Friday, May 27, 2005
Maybe more funds for PTSD; meanwhile, "part-timers" get no coverage.I'm thrilled to see that the House has approved a funding increase for mental health coverage
(it still has to go through the Senate, so there's no guarantee). But
look at what Reuters reveals about our "support our troops" ruling
party: 9:23:05 AM | The
bill would provide about $1 billion more than President George W. Bush
requested for veterans programs and military construction, and $6
billion more than fiscal 2005. It also rejects fee increases Bush
proposed for some veterans seeking health care.
During House debate, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the veterans-spending bill fails to keep up with inflation. Republicans countered that funding for veterans health care has risen over the past five years. The Republican-controlled House defeated a move by Obey to raise funding for health care by another $2.6 billion in the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, and to pay for that by shaving tax cuts for wealthy Americans. So our warmongering president wanted to increase the amount vets pay for their healthcare. That's supportive. And the increase in spending still doesn't keep up with inflation. What counter argument do the republicans give? That "funding for veterans health care has risen over the past five years." Hmmm...what's been happening the past four years that might demand a rise in vet health care cost? Anyone? Anyone? Oh yeah, two wars. I almost forgot. We should thank vet organizations like Operation Truth for this first-step-to-victory. They recently went to DC to lobby reps and senators about this issue. You can read all about it here. Don't forget to look over their site and support them. They need our help! Oh yeah, there's this too, from Stars and Stripes: A
provision in the 2006 defense budget proposal that came out of the
House Armed Services Committee last week, which would have extended
Tricare benefits to more reservists and Guardsmen, was stripped from
the bill this week because of budgetary reasons.
There's just not enough money left after all of those tax breaks for the wealthy to supply coverage for "part-time" soldiers. Part-time...what a relic from the past. We can tell you there is nothing "part-time" about S spending an indefinite amount of time in Afghanistan (a year? More?). The provision would have allowed soldiers like S and their families to continue to get TriCare coverage, with the soldiers paying their own premiums, after they return from overseas deployments. Yes, the government would only pay a tiny part, and therefore it was not some sort of giveaway. The soldiers would still pay hefty premiums! Do I need to say that forty percent of the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are "part-timers"? Why do "part-timers" need coverage? For one, a number of soldiers have lost their jobs because of their deployments. In our case, it's particularly important. S was in graduate school when he was called up. His final year, in fact. We had coverage through his program (I was teaching and the coverage we could have received through my university was more expensive than his student insurance). When he was called up, he essentially lost his job. As a PhD candidate he was on fellowship, which meant that in addition to tuition waivers he received a monthly stipend. The health insurance, supplied by the nearly-as-awful-as-TriCare "MEGA Life," only allows students and their families to enroll at the beginning of the school year, in August. The student must be registered for full-time study and must pay for the entire year of coverage up front. Well, it is guaranteed that S will be in Afghanistan in August (though that's when his contract is up) and not in school full-time, so we will not be able to get his student insurance. I'm applying for jobs right now in Chicago. Unfortunately, the one I most want, working for a local non-profit, doesn't offer benefits. It means, then, that no matter when S returns, whether later this year or early next, we will be without health coverage the minute he steps off the plane if I'm not able to get it through my job. More evidence of our "support" of the troops and their families...Thanks for the outrage, fat cat republicans. I wish you gave a damn. 
|
Last update: 8/24/05; 8:17:48 PM .
