What a douche. Our country owes vets a minimum of that much. Bush underfunded the program, but didn't sink as low as have them pay for their war caused disabilities. Remember they would not be in disabled if they had not been sent into war. War=Disabilities. The VA does poorly in many areas already, such as confirming claims of disability and has been sorely underfunded for most of its existence. Stories have come out that the VA has deliberately denied eligible veterans their claims. It is a long process with a lot of hoops. It doesn't pay much and these guys usually cant work due to their disabilities.


http://crooksandliars.com/
Why Does Obama Want Vets to Use Private Insurance for War-Related Injuries?
By Susie Madrak


Can anyone explain to me on which planet this is appropriate?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

But the proposal would be "dead on arrival" if it's sent to Congress, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said.

Murray used that blunt terminology when she told Shinseki that the idea would not be acceptable and would be rejected if formally proposed. Her remarks came during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs about the 2010 budget.

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

The groups also cited an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."

"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.

Currently, veterans' private insurance is charged only when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu.

Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.