Bill Richardson's Heroes Health Card

[Shaun @ Tru6]

one of the things that really stuck out last night was Richardson's idea of a Heroes Health Card for every member serving in the Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know from my own experience with 2 vets that are having/have had a tough time with the VA that coming home isn't everything it ought to be for our guys.

I can't believe that we even have to suggest such a thing.

Seriously, WTF is this about? Even after the Walter Reed thing, it seems that returning vets are just getting swept under the carpet.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/15/wounded.marine/index.html

In the news:

Wounded warriors face home-front battle with VA

* Story Highlights
* Ty Ziegel lost an arm, part of his skull when he was attacked in Iraq
* VA initially rated his brain injury at 0%, meaning he got no compensation for it
* Another vet: VA rejected his claim, saying his wounds were "not service connected"
* Ziegel: "I want to make the VA system better"

From Emily Probst
CNN

WASHINGTON, Illinois (CNN) -- Ty Ziegel peers from beneath his Marine Corps baseball cap, his once boyish face burned beyond recognition by a suicide bomber's attack in Iraq just three days before Christmas 2004.

He lost part of his skull in the blast and part of his brain was damaged. Half of his left arm was amputated and some of the fingers were blown off his right hand.

Ziegel, a 25-year-old Marine sergeant, knew the dangers of war when he was deployed for his second tour in Iraq.

But he didn't expect a new battle when he returned home as a wounded warrior: a fight with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Sometimes, you get lost in the system," he told CNN. "I feel like a Social Security number. I don't feel like Tyler Ziegel."

His story is one example of how medical advances in the battlefield have outpaced the home front. Many wounded veterans return home feeling that the VA system, specifically its 62-year-old disability ratings system, has failed them. VideoWatch Ziegel display his model skull »

"The VA system is not ready, and they simply don't have time to catch up," Tammy Duckworth -- herself a wounded veteran who heads up the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs -- told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in March.

VA Acting Secretary Gordon Mansfield said cases like Ziegel's are rare -- that the majority of veterans are moving through the process and "being taken care of." He also said most veterans are fairly compensated.

"Any veteran with the same issue, if it's a medical disability, ... it is going to get the same exact result anywhere in our system," he said.

More than 28,500 troops have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, including about 8,500 that have needed air transport, according to the U.S. military. PhotoSee photos of these Iraq war heroes »

A recent Harvard study found that the cost of caring for those wounded over the course of their lifetime could ultimately cost more than $660 billion.

In Ziegel's case, he spent nearly two years recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Once he got out of the hospital, he was unable to hold a job. He anticipated receiving a monthly VA disability check sufficient to cover his small-town lifestyle in Washington, Illinois.

Instead, he got a check for far less than expected. After pressing for answers, Ziegel finally received a letter from the VA that rated his injuries: 80 percent for facial disfigurement, 60 percent for left arm amputation, a mere 10 percent for head trauma and nothing for his left lobe brain injury, right eye blindness and jaw fracture.

"I don't get too mad about too many things," he said. "But once we've been getting into this, I'm ready to beat down the White House door if I need to."

"I'm not expecting to live in the lap of luxury," he added. "But I am asking them to make it comfortable to raise a family and not have to struggle."

Within 48 hours of telling his story to CNN this summer, the Office of then-VA Secretary Jim Nicholson acted on Ziegel's case. The VA changed his head trauma injury, once rated at 10 percent, to traumatic brain injury rated at 100 percent, substantially increasing his monthly disability check.

Duckworth, the Illinois VA chief, knows exactly what Ziegel and other severely wounded vets are going through. She lost both her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her Blackhawk helicopter on November 12, 2004. Her right arm was also shattered. VideoWatch how Duckworth's wounds changed her life »

She told CNN she received "incredible care" at Walter Reed for 13 months, but soon realized the transition to the VA wouldn't be as smooth.

"I started worrying about the fact that maybe this country won't remember in five years that there are these war wounded," Duckworth said.

Garrett Anderson with the Illinois National Guard, for example, has been fighting the VA since October 15, 2005. Shrapnel tore through his head and body after a roadside bomb blew up the truck he was driving. He lost his right arm.

The VA initially rejected his claim, saying his severe shrapnel wounds were "not service connected." VideoWatch Anderson describe "my arm was hanging there" »

"Who would want to tell an Iraqi or Afghanistan soldier who was blown up by an IED that his wounds were not caused by his service over there?" said Anderson's wife, Sam.

After pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the VA acted on Anderson's case. He has since been awarded compensation for a traumatic brain injury.

"It upsets me that the VA system operates in a way that it takes people of power -- and who you know and what you know -- to get what you want," said Anderson, who is now retired.

When asked about Anderson's case specifically, the VA's Mansfield said such cases make him "more dedicated" to fixing the system.

In July, President Bush and a commission appointed to review the care of veterans returning from war announced the need for a complete overhaul of the disability ratings system, which dates back to World War II. The VA is now considering action on the commission's recommendations.

