McCain would ration VA medical care

John McCain, a Vietnam war veteran and POW who has supported Bush Administration cuts in VA health care funding and service for veterans in the past, has a new bright idea about how to save America money.

"Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s call to "concentrate veterans’ health care on those with combat injuries" is raising questions about the Arizona senator’s commitment to funding the ailing VA system."

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said a system that treats combat veterans and non-combat veterans differently is inherently unfair. “We can care for both combat veterans and non-combat veterans if we just decide it is an important thing to do,” Filner said Thursday, one day after McCain talked at a Dover, N.H., town hall meeting about the need to concentrate veterans’ health care on people with injuries that 'are a direct result of combat.'"

It's infuriating that people like Bush and McCain would even consider trying to economize by refusing or delaying health care to veterans who've served their country honorably and in good faith while at the same time spending billions on a war that was started through dishonesty, hubris and greed.

Count me in among those who responded to this news with an emphatic "You've got to be shitting me." I learned about McCain's ill-considered idea at the Carpetbagger Report website. I read the write up there, then the article it referred to, and then the comments. Before I was through, I submitted a comment myself:

"I’m a 51-year-old female veteran who served in the Air Force during peacetime. Once out of the military I got medical insurance through my employers. All was good.

"But now, I’ve been unemployed for 18 months. When I was laid off from my job, I lost my medical benefits and was unable to afford health insurance on my own. After more than a year, I finally turned to the VA for medical care, fearing the consequences should I become ill before I could find a new job that could offer me medical insurance as part of a benefits package.

"I am charged a co-pay (comparable to that I paid when I had medical insurance) for prescription medications and an additional fee if I am referred to specialists within the VA system. It’s very fair. I would be glad to pay more, within my means, if they should ask me to. I also want to point out that the vast majority of military veterans, regardless of when they served or whether they were injured during their service, never turn to the VA for their medical care. Most, like me, pay into the health insurance industry like other Americans and only turn to the VA as a stop-gap measure or as a last resort.

"The VA doctors found a suspicious lump in my breast during my initial physical. I will soon undergo a biopsy to discover whether the lump is malignant. Chances are good it won’t be, but if it is, I am deeply thankful that the VA is still allowed to fulfill the promise it made to me — and to all military veterans — to care for us in the future should the need arise.

"This medical care just may save my life.

"So I’m appalled that John McCain would even consider further cutting VA medical services. America’s all-voluntary military serves in peacetime and war, knowing that they could be called at any moment to risk their lives for their country. I was lucky. I served in the late 70s and early 80s and was never called upon to risk my life. But had I been, I would have. It was what I’d pledged to do.

"I have nothing but deep respect for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines serving now in Iraq and Afghanistan. They deserve our unbridled support, and they certainly deserve good, quality health care from the VA medical system should they need it. But so should the thousands and thousands of other veterans who’ve served and who have also made sacrifices, whether they served in peace or during war.

"Would Mr. McCain now deny my husband, who is a disabled veteran, or me, the medical care we were promised when we raised our right hand and took the oath just because we weren’t wounded on a battlefield? Would he deny care to the thousands and thousands of Vietnam and Korean War vets, most of whom also were not wounded in battle, simply because they also didn’t receive battlefield injuries during their service?

"American veterans come in all shapes and sizes, colors and genders. While I believe that those who were wounded in battle should always get a respectful and cheerful pass to the front of the line, all veterans deserve equal care. And all of them should receive the very best care a proud nation can provide for them. This was the promise our nation made to us in return for our willingness to lose our lives in defense of our country and fellow Americans.

"Shame on John McCain, one of America’s most famous veterans, for forgetting that all veterans took a terrible risk the day they joined up. Shame on him for suggesting that VA benefits be cut when America is spending millions of dollars every single day, paying for the war in Iraq, which did not need to be fought. Those millions could easily cover the costs of caring for America’s veterans, many times over."