tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post8629137629642634901..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Make Sure You Get Your Obama $2,500 Insurance ReductionDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6139150911248194072010-03-23T22:50:51.841-04:002010-03-23T22:50:51.841-04:00Linear,
Your experience took longer than "10...Linear,<br /><br />Your experience took longer than "10 minutes"?<br /><br />Sorry about the outcome.<br /><br />My advice to anyone seeking VA benefits is to get good, competent representation from one of the service organizations. It's like that old saying, "A man who has himself for a client has a fool for a lawyer." O, and the odds always favor the house. And VA has pretty stringent rules.<br /><br />Talk to some of these folk. They know the system and how to work you through it. If you are turned down, appeal. There is a direct correlation between the level of the appeal and winning an award. In short, the higher up the food chain you go, the better your chance of success. Don't be shy about bringing in your member of Congress or a Senator (most have staff to handle veterans' complaints exclusively). But you have to be patient: appeals have been known to take up to three years. When you win, the pay out is retroactive.<br /><br />By the way, I am not opposed to the care of non-service connected problems. Men and women who have served the United States deserve a break. <br /><br />I am opposed to idiots who misrepresent the facts to the possible detriment of others. Goofy theories about HC and petroleum supplies don't bother. Gaming veterans does.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91655380009754756342010-03-23T21:41:36.380-04:002010-03-23T21:41:36.380-04:00Allen. We need to talk.
As to people just happen...Allen. We need to talk.<br /><br /><em>As to people just happening to “luck out” with VA and gain health care benefits, MALARKY! One must apply for benefits and make the case for neediness. The process is long and arduous as a general rule. Also, as a general rule, the first level of caseworkers has only one rubber stamp. It prints, "DENIED"</em>.<br /><br />My narrative about VA benefits had its origins one day not too long ago when I wandered into VA clutching my DD214s to just inquire if I could get benefits because my hearing had really gone south on me. The intake guy, or whatever he's called, glanced at the papers and fired up his computer. Next thing I knew, after honestly answering a few questions off the top of my head, I was in. He even made me an appointment with primary care to get the ball rolling, and I walked out with a shiny new plastic card. Unfortunately in a sense, the honest answers I gave him off the top of my head were not exactly what VA wanted in order to figure eligible means. He also didn't mention that if I exceeded their means test, I wasn't eligible for entering the copay status since missing the politically inspired deadline in January, 2003, I wasn't eligible for anything, unless destitute. I merrily signed on for every test and exam I'd been putting off for quite a while. Hearing, vision, colonoscopy, etc., as well as some advanced diagnostics the specialists wanted to run like a CT-scan to rule out a certain type tumor related to hearing losses. Later on, VA caught up to me via IRS. Only then did I realize I wasn't eligible in the first place. The problem was that they have a very peculiar way of testing means in which sale of a bundle of mutual funds to pay some unexpected bills is counted as income on the gross sale amount, not adjusted for basis. Also, alimony doesn't apply. Another interesting quirk I encountered was that a fellow I'd met in the intake office happened to be manning the information desk as I was leaving at around the time I was inquiring about the eligibility fiasco. We said hi and he asked me why I was there. I told him I needed to schedule my second annual primary care exam, but that I was crossways with the beancounters. He put my name into his computer and said, "You show up here...what did you want again?" I walked out with an appointment, and was launched into my second year of coverage. Eventually the computers circled their wagons, and I could no longer penetrate the beancounters' defenses. I did get an extra year of low cost Viagra out of that exercise, as well as getting to see my sweet primary care physician again.<br /><br />So, sometimes there's denial, and other times you're welcomed. It must be my scintillating personality. No?<br /><br />As to veterans receiving assistance in the absence of service connected disabilities, I don't argue with the position that <br />it's a questionable practice that has partially been closed by the January, 2003 rule. I only applied because it was clearly a benefit I had access to, or thought I did, not realizing the 2003 cutoff. I wouldn't have objected if anytime in the process I'd been told to just get out and leave the resources for the needy.<br /><br />That clearly wasn't the case. They were eager to take in new applicants. The medical staff seem to operate in a different world than the administrators. I like that. <br /><br />In spite of all the criticism leveled at VA, I was impressed by the level of care, competence, friendliness, cleanliness of facilities, etc.<br /><br />Oh. I never did get my hearing aids. None service connected I was told.linearthinkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201292791445921817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45077525998717353842010-03-23T21:16:48.973-04:002010-03-23T21:16:48.973-04:00So heroes, how's that HC plan sound now?
