Army vet billed $3,000 for war wounds

[Valerie Salva]

(CNN) -- Erik Roberts, an Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq, underwent his 13th surgery recently to save his right leg from amputation. Imagine his shock when he got a bill for $3,000 for his treatment.

Army Sgt. Erik Roberts was badly wounded in Iraq with two comrades in April 2006.

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"I just thought it was bull---- that I'm getting billed for being wounded in Iraq doing my job. I always put the mission first, and now that I was wounded in Iraq, they're sending me bills," he said.

"I put my life on the line and I was wounded in combat, and I came back and they're not going to take care of my medical bills?"

It's a level of outrage shared by his mother, as well as the doctor who performed the surgery.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/26/wounded.warrior/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText

[Atheos]

Check your facts first...

Obama Passed An Amendment, Which Became Law, Preventing The VA From Conducting A Review Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Cases Aimed At Reducing Benefits. In 2005, Obama was an original cosponsor of an amendment that became law preventing the VA from conducting a review of cases, without first providing Congress with a complete report regarding the implementation of such review. In November 2005, the VA announced that it was abandoning its planned review. "Obama had several generations of veterans in mind, he suggested, when he joined fellow Democrats Richard Durbin (Ill.), Patty Murray (Wash.) and Daniel Akaka (Hawai'i) Sept. 22 on a successful amendment to block the Department of Veterans Affairs from reviewing case files of 72,000 veterans rated 100-percent disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder...VA officials believe some PTSD claims have been decided for veterans without proper documentation. They announced their massive review only after the VA inspector general studied 2,100 randomly selected cases of PTSD disability awards and found that 25 percent lacked documents to verify that a traumatic, service-connected incident occurred...But the Senate's amendment would bar the VA from conducting its case review until it justifies the program to Congress." [sA 1864 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote, 9/22/05; Became Public Law No: 109-114; Military Update, 10/3/05]

Obama Passed Legislation, Which Became Law, Improving And Increasing Services For Homeless Veterans. In 2006, Congress passed a Veterans Affairs Committee bill which included several provisions originating in Obama's SAVE Act (S. 1180) and Homes for Heroes Act (S. 3475). "The legislation...includes a number of proposals from legislation Senator Obama had previously introduced (S.1180, the SAVE Act and S.3475 the Homes for Heroes Act) to expand and improve services for homeless veterans. The bill permanently authorizes and increases funding to $130 million per year for a competitive grant program to provide homeless services to veterans. It greatly increases a successful program to provide rental vouchers to homeless veterans. The legislation extends programs to providing treatment for veterans with mental illnesses and other special needs. And it permanently extends VA's ability to transfer property it owns to homeless shelters." [s. 3421/P.L. 109-461; S. 1180, 109th Congress; S. 3475, 109th Congress; Obama Press Release, 6/26/06]

Obama Passed Legislation Extending Tax Credits For Military Families By Allowing Service Members Deployed In War Zones To Apply Non-Taxable Combat Pay To The EITC. In 2006, Congress passed legislation based on a proposal sponsored by Obama, Kerry, and Pryor that extended tax credits for military families by allowing service members deployed to war zones to apply their non-taxable combat pay toward the Earned Income Tax Credit. The amendment was introduced during debate on the Senate's 2006 tax reconciliation bill, ruled out of order, but later included in the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act, which passed both chambers and became law on December 22, 2005. [H.R. 4440, Became P.L. 109-135, 12/22/05; SA 2616, 109th Congress]

Obama Passed An Amendment, Which Became Law, To Require The VA To Conduct A Campaign To Inform Disabled Vets Of Disparities In Compensation And Explaining Their Rights To Seek Review. In 2005, Obama was an original cosponsor on an amendment requiring the VA to conduct a campaign to inform veterans in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio and New Jersey about their right to seek a review of their past claims. Specifically, the legislation required the VA to send letters to all veterans currently receiving disability who live in six states with a past history of below-average disability compensation, informing them of the past disparity, and explaining how to request a review of past claims and ratings and how to submit new claims. The VA was also required to inform all other veterans whose past claims may have been properly denied of this disparity by other means such as broadcast of print advertising. States whose average annual disability compensation payment was less than $7,300 qualified as below average. In 2003, Illinois veterans received an average of $6,802. The amendment became law on November 30, 2005. [s. Amdt. 1865, Passed by Voice Vote, 9/22/05, to H.R.2528, Signed by the President and Became Public Law No: 109-114 on 11/30/05]

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

well, if he could figure out a way to add 14 kids to the welfare system he could be a national hero!

