Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
Gandalf Grey
Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
WASHINGTON - The number of US veterans who died in 2008 because they lacked
health insurance was 14 times higher than the US military death toll in
Afghanistan that year, according to a new study.
The analysis produced by two Harvard medical researchers estimates that
2,266 US military veterans under the age of 65 died in 2008 because they
lacked health coverage and had reduced access to medical care.
That figure is more than 14 times higher than the 155 US troop deaths in
Afghanistan in 2008, the study says.
Released as the United States commemorates fallen soldiers on Veterans Day,
the study warns that even health care provided by the Veterans Health
Administration (VA) leaves many veterans without coverage.
The analysis uses census data to isolate the number of US veterans who lack
both private health coverage and care offered by the VA.
"That's a group that's about 1.5 million people," said David Himmelstein, an
associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of
Physicians for a National Health Program who co-authored the study.
Himmelstein and co-author Stephanie Woolhandler, also a Harvard medical
professor, overlaid that figure with another study examining the mortality
rate associated with lack of health insurance.
"The uninsured have about a 40 percent higher risk of dying each year than
otherwise comparable insured individuals," Himmelstein told AFP.
"Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 -- 2,266
veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance."
Only some US veterans have access to medical care through the VA and
coverage is apportioned on the basis of eight "priority groups."
"They range from things like people who were prisoners of war, who have
coverage for life, or who have battle injuries and therefore have coverage
for their injuries for life," said Himmelstein.
Veterans who fall below an income threshold that is determined on a
county-by-county basis can qualify for care, but many veterans are "working
poor" and fall just above the bracket.
"The priority eight group, the lowest priority, are veterans above the very
poor group who have no other reason to be eligible and that group is
essentially shut out of the VA," according to Himmelstein.
The study comes as the US Senate weighs health care reform legislation and
whether to offer government health insurance.
Himmelstein warns that congressional proposals could still leave veterans
uncovered and favors a national health care program similar to those in
Britain and Canada.
� 2009 AFP
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"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,
that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in
this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud
of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing
of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to
which we are committed today at home and around the world.
"
-John F. Kennedy, 1961
Mitchell Holman
news:4pydnZT2zc287GbX...@giganews.com:
> http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
>
> Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> WASHINGTON - The number of US veterans who died in 2008 because they
> lacked health insurance was 14 times higher than the US military death
> toll in Afghanistan that year, according to a new study.
>
>
Republicans don't care about veterans.
1) Bush plans to cut veterans health care after 2008.
"The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans'
health care two years from now - even as badly wounded troops
returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system. . Even though
the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing
rapidly - by more than 10 percent in many years - White House
budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010
and a freeze thereafter."
2) Bush raises health care costs for veterans.
For the fifth year in a row, Bush's budget has attempted to
raise health care costs on 1.3 million veterans, calling for
"new enrollment fees and higher drug co-payments for some
veterans."
3) Bush administration has claimed veterans benefits are
"hurtful" to national security.
In 2005, the Wall Street Journal noted the growing cost of
veterans benefits due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
Pentagon's response was to complain that it would "rather use
[the funds] to help troops fighting today." "The amounts have
gotten to the point where they are hurtful. They are taking away
from the nation's ability to defend itself," says David Chu, the
Pentagon's undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
Werner
> http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
> Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
>
> "Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 -- 2,266
> veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance."
>
Odd.
Eligibility for most veterans’ health care benefits is based solely on
active military service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or
Coast Guard (or Merchant Marines during WW II), and discharged under
other than dishonorable conditions.
http://www4.va.gov/healtheligibility/
Werner
> "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote innews:4pydnZT2zc287GbX...@giganews.com:
>
> >http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
> > Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> > Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> > WASHINGTON - The number of US veterans who died in 2008 because they
> > lacked health insurance was 14 times higher than the US military death
> > toll in Afghanistan that year, according to a new study.
>
> Republicans don't care about veterans.
>
> 1) Bush plans to cut veterans health care after 2008.
>
>
> http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/06/morin-bush-va/
you forgot to include this from the web page:
The support of our veterans has been a high priority in my
administration. This year I’ve asked Congress for more than $86
billion for veterans services. If Congress approves my request, this
would amount to a 77 percent increase of the budgets since I took
office. It would be the highest level of support for our veterans in
American history.
Werner
>
> Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
>
> "Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 -- 2,266
> veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance."
>
Bret Cahill
The internet is choking the lies out of the Repugliar Party.
Bret Cahill
Bret Cahill
>
> > Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> > Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> ...
>
> > "Putting that all together you get an estimate of almost 2,300 -- 2,266
> > veterans who die each year from lack of health insurance."
>
> > ...
>
> Odd.
Everything is odd to a rightard.
Rightards don't know if they are coming or going.
Bret Cahill
Jimmy Simpsons
> http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
> Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
Veterans have universal healthcare, dipshit. Thanks for arguing
against it.
hal
<BretC...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>The internet is choking the lies out of the Repugliar Party.
unfortunately they have LOTS more of them.