Of ...So heroes, how's that HC plan sound now? <br /><br />Of course, the VFW, AL, and DAV are all lying without doubt. HC good - Veterans' Organizations bad.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59154553296702318432010-03-23T21:12:21.200-04:002010-03-23T21:12:21.200-04:00...and this:
"'What's hurtful,' ......and this:<br /><br />"'What's hurtful,' said Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis., 'is a continuing perception that DOD is more concerned about the budget than they are about recruiting and retaining a professional volunteer force that's been at war now for more than eight years.'"<br /><br />"'It is a sacred responsibility that this nation provides her defenders something more tangible than just the privilege of fighting and dying for their country.'"<br /><br />["Indeed, it is a sacred responsibility to give old, henpecked drunks a place to lounge and vent their collective spleens."] (For the dim of wit, that last, in brackets, was editorial poetic license.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5408" rel="nofollow">VFW Fires Back at Defense Official</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.vfw.org/" rel="nofollow">Separate Legislation Now Required to Protect VA, DOD Healthcare Programs</a>allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58079258844518898012010-03-23T21:02:03.741-04:002010-03-23T21:02:03.741-04:00rufus,
Your appraisal of the VFW comes as no surp...rufus,<br /><br />Your appraisal of the VFW comes as no surprise. It is on par with your knowledge of VA - consumption only.<br /><br />Re: HC and America's veterans<br /><br />This is why there is a VFW.<br /><br />"All VFW ever asked for months now for the promises made to be written into the final bill. They were not. "<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vfw.org/" rel="nofollow">Veterans of Foreign Wars</a>allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-63524311362485159162010-03-23T20:13:03.488-04:002010-03-23T20:13:03.488-04:00allen lies about the scrolling, or he'd not te...allen lies about the scrolling, or he'd not tell us he was.<br /><br />Such a schmuckdesert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-21316713006328519512010-03-23T20:13:01.841-04:002010-03-23T20:13:01.841-04:00Well, Really, it's a cheap place to drink beer...Well, Really, it's a cheap place to drink beer, and hide from the wife. :)<br /><br /><br /><br />Thanks, Rat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-84716548048136693572010-03-23T20:08:06.288-04:002010-03-23T20:08:06.288-04:00Actually, it's a place to go to hide from the ...Actually, it's a place to go to hide from the wife.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-3843050803480371372010-03-23T20:06:31.846-04:002010-03-23T20:06:31.846-04:00The VFW exists so Veterans have a place to go and ...The VFW exists so Veterans have a place to go and have a drink, and tell lies free of the presence of assholes that have never fought in a War for their Country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56963869759539671912010-03-23T19:16:34.126-04:002010-03-23T19:16:34.126-04:00keep on scrolling<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqWcWS9PS6c" rel="nofollow">keep on scrolling</a>MeLoDyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04658982778792168451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37734161763695113672010-03-23T18:39:28.582-04:002010-03-23T18:39:28.582-04:00...scrolling......scrolling...allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27934096363426961902010-03-23T18:38:42.332-04:002010-03-23T18:38:42.332-04:00rufus,
Re: "It takes about 10 minutes."...rufus,<br /><br />Re: "It takes about 10 minutes."<br /><br />Yeah...right...like income taxes...<br /><br />The linked website exists because veterans need all the help they can get to obtain benefits. That is also why organizations such as the DAV, VFW, and AL exist. <br /><br />As to my experience with VA, I am proud to say that I have been of great service to some number of veterans who would have otherwise been hung out to dry. <br /><br />Since there are several million hits/sites that to some degree or another address the difficulties faced by veterans with VA and given the enormous Congressional record on matters pertaining thereto, I rest my case.<br /><br />Doubtless, you will continue to hold forth as the world's foremost authority, but that is to be expected.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15327362081750616922010-03-23T18:26:42.826-04:002010-03-23T18:26:42.826-04:00rufus: +1, USMC veteran
allen: liar & scoundre...rufus: +1, USMC veteran<br />allen: liar & scoundreldesert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-9417169742919152882010-03-23T17:35:44.289-04:002010-03-23T17:35:44.289-04:00America's Most Underwater Housing Markets
