Looks as though the concerns of VA benefits being cut may be premature as President Obama released his plans today for an impressive increase in VA healthcare benefits and expansion of the system...
I suppose I'm encouraged that the VA will finally be removed from the chopping block, where it seems to be found every year. On the other hand, celebration of the move may be premature as this may be a move to sell Universal Healthcare to all Americans.
VA healthcare has been lacking since its inception, so the bar for improvement is set pretty low by this move. Anything is an improvement. The real question is whether or not the rest of the country will appreciate a system that 'could be as bad as VA Healthcare'.
I'm actually a fan of universal healthcare - but I don't want it run by my government. Instead, I'd like to see healthcare companies have to compete for our money... and then keep us as customers and keep rates intact regardless of what job we find next or even whether we move to start our own business.
I, too, have health insurance that was bargained for through the union that I was a member of for 35 years. Upon retirement it was to be paid through what at the time was an abundant retirement fund. As with most other americans the economy has changed that and the cost to me is ever increasing, I still believe in the free market and not in a government run health care! Just look at social security and medicare. Not very cost efficient.
I don't think we disagree at all, Tim! I want private health care, too. But I don't think it's fair that when you leave a job after 10 years of putting money into a healthcare provider, you lose your healthcare and have to go without or start all over again. We should all be able to have the choice of keeping our insurance providers for life - and have them compete with each other on costs.
If my Federal Workmans Comp is any indication of how the "universal health care" system will be ran, you all can have it. Everything I have been through with OWCP will be what Universal Health care will be; No thanks. Privatize the health care system is more of what we need not the current publicly held system.
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