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

well, if he could figure out a way to add 14 kids to the welfare system he could be a national hero!

Huh?

[Atheos]

Octomom!

Her 14 kids... I Imagine...

[glasgow3]

Have you all actually read the article explaining the true situation? Apparently the only part of the bill that wasn't covered to date was for home antibiotics post surgery. And the reason he was billed for those was he CHOSE to go outside the VA system for that part of his care.

Flame me if you wish. I am a Vietnam era veteran. I am not anti-war, certainly not anti-vet and I don't think vets should be responsible for paying for their war wounds as the article suggests.

All I ask is that you read the article critically. Those of you who are fortunate to still have health insurance-----can you go to any provider in the United States (ie outside of your service network) without incurring a financial penalty for making that choice? I've worked in health care for close to 20 years now and I don't know about you, but I sure haven't EVER been able to pick whatever docs or hospitals I want around here without paying a HUGE financial price---and I'm not talking a piddly 3 grand.

I guess I have a problem with an article written in my view primarily to elicit an emotional response. This is health care in America as it is for all of us. What we NEED is universal health care.

R

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

What we NEED is universal health care.

R

god bless you for your service to our country, glasgow. 100% agree with you on universal health care... we do need it. i hope i will see it in my life time.

[fins]

With regards to the administration's proposal to make military members pay for service-related care with their private insurance, here's a link.

(From that well-known rabid right-wing new source CNN)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/10/veterans.health.insurance/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

Lawmakers say they'd reject a proposal to make veterans pay for treatment of war wounds with private insurance.

[tntrn, ASN, RN]

You better have a source for something so inflammatory.

You know better tntrn...

Tsk Tsk

I read it a local newspaper about a week ago. I think I saw it on the comcast.net home page. It was all over. I didn't make it up. Then another article said it had gone away. I hope it has. Even Patty Murrey, our very Dem. SEnator, opposed it. Saw her on a TV interview.

[Atheos]

(From that well-known rabid right-wing new source CNN)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/10/veterans.health.insurance/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

Lawmakers say they'd reject a proposal to make veterans pay for treatment of war wounds with private insurance.

Comsidering doesn't = proposing.

No reports said WHO brought that up and obviously Obama has killed it.

Hmmm...

Obama has been more proVeteran than even McCain was.

[Batman24]

No need.

[Batman24]

Comsidering doesn't = proposing.

No reports said WHO brought that up and obviously Obama has killed it.

Hmmm...

Obama has been more proVeteran than even McCain was.

I hope it has been killed because I'm not in favor of it. I voted Obama and would be very disappointed if he went this route. It doesn't seem like an avenue he would go down.

[lamazeteacher]

I hope that the universal healthcare program will provide care for veterans who are back in the USA and all of us, without billing. Duplicating what is already here, seems to be a waste of healthcare dollars. Doctors, nurses, corpersons, etc. can work along with all the personnel and not be distant from "state of the art" practise at home.

Since gang warfare in the streets (and on TV) has given civilian ED personnel experience handling some of the trauma seen on the battleground, it may be appropriate to incorporate VA hospitals into the entire healthcare system. We could sure use their personnel. I've met spectacular professionals at VA hospitals, who could raise some standards around here. (Not saluting and calling everyone "ma'am" and "sir" necessarily, but the mutual respect is laudable in the service.)

It may have been necessary after the world wars, to provide veterans with separate specialized care. There was an effort then, to spare civilians the lurid details of conditions in war. Now, I think that's ridiculous, and with some inservice training that would bring everyone up to speed to care for war injuries, and also allow earlier reacclimation to life here, it's realistic.

There are many things done at VA hospitals that could be adapted here, like ambulatory patients having communal dining, etc. The high acuity levels in hospitals here would make that a smaller group, but it would be good for morale and earlier recovery, to have opportunities for socialization.

President Obama indicated that mental and physical illness need to be handled with the same criteria for treatment. PTSD treatment would be a good way to start doing that.