Ziegel eventually won his battle. Still he feels for so many others he believes are getting cheated by the system.

"We're feeding the war machine, but you never think of the war machine that comes home and needs, you know, feeding back home," he said.

His family hopes they don't have to fight the VA again. In August, Ty Ziegel's brother, 22-year-old Zach Ziegel, was deployed to Iraq.

"I want to make the VA system better because if he has to go through anything I went through, that's really going to upset me. That'll make my fuse real short and hot," Ty Ziegel said.

[frogger]

Good post, Shaun. We should take care of our vets. I'm not sure what the best to do that is, but, having the dialog is a step in the right direction.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

one of the things that really stuck out last night was Richardson's idea of a Heroes Health Card for every member serving in the Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. I know from my own experience with 2 vets that are having/have had a tough time with the VA that coming home isn't everything it ought to be for our guys.

I can't believe that we even have to suggest such a thing.

Seriously, WTF is this about? Even after the Walter Reed thing, it seems that returning vets are just getting swept under the carpet.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/15/wounded.marine/index.html

In the news:

Wounded warriors face home-front battle with VA

...............................A recent Harvard study found that the cost of caring for those wounded over the course of their lifetime could ultimately cost more than $660 billion.

I hope that Bill Richardson does not end up as one of those guys with all the great ideas which someone else adapts and claims as their own.

The two Vietnam era vets down the hall have had pretty good luck with the VA, and so has my brother, my uncle and my cousins. Depending where you live it can be a very different story. The stories of two hour drives for continuing medical attention is one Richardson shared, he has a feel for the human condition the others just mail in or fake.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Sounded suspiciously like "raise taxes to fund another government bureaucracy" to me. Nope. I ain't buying it. Want to overhaul the VA? Fine. We can discuss it. And you'll be funding it by re-allocating funds from somewhere else, not by raising any more taxes. I don't care which department you cut, but I'll oppose any/all tax or fee increases without a second thought. Government gets too much of our money as it is.

I won't support anything that sends another dime of mine to government imbeciles or to create even more bureaucracy in this country than we already have. No friggin' way.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I hate to sound callous or insensitive here, but what exactly did these guys think they were signing up for? A time share? It's the military fer chrissakes. People get hurt. People die. We have an agency set up to help them and while it's not perfect, it's already there and has experience with this.

Either gut the VA entirely and rebuild it from the ground up, or fix it. I don't care which. And no new taxes for it either.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Sounded suspiciously like "raise taxes to fund another government bureaucracy" to me. Nope. I ain't buying it. Want to overhaul the VA? Fine. We can discuss it. And you'll be funding it by re-allocating funds from somewhere else, not by raising any more taxes. I don't care which department you cut, but I'll oppose any/all tax or fee increases without a second thought. Government gets too much of our money as it is.

I won't support anything that sends another dime of mine to government imbeciles or to create even more bureaucracy in this country than we already have. No friggin' way.

You want to exclude vets from being part of a national healthcare plan?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

From Richardson's website:

Governor Richardson believes that America's veterans must be treated with the care and respect that they have earned. As President, Bill Richardson will:

* Offer every veteran a Heroes' Health Card that will entitle them to their choice of care in their own communities when they cannot conveniently access the VA
* Guarantee full mandatory funding for the Department of Veterans of Affairs
* Reduce federal income taxes for all veterans by 5 percent for the rest of their lives
* Eliminate federal income taxes for all veterans in their first year as civilians
* Support and implement the recommendations of the Dole-Shalala Commission
* Sign the Wounded Warriors Act to better coordinate between DoD and VA
* Provide one year of comprehensive disability insurance for family members who must leave work to care for a critically wounded love one
* Sign the bipartisan Baucus-Grassley Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act
o Tax credits to businesses that address the military pay differential problem
* Help veterans in business by implementing the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003
* Ensure that Guard and Reserve veterans receive the benefits that they've earned
* Expand education benefits by as much $24,000 through a loan forgiveness for service program
* Allow a veteran's spouse or child to use his or her educational benefits.
* Cut down on wait times by hiring more claims processors
* Facilitate state-to-state moves within the VA system
* Protect the privacy of our veterans
* Reject President Bush's efforts to divert veterans away from the VA healthcare system by increasing prescription drug co-payment and prescription fees
* Expand research into prosthetics and other medical technologies
* Expand the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) program
* Support and strengthen America's commitment to the Geneva Conventions

Bill Richardson's Savings Plan to Care for Veterans and Military Families

Policy Estimated Cost (per year):

Heroes' Health Card $2.5 billion

Guarantee full mandatory funding for VA $4 billion

Lifetime 5% cut in federal income taxes for all veterans $6.1 billion

Eliminate federal income taxes for veterans' in their first year as civilians $2.2 billion

