vote his way. “Now Junior, I want you to pull this lever, NO, not that one. This one. Now let’s get back in the Limousine and see about your draft deferment and your college SAT scores”.
Sgt. O’Malley: Mall cop and Fashion policeman, New Stork city
Ya know I got bored and really, really read article above about this new ‘socialized medicine. In the bottom line about myths and facts it states that VA and TRI-CARE are the acceptable “minimum coverage”. Well, I tell you, they are right and they are wrong. Been to a lot of VAs, I think about 10 and I found ONE that treated me decent. This ranged from “you haven’t been in the system 6 months” to “I can’t find the problem, your going to have to live with the pain” and ending with the good one, “go over there and wait for your number to come up to get your meds”. taken as an average, THIS IS THE MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE. AND IT SUCKS.
About Tri-care, if I am not mistaken, IF a base will ‘see’ retired military, I can go there (and if a base is nearby too). I may have to find a doctor OFF BASE that takes Tri-care (if I don’t like the all day drive), but a lot of them are at nearby bases. As retarded, I mean retired I can shop on base so really why move? Ain’t it great having all these benefits? Sometimes I think I might even be appreciated for bleeding for Wall-street, Until I try to find a job and I find that no one wants to hire the disabled. Fact of the matter is, if you are on Tri-Care Prime, the cost is $460 a year. That’s right gentlemints, $460 a year. Now if I am not mistaken, the average cost for medical insurance is $450 A MONTH, so tell me why would I WANT to pay for extra coverage (which pays for, at most 80% ) when Tri-care pays for a 100%?
About the only thing ‘wrong’ is that some places overseas do not take Tri-care Prime, (even if near a base) but they will take ‘standard. If you work for the gommint, bring your wife with you and she has to has an operation, hey, all but 25% is covered. It just means you can’t drink as much 12 % Beer as you did before and you might have to “go slumming” (AKA pub crawling) a little less often.
On the other hand, if you take her with you, you don’t have to worry about, “what’s it going to be tonight, blond, brunette or redhead and will I have to say I love you in the morning? Hopefully I don’t have to get ANOTHER penicillin shot and can she cook? Ach, too many questions… Gives me a headache. Gotta take three tylenols and wash it down with a Beer”. See guys, this is what happens when you don’t eat meat at least three times a week. It makes you write ‘fonny.