Military Retirees & Healthcare

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

"I have altered the contract. Pray that I do not alter it further." - Senator Graham's role model?

It's more like you should feel lucky he didn't alter it more.

Seriously, what is some peoples problem with Americans having decent medical care?

Some people feel that you should work for your own healthcare or any other benefit that the government may want to offer you. They feel that others are taking from their pocket unfairly. Of course, those same people use the same programs and benefits and feel that they should get those benefits while others get screwed. Alexandra Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's daughter, made a film that shows how people in the south feel about various things. It's interesting. If you can, look it up on YouTube. They should have some clips there.

And why do they never go after the actually expensive part of publically funded healthcare - Medicare for the over 65s?

First, the group votes. Politicians are terrified of groups that vote. Second, that isn't he part that costs the most. The real problem is the cost of healthcare. It's not cheap. Hell, some things are overpriced. I'm sure you've heard people joke about paying $20.00 for a Tylenol at a hospital. It's true. I wok with families that have TriCare coverage. I'll tell you this, they pay well. Really well. In fact, out of all the insurance companies I've had to deal with, they pay me the best. They pay about 50% more than what other insurance companies pay for the services I provide. So, if they really wanted to reduce expenses, they would be trying to figure out how to reduce the cost of services. But that isn't going to happen.

And is Senator Graham going to decline his own healthcare?

Not a chance.

Or is this another attempt to screw the poor?

Yup.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some people feel that you should work for your own healthcare or any other benefit that the government may want to offer you. They feel that others are taking from their pocket unfairly. Of course, those same people use the same programs and benefits and feel that they should get those benefits while others get screwed.

My Dad has told me that he has more than one patient who has complained about the ACA.

...who only have insurance because the ACA did away with InsCos denying coverage to people with "per-existing conditions".

 

[Umbran]

My frank opinion is that most Americans not only haven't served, but don't know - and don't want to know - anything about those in the military. They'd rather just not be bothered about it.

Well, let's not make like that's special. Most Americans don't know about firefighters, or cops, or minorities, or the disabled, or those stuck in foster care, or *anything* that isn't their personal direct experience - and don't want to know.

Heck, most of those in the military don't really know or want to know about the troubles of others - they are rather focused on their own issues. Generalization: for the most part, humans don't care or want to know about the troubles of others.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Sure, there are benefits to serving your country: tax free shopping, free healthcare on active duty, generous retirement, and sometimes active-duty housing benefits. But military families give up a lot, too: limited autonomy in key life decisions, military salaries that are not comparable to analogous ones in the private sector, preventing you from retiring when you want, the possibility of being called back to active service after you've retired, and so forth.

Whenever people talk about all the great benefits, like "Free health care", they never talk about just how low the salaries are. You mentioned it, but it bears the effort to examine it in more detail.

Yeah, I got "free" healthcare, housing, and food, technically. In reality? I had to buy my own food because you were limited in how much you could take in the chow hall, and it wasn't enough, and they gave everyone the same portion (the 5'2" 110lb guy got the same as me, a 6'3" 200lb guy). I actually did an experiment in Korea. For a month, I ate nothing but the 3 meals at the chow hall. I lost 8 pounds in that month.

I got free housing too. A one-room area that I shared with a roommate (there is no privacy) and a shared bathroom with another two other guys. I guess that's close to college dorms.

But this is why I say it wasn't free. I figure I probably worked from 5am to 6pm on average every day (from PT to going home), with a LOT of evening and weekend working going on. Let's say 265 hours a month. I made $700 a month, and this was in the mid 90s. So that's $2.65 an hour, not even counting the times I was actually deployed living in a tent for months on end.

So those benefits? Not exactly free lol. Think of it like "pre-tax contributions'.

 

[Scott DeWar]

At 700/ month, what rank were you?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whenever people talk about all the great benefits, like "Free health care", they never talk about just how low the salaries are. You mentioned it, but it bears the effort to examine it in more detail.

If you're some kind of specialist/officer, your salary might be 1/10th or less of what you could pull in the private sector.

 

[Sacrosanct]

At 700/ month, what rank were you?

That was PFC, IIRC. When I got out in 98 as an E-5, I was making more. But as Danny says:

If you're some kind of specialist/officer, your salary might be 1/10th or less of what you could pull in the private sector.

A line manager aircraft mechanic (I was a Blackhawk crewchief/mechanic) in the civilian world, I would be making a LOT more money. Which is one of the reasons I got out and became a civilian

So all those "free benefits" you hear about in the military aren't all that free, in the big picture of things.

 

[was]

-The healthcare provided to U.S. military personnel is certainly not 'free', it is figured into their salaries and benefits packages. The year before I left active duty, back in 1995, they gave me a 'rough' breakdown of my salary and benefits. The values they placed upon housing, food and healthcare were nearly three times my take home pay and far exceed anything that I have seen since in the private sector, even 20+ years later.

-According to the studies that I have read, mostly the Navy and Army Times newspapers, the exceedingly high healthcare prices paid by military members, over the course of a 20-year career, average out to the estimated cost paid by private sector retirees over a 40-45 year career. The common fallacy held by the public is, that because a military career is only twenty years, they must be paying less for healthcare in the long run.

-Finally, having parents who work for the VA healthcare system, who are also veterans, let me state that the healthcare received by many military retirees is not of equal quality to that provided by the private sector. Chronically under-funded and under-staffed, in terms of medical personnel not administrators, VA hospitals and clinics has resulted in long waits and a decline in the services provided.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Larry Niven's acronym comes to mind: T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Larry Niven's acronym comes to mind: T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.

and for the record let me state what that means for those of us that might not undertand it:
T.=there's
A.=Ain't
N.=no
S.=such
T.=thing
A.=as
A.=a
F.=free
L.= lunch