$24,000 in college loan forgiveness (in addition to the G.I. Bill and services' College Funds) for all eligible veterans [Cost accounted for in Education White Paper]

Enact Dole-Shalala Recommendations $100 million

Sign Wounded Warriors Act $50 million

Provide paid family leave for up to one year for family member caring for seriously wounded veteran $100 million

Sign Baucus-Grassley Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act $55 million

Fully implement business provisions of Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 $99 million

Hire more benefits claims processors
$60 million

25% increase in the VA's Research and Development Budget $191 million

25% increase in VETS program $57 million

Costs:$15.46 billion


Policy Estimated Savings (per year):

Institute 3rd party capital gains reporting $25 billion

Savings: $25 billion

TOTAL SAVINGS: $9.54 billion

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by kach22i

You want to exclude vets from being part of a national healthcare plan?

No I want to exclude a national healthcare plan entirely. We don't have the $$$ for it. Let's help our vets through fixing or overhauling the VA - at the expense of existing bloated government bureaucracy, not at the expense of the American taxpayer who is already getting screwed by having to fund the stupid war in the first place.

[FOG]

Porsche-o-Phile,

The military knew what they signed up for, do you? Part of it is that one may be killed, maimed, injured, or come down with an illness. Another part of the contract is that the service member will be taken care according to the law, as in the CFR.

What Shaun is riling about is bureaucrats not following either the spirit or intention of the law. What the vets and current military want is for the government to uphold their end of the contract and law. Period.

A good part of the problem is compounding of medical conditions by not addressing them up front. I know of more than a few cases that the Marine or soldier would probably been returned to full duty status, but due to incompetence/indifference is no longer a viable asset but a liability (except the dead).

S/F, FOG

[frogger]

Originally Posted by FOG

What Shaun is riling about is bureaucrats not following either the spirit or intention of the law. What the vets and current military want is for the government to uphold their end of the contract and law. Period.

FOG nailed it exactly.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by FOG

Porsche-o-Phile,

The military knew what they signed up for, do you? Part of it is that one may be killed, maimed, injured, or come down with an illness. Another part of the contract is that the service member will be taken care according to the law, as in the CFR.

What Shaun is riling about is bureaucrats not following either the spirit or intention of the law. What the vets and current military want is for the government to uphold their end of the contract and law. Period.

A good part of the problem is compounding of medical conditions by not addressing them up front. I know of more than a few cases that the Marine or soldier would probably been returned to full duty status, but due to incompetence/indifference is no longer a viable asset but a liability (except the dead).

S/F, FOG

I don't have a problem having the government uphold their responsibility. I have EVERY problem with creating a new, giant, incompetent and expensive government bureaucracy to do the job of an existing, failing giant, incompetent and expensive government bureaucracy.

There are ways to deal with these problems, and bigger government is not the answer.

And yes, I get outraged when I hear of our vets getting screwed over by the VA or about sleazy tactics being used by commanders to cut costs at the expense of the veteran. That's a problem. It needs to be fixed, but I fail to see how the proposed program would do that.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by frogger

FOG nailed it exactly.

He does have a way saying what I want to better than I can.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I don't have a problem having the government uphold their responsibility. I have EVERY problem with creating a new, giant, incompetent and expensive government bureaucracy to do the job of an existing, failing giant, incompetent and expensive government bureaucracy.

There are ways to deal with these problems, and bigger government is not the answer.

And yes, I get outraged when I hear of our vets getting screwed over by the VA or about sleazy tactics being used by commanders to cut costs at the expense of the veteran. That's a problem. It needs to be fixed, but I fail to see how the proposed program would do that.

Jeff, please take a moment and critique Richardson's plan. What parts do you like? Which would you throw out?

It's a little too easy to say "There are ways to deal with these problems..." since, clearly, we have these problems and they aren't being dealt wtih. Richardson offers a solution. What do you think about it, as proposed on his website, versus a 30 second clip in a debate?

[frogger]

Jeff (POP), I understand and can agree with your abhorrence of creating another bureaucracy. It's good that Richardson is talking about the problem, as our veterans need this attention to their post combat healthcare. I think the best thing we could do is make the VA really work, across the entire country. IMO, the VA's effectiveness is spotty.

[FOG]

Shaun,

Look up the CFR, it's acronym is VARSD. It details what benefits go with what injuries/illness. Also the concurrent penalty point for (med)retirement and disability is now at 60%.

S/F, FOG

[Moneyguy1]

Jeff:

You Do at times come off as callous and insensitive.

Perhaps that is part of your considerable charm!!

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by kach22i

You want to exclude vets from being part of a national healthcare plan?

Why do you guys always do that? He never said or even remotely implied that now did he.

Big bureaucracies tend to be wasteful and ineffective. Superman would disagree because he is a fan, but that is why socialism fails if you ask me.

Sorry, not familiar with Richardson's plan. He doesn't have snowballs chance in he!! of getting nominated, and his plan is not Hillary's so it won't be adopted.