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To: Lee Lichterman III who wrote (66173)	6/13/2007 9:46:24 PM
From: John Metcalf	Respond to of 116555

Thanks for the details on military healthcare, Lee. My dad was a WWII vet who re-enlisted later, largely in order to get healthcare for our family of six. The broken promises are difficult to accept, particularly when the veteran is older, and lacks the option of going back to work. What I want to add is that broken promises of healthcare and pensions are affecting most of us, not just Veterans. Consider what has happened in the auto industry, where many workers settled for buy-outs instead of the lifetime security they had worked for. In my area, coal miners, who also worked in a dangerous environment, despair of collecting the benefits in their contracts. Or steel workers, or industrial workers in general. And then, most people who work anywhere are seeing rising co-pays and larger employee shares of health insurance premiums. There has been a constant decrease in percentage of workers covered by defined-benefit retirement plans, and an increase in defined contribution plans, 401-k's etc, and workers increasingly pay bigger shares of the cost. Government workers, teachers, fire and law enforcement personnel have been promised good benefits, but there are increasing deficits in the "dedicated" funds that are "put away" for their future retirement and health needs. Will they really collect when the time comes? The point is that the promises, to most of us, will not be met. Younger workers can plan accordingly, but there will be more and more pain for the older folk amongst us. It's not just the Veterans who are losing here. After all, this thread is about GLOBAL economic trend analysis, and there are global factors that will continue to impact our ability to get what we need.

To: Lee Lichterman III who wrote (66173)	6/13/2007 9:47:35 PM
From: skinowski	Respond to of 116555

Thanks for telling all this. Yes, I can see that it is a major problem. I have utmost respect and gratitude towards the military people. I am fully aware that I and my family - and people around me - are able to enjoy our lives only because there were always men who made the decision to step forward and to serve their country. My father was a WWII Vet, and all his life had problems due to war injuries. We can't thank you, guys, enough. I can see from your post that on bases and in remote locations medical facilities specifically for military people are clearly needed. But in places like NYC, from what I could see, the Vets were better off going through the civilian system, and through Medicare - and the vast majority did so. And this is probably where a large part of the VA funds is spent - in cities, where there is an excellent civilian medical infrastructure. The best way would be to restructure the system - lighten up where it is not critical, and beef it up where it is needed -- but the bureaucrats will never do it, and if they'll try, they'll probably mess things up even more. Privatizing.... at some point may work, imo. A corporation - like, say, Kaiser - may have the needed organisational resources and be able to provide better care for everyone.

To: Lee Lichterman III who wrote (66173)	6/13/2007 11:03:17 PM
From: NOW	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

well contrary to what many like ski think care at the va is better than care in many a private sector and studies exist to prove it

To: Lee Lichterman III who wrote (66173)	6/14/2007 2:39:46 PM
From: paul61	Respond to of 116555

AND I heard the reason Walter Reed is closing (other then the fact that the BOUGHT/PAID FOR CONGRESS/CORPORAT/CRONIES -Have to BID it OUT/CHEAPER???) IS BECAUSE THE PROPERTY IS SO VALUABLE -they just cannot preserve it for J4PKs like me. The reason I started using vets. benefits is the prices - Intensive care is about 1/3 of regular civilian hospital care.I'm still telling my kids to go to military - where you going to retire in 20 yrs. with these corporations?? Thanks for the writ-up - sooo true. Good luck to all - thanks for your time.....Paul

To: Lee Lichterman III who wrote (66173)	6/14/2007 6:22:39 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

"risked our necks for VA promises" well, first of all thank you for your service to your country however... risking your neck for VA promises pretty much says it all, doesn't it.... my dad and FIL and several uncles were WWII vets.... and i can assure you none risked their necks for "VA benefits"... they risked their lives for something much more important than that something tells me that vets that "risk their necks" for bennies will NEVER be satisfied with what they get... but to the point of the redundancy of the VA health care system... my dad dutifully went to the nearest VA facility when he was diagnosed with cancer and received atrocious care....that was like 30 years ago... and it looks like it is still going on today... vawatchdog.org considering the number of class A hospitals there are in st. louis, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to perpetuate the type of substandard care that our vets receive in 'government issue' hospitals (and yes i realize not all are as bad as cochran) my 'prescription' for our vets is a 'free for life' medical 'credit card' that can be used at any hospital of their choosing... but we know the real reason why the VA hospitals aren't shuttered....in favor of better equipped and staffed private hospitals....it's all about patronage jobs....killing ANY outdated and needless government program is near impossible and as to this... It is a bum deal and is only getting worse by the day. frankly, if you are looking for a 'deal'...... military service isn't the place for you very sorry you didn't get the 'deal' you thought you bargained for....but at least you are here to talk about it my dad got horrible care at cochran, yet he was GRATEFUL to get it....then again, he didn't enlist for promised medical care, his reasons were much more noble than that