>
>
>Bret Cahill
>
>
Mitchell Holman
news:9d7b8f15-f79f-4a6a...@g27g2000yqn.googlegroups.com:
> On Nov 11, 9:42�pm, Mitchell Holman <noem...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote
>> innews:4pydnZT2zc287GbXnZ2dnUV
> Z_gO...@giganews.com:
>>
>> >http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>>
>> > Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>>
>> > Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>>
>> > WASHINGTON �- The number of US veterans who died in 2008 because
>> > they lacked health insurance was 14 times higher than the US
>> > military death toll in Afghanistan that year, according to a new
>> > study.
>>
>> � � �Republicans don't care about veterans.
>>
>> 1) Bush plans to cut veterans health care after 2008.
>>
>>....
>>
>> http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/06/morin-bush-va/
>
>
>
> you forgot to include this from the web page:
> The support of our veterans has been a high priority in my
> administration. This year I�ve asked Congress for more than $86
> billion for veterans services. If Congress approves my request, this
> would amount to a 77 percent increase of the budgets since I took
> office. It would be the highest level of support for our veterans in
> American history.
>
White House Turns Tables on Former American POWs
The Los Angeles Times
15 February 2005
WASHINGTON - The latest chapter in the legal
history of torture is being written by American pilots
who were beaten and abused by Iraqis during the 1991
Persian Gulf War. And it has taken a strange twist.
The Bush administration is fighting the former
prisoners of war in court, trying to prevent them from
collecting nearly $1 billion from Iraq that a federal
judge awarded them as compensation for their torture at
the hands of Saddam Hussein's regime.
The rationale: Today's Iraqis are good guys, and
they need the money.
The case abounds with ironies. It pits the U.S.
government squarely against its own war heroes and the
Geneva Convention.
Many of the pilots were tortured in the same Iraqi
prison, Abu Ghraib, where American soldiers abused Iraqis
15 months ago. Those Iraqi victims, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld has said, deserve compensation from the
United States.
But the American victims of Iraqi torturers are not
entitled to similar payments from Iraq, the U.S. government
says.
"It seems so strange to have our own country fighting
us on this," said retired Air Force Col. David W. Eberly,
the senior officer among the former POWs.
The case, now being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court,
tests whether "state sponsors of terrorism" can be sued in
the U.S. courts for torture, murder or hostage-taking. The
court is expected to decide in the next two months whether
to hear the appeal.
Former military lawyers and a bipartisan group of lawmakers
have been among those who have urged the Supreme Court to
take up the case and to strengthen the law against torturers
and tyrannical regimes.
"Our government is on the wrong side of this issue,"
said Jeffrey F. Addicott, a former Army lawyer and director
of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in
San Antonio. "A lot of Americans would scratch their heads
and ask why is our government taking the side of Iraq against
our POWs."
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/8995/printer
Werner
> On Nov 11, 6:21 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
> > Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> > Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> Veterans have universal healthcare, dipshit. Thanks for arguing
> against it.
>
>
Pay attention! Evidently you can't read. I pointed out they have
universal healthcare, dipshit. So universal health care must not be
working out all that well. Who besides the delusional are surprised?
Medicare and Medicaid has the same problem.
Milt
You forgot to note that Tom Coburn, a Republican, has put a personal
hold on a bill that would provide better health care services for
veterans who fall between the cracks; those who make too much money or
aren't "disabled enough" to qualify for VA benefits. Both conservative
and liberal veterans groups support the bill, but Coburn is worried
about how it would be paid for.
Funny how he didn't give a shit how we paid for two wars for the last
eight years. But suddenly, he's worried that helping those who fought
in those wars might cost too much...
Republicans are hypocrites.
Milt
Veterans do NOT have universal health care. Where the hell did that
rumor start? The VA provides medical services to veterans who make
below a certain amount of money, and who qualify in other ways. I WISH
it was universal, but it's not. As far as I'm concerned, every single
military veteran -- or at least those who served in a war -- should
receive a lifetime guaranteed safety net, including comprehensive
medical care.
The only problems with Medicare and Medicaid is that the rest of the
system is putting undue strain on them. Good luck finding a senior
who'd be willing to give up their Medicare. Good luck finding a doctor
who would rather deal with the current private insurance nightmare,
rather than Medicare, for that matter.
Milt
You don't read very well... from that same page:
All Veterans are *****Potentially**** Eligible
You may be eligible! Below are some of the basic factors that go into
determining your eligibility for health benefits:
* Eligibility for most veterans’ health care benefits is based
solely on active military service in the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines, or Coast Guard (or Merchant Marines during WW II), and
discharged under other than dishonorable conditions.
* Reservists and National Guard members who were called to active
duty by a Federal Executive Order may qualify for VA health care
benefits. Returning service members, including Reservists and National
Guard members who served on active duty in a theater of combat
operations have special eligibility for hospital care, medical
services, and nursing home care for five years following discharge
from active duty.