Abo...<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/109131/americas-most-underwater-housing-markets" rel="nofollow">America's Most Underwater Housing Markets</a><br /><br />About Orlando (58% underwater):<br /><i>"For the condo or condo conversion owner, literally they may carry them out feet first before they ever see that property reach 2006 values," he says.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91109551123818045652010-03-23T17:31:26.660-04:002010-03-23T17:31:26.660-04:00Well Here is the applicable page for applying for ...Well <a href="http://www.hadit.com/apply_for_va_benefits.html" rel="nofollow">Here</a> is the applicable page for applying for benefits, asshole. You can do it online, or you can drive down to the VA hospital, DD214 in hand, and sit while the gal fills out the questions. It takes about 10 minutes.<br /><br />There are other Veterans that read this site. I'll let them be the judge as to which one knows what he's talking about. Guess what - Since I've done it, I'm going to figure you're fucked.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-25541149222388433662010-03-23T17:26:17.652-04:002010-03-23T17:26:17.652-04:00rufus,
Re: phony
Right...Those who read the prev...rufus,<br /><br />Re: phony<br /><br />Right...Those who read the previous link will quickly determine who is the greater fool.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34650277794438092722010-03-23T17:23:43.105-04:002010-03-23T17:23:43.105-04:00site offering information on obtaining VA benefits...<a href="http://www.hadit.com/apply_for_va_benefits.html" rel="nofollow">site offering information on obtaining VA benefits...and you will need much more than a DD-214 and a winning personality</a><br /><br />If I know nothing, what is one called who knows less than nothing?allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-67651422216310314562010-03-23T17:22:08.946-04:002010-03-23T17:22:08.946-04:00I think it's pretty clear what you think of th...I think it's pretty clear what you think of the VA, and Veterans with your stories of the veterans standing outside the VA (a smoke-free zone) with their little bags of drugs, that they'll sell, and trade for more drugs, and alcohol to take back to their homes under the bridges.<br /><br />You're just a despicable, fucking phony. I don't think you've ever been near a VA hospital, much less inside of one. I've got no use for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34163577741068634862010-03-23T17:14:50.796-04:002010-03-23T17:14:50.796-04:00rufus,
Re: VA
Nonsense!rufus,<br /><br />Re: VA<br /><br />Nonsense!allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-9854755534300743402010-03-23T17:08:43.979-04:002010-03-23T17:08:43.979-04:00Israeli leader gets warmer welcome in Congress
Mr...<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_on_go_ot/us_us_israel" rel="nofollow">Israeli leader gets warmer welcome in Congress</a><br /><br />Mr. Netanyahu has been courteous enough to resist the temptation to poke his hosts in the eye while on American soil. There is a lesson there for the Administration.<br /><br />Mr. Netanyahu will agree to hateful concessions. The Palestinians will follow up with some barbarous act. Everyone then will return to the status quo ante.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23702030687349651292010-03-23T17:08:16.162-04:002010-03-23T17:08:16.162-04:00Allen, you have absolutely no fucking clue what yo...Allen, you have absolutely no fucking clue what you're talking about.<br /><br />Your long, arduous process consists of producing a DD 214.<br /><br />They take an income statement, but I don't recall the phrase "needy" ever coming up. There is no human decision-making. You either qualify, or you don't. <br /><br />There are "Treatments," such as surgeries, joint replacements, etc. that, obviously, require qualification, and approval. I understand those are difficult to come by. <br /><br />I guess they would, indeed, be very difficult to obtain if you were a <b>Non Service-Connected</b> Veteran. Whatever to hell that is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56430058898588860732010-03-23T16:36:36.315-04:002010-03-23T16:36:36.315-04:0013 states sue over Obama’s health care overhaul
...13 states sue over Obama’s health care overhaul <br /><br />"Attorneys-general from 13 states sued the U.S. government Tuesday, claiming the landmark health-care overhaul bill is unconstitutional just seven minutes after President Barack Obama signed it into law.<br /><br />The lawsuit was filed in Pensacola after the Democratic president signed the bill the House passed Sunday night.<br /><br />“The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage,” the lawsuit says. "<br /><br />http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/13-states-sue-over-obamas-health-care-overhaul/article1509358/Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-84228025767609057502010-03-23T16:34:52.628-04:002010-03-23T16:34:52.628-04:00...just catching up...got to the part about Amish ......just catching up...got to the part about Amish freeloaders...What does one call the multitude of non-service connected veterans receiving VA benefits?