* Health Care eligibility is not just for those who served in
combat.
* Other groups may be eligible for some health benefits.
* Veteran’s health care is not just for service-connected injuries
or medical conditions.
* Veteran’s health care facilities are not just for men only. VA
offers full-service health care to women veterans.
Click here to get started in determining your eligibility for VA
health care benefits or click on a menu button to the left to learn
about specific programs and benefits.
---------------------------------------
Hmmm...
What is this "determining your eligibility" shit?? Seems to me there
might be more to this than simply being a veteran. I should just be
able to show them my discharge, and get it, right?
Perhaps you should go back and click on that link and find out the
real story. VA health benefits are needs based for anyone who is rated
at less than 50% disabled. There are literally hundreds of thousands
of vets who simply "make too much money" to receive medical treatment
from the VA.
There is a bill in Congress meant to fix that gap; one that
conservative and liberal vets' groups all say is a much-needed bill.
But it's being held up by Tom Coburn, who is --- wait for it --
Republican. Go figure, huh?
5272 Dead, 405 since 1/20/09
They don't have universal health care. That's the problem. They don't
qualify.
Milt just pointed out a horrific provision in the VA eligibility rules:
* Reservists and National Guard members who were called to active
duty by a Federal Executive Order may qualify for VA health care
benefits. Returning service members, including Reservists and National
Guard members who served on active duty in a theater of combat
operations have special eligibility for hospital care, medical
services, and nursing home care for five years following discharge
from active duty.
By now there must be tens of thousands of reservists who were wounded in
action more than five years ago.
What's happening to them?
Phlip
for a psych evaluation, despite clear warning signs of psychosis.
(Some of his research reports wandered off into logically disjoint
rhetoric about Islam - a clear warning sign of psychosis. Witness
these newsgroups!)
Maybe his health insurance didn't cover treatments for Islamic
Fundamentalism.
5272 Dead, 405 since 1/20/09
You know, fundamentalism is considered a disqualifying personality
disorder for most police forces and it's supposed to be a disqualifier
for teachers, too.
But not for army psychiatrists. Go figure.
Phlip
Maybe psychiatry is more inclusive, under the presumption that psychiatrists are
not armed and sent out to make life-and-death snap judgments on the street.
Then comes the transference effect..
Werner
> On Nov 12, 10:27 am, Werner <whetz...@mac.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Nov 11, 11:07 pm, Jimmy Simpsons <notsureye...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Nov 11, 6:21 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > >http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>
> > > > Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>
> > > > Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> > > Veterans have universal healthcare, dipshit. Thanks for arguing
> > > against it.
>
> > Pay attention! Evidently you can't read. I pointed out they have
> > universal healthcare, dipshit. So universal health care must not be
> > working out all that well. Who besides the delusional are surprised?
> > Medicare and Medicaid has the same problem.
>
> Veterans do NOT have universal health care. Where the hell did that
> rumor start? The VA provides medical services to veterans who make
> below a certain amount of money, and who qualify in other ways. I WISH
> it was universal, but it's not. As far as I'm concerned, every single
> military veteran -- or at least those who served in a war -- should
> receive a lifetime guaranteed safety net, including comprehensive
> medical care.
>
This is where I got it from.
Eligibility for most veterans’ health care benefits is based solely
on
active military service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or
Coast Guard (or Merchant Marines during WW II), and discharged under
other than dishonorable conditions.
http://www4.va.gov/healtheligibility/
> The only problems with Medicare and Medicaid is that the rest of the
> system is putting undue strain on them. Good luck finding a senior
> who'd be willing to give up their Medicare.
That would be like finding someone who doesn't want lower taxes or
higher benefits.
Governing has become a way to get privileges for some at the expense
of others.
http://www.capitaldistrict-lp.org/what.shtml
Good luck finding a doctor
> who would rather deal with the current private insurance nightmare,
> rather than Medicare, for that matter.
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/23705/Fewer_Doctors_Are_Accepting_Medicare_Cases.html
Phlip
> On Nov 11, 6:21 pm, "Gandalf Grey" <valino...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/11-6
>>
>> Published on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Agence France Presse
>>
>> Lack of Health Care Killed 2,266 US Veterans Last Year: Study
>
> Veterans have universal healthcare, dipshit. Thanks for arguing
> against it.
They had it before Bush looted it to pay for... the next batch of veterans.
Fixing this mess was one of O's campaign promises. So once again we will get to
see the old two-birds-one-stone trick. Veterans need no special dispensation if
_everyone_ has universal healthcare.
Harder for the next administration to loot, too.
5272 Dead, 405 since 1/20/09
I was horrified when Milt posted the link to the VA coverage schedule.
The ONLY vets with the type of full coverage every imagines the vets get
are combat veterans. And even there, non-combat-related problems are
subject to means-testing.
Reservists have combat injury medical costs covered only for five years.
After that they're on their own. No VA at all.