<br /><br />As to people just happening to “luck out” with VA and gain health care benefits, MALARKY! One must apply for benefits and make the case for neediness. The process is long and arduous as a general rule. Also, as a general rule, the first level of caseworkers has only one rubber stamp. It prints, "DENIED".allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798524644256471907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59020069961574946742010-03-23T16:28:52.377-04:002010-03-23T16:28:52.377-04:00In a rousing speech a day before the vote, Mr. Oba...In a rousing speech a day before the vote, Mr. Obama recalled the glories of the past. “You know, naysayers said that Social Security would lead to socialism. But the men and women of Congress stood fast and created that program that lifted millions out of poverty.” What he didn't say is that Social Security must be reformed to be sustained, but no one wants to touch it.<br /><br />The one issue that unites America's warring parties is their mutual refusal to address the runaway entitlements that both of them have built. Neither has the will or courage to honestly address America's staggering debt. Neither has the nerve to tell the people that their country is living beyond its means and that, sooner or later, they'll have to pay the piper.<br /><br />If Mr. Obama ever takes that one on and survives, his place in history will be truly secured.<br /><br /><br />http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-rancorous-realities-of-obamacare/article1508561/Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-2142312164064559522010-03-23T16:28:43.902-04:002010-03-23T16:28:43.902-04:00From the outside looking in the below article seem...From the outside looking in the below article seems a pretty good summary:<br /><br /><br /><br />The rancorous realities of Obamacare<br />Margaret Wente<br />The Globe and Mail <br /><br />American liberals are giddy over Barack Obama's hard-won health-care victory. Only weeks ago, they were in despair over his failure to live up to his early promise, but now his fortunes have been miraculously resurrected. They're are already predicting that Obamacare will seal his place in history as one of the greatest presidents of all time.<br /><br />Canadians are pretty happy, too. At last, the U.S. has come around to universal coverage. Obamacare fixes the terrible injustice of people who can't get health insurance because they're already sick, and people who lose their coverage when they lose their jobs. From the Canadian point of view, Obamacare is a political and moral triumph (to say nothing of a vindication of our own superiority).<br /><br />But perhaps we ought to be a little less triumphant. America's “health-care revolution” (as a Globe and Mail headline put it) entrenches two deeply destructive trends: ideological warfare without end, and the metastatic growth of U.S. debt and entitlement spending.<br /><br />Since FDR, every sweeping U.S. social reform – the New Deal, Social Security, Medicare – has been a bipartisan affair. Not this time. Not a single Republican voted for this bill. That's not Mr. Obama's fault. But it's now clear his promise to forge a new era of postpartisan politics, where people would be reasonable and play nicely together, is dead. As David Sanger of The New York Times put it, “the approach to governing he had in mind simply will not work.”<br /><br />Mr. Obama is also swimming against a mighty tide. Despite the passage of health reform, most Americans no longer trust the government to get things done. Obamacare is part of a bigger fight over the proper role of government that has split America in half. And even those of us who believe in universal health care might doubt the ability of bureaucrats to impose solutions to complex problems, no matter how wise and smart they are.<br /><br />The new health-care legislation is a vast exercise in bureaucracy-building and social engineering, in a sector that already accounts for a mind-boggling 17 per cent of the economy. Will it produce better health outcomes? Will most Americans feel they themselves will be better off because of it? Don't bet on it.<br /><br />What you can bet on is that Obamacare will fail miserably at containing costs. Americans already spend 60 per cent more money on health care per capita than we do. Yet, this legislation will do nothing to check the power of trial lawyers, unions, Big Pharma or doctors. It does nothing to check consumer demand for more and better treatments. (And if it did, Americans really would revolt.) Instead of containing costs, the legislation adds even more open-ended entitlement programs.<br /><br />The official estimate says Obamacare will cost $1-trillion over the next 10 years but will actually lower federal deficits. Don't believe it. A more likely result, reckons Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, is that it will add at least another $562-billion to the deficit, which is already projected to reach an impressive $1.2-trillion by 2020.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.com