Miliary Benefits Are Disappearing

[g5000]

I thought it was just me, but I have met a lot of other military retirees who feel the same way I do about having served for 20 years, which is to say we feel like the world's biggest suckers.

The promises that were made to us are being broken. The "free medical" is not free. If you don't live near a VA hospital, you enroll in Tricare. And Tricare has insurance premiums just like any other health insurance. Sure, it is currently cheaper than a civilian health insurance plan, but there is a movement underway in Congress right now to triple our premiums, and that would demolish any cost advantage to serving 20 of the youngest years of your adult life for medical benefits.

They are also going to do away with the military pension. The reasoning at first sounds logical. A guy who serves four years of active duty who gets sent to combat does not get any kind of retirement plan. A guy who serves 20 years who never went to combat gets a paycheck for the rest of his life.

So the idea is to create a kind of 401-k plan. If you serve only four years, you have a little nest egg when you get out.

But think about that for a minute.

You join the service and after 20 years you get a health benefit identical to a civilian's health benefit. Except you get shot at. And you get paid less.

You join the service and you get a 401-k, just like a civilian. Except you get shot at, and you are paid less.

Why would I join the military?

Oh. Yeah. Patriotism.

Sure.

 

[uscitizen]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

Sad but true and I did say SOME.
A couple on here come to mind.

 

[g5000]

Oh, and let me tell you something about Tricare.

Someone very close to me suffered a traumatic brain injury. There's a lot of that going around these days in our community.

This particular injury resulted in a kind of amnesia like you see in that movie 50 First Dates.

Here's the weird thing. There are no visible physical symptoms. No limp or slurring of speech or anything like that.

Even though the injury caused 100 percent disability, Tricare will not pay for a full time caretaker. Nor will Tricare pay for cognitive therapy.

All because there were no outwardly noticeable physical impairments.

The physical therapists did everything they could to find one to help out. But there were none. Just an inability to form new memories, which can be greatly mitigated by cognitive therapy.

So I said fuck it and contacted my Congressman and both Senators. And all three responded. And they kicked the assholes at Tricare in the nuts. Hard. And the cognitive therapy was approved. But not the in-home care provider.

After a year of cognitive therapy, major improvement has occured. I have met people who have not gotten cognitive therapy and the difference is dramatic.

There are a lot of our comrades coming back with these injuries and our veteran medical system is fucking them over to save money.

So I have joined the VFW and I am going to see what I can get them to do about it.

But pay attention, fellas. Make sure none of your comrades have fallen through the cracks. Look after them, because no one else will.

 

[g5000]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

Sad but true and I did say SOME.
A couple on here come to mind.

The military is an outstanding place to learn a trade. They have some of the best technical training in the world. So doing a single enlistment can have great payoffs if you have no other avenues to an education.

But just be aware you may end up in a war.

I have seen some real huckleberries join the military and come back as men. The military is real good at that, too.

 

[g5000]

One more thing. My Congressman busted some serious nuts.

And he's a Democrat. I don't like any of his political ideas, but this guy really worked over the Tricare system to get that cognitive therapy turned on.

I actually got a phone call from a Colonel on the medical review board to offer me his deepest and sincerest apologies after my Congressman get involved.

It was sweeeeeeeeet!

Your Congressman has to respond to a flare sent up by a vet. They all have military affairs staff.

Just so you know.

 

[Warrior102]

One more thing. My Congressman busted some serious nuts.

And he's a Democrat. I don't like any of his political ideas, but this guy really worked over the Tricare system to get that cognitive therapy turned on.

I actually got a phone call from a Colonel on the medical review board to offer me his deepest and sincerest apologies after my Congressman get involved.

It was sweeeeeeeeet!

Your Congressman has to respond to a flare sent up by a vet. They all have military affairs staff.

Just so you know.

The only way to protect veteran's EARNED benefits is to send Obama packing in November. Every vet group I am affilitated with plans to do this. It's a MAJOR hot topic and he's not fooling any of us into believing he gives a shit about veterans or those who are currently on active duty + their families.

 

[g5000]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

Sad but true and I did say SOME.
A couple on here come to mind.

The military has a pretty good weeding out process. Some people who can't make it in the civilian world don't do too well in the military, either. However, the military does straighten a lot of guys out. I've seen it time and time again.

There are those rare few who come out worse than when they went in, as far as ability to cope in society goes. The military mindset does add an additional bad twist to certain kinds of sub-intellects.

But the vast majority come out a much, much better person.

 

[Warrior102]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

You are seriously, a fucking moron. Some join MacDonald's cause they cannot make it at anything else. Some shovel shit in "shovel ready" jobs. Some are still living in Mommy's basement when they're 34 - and some are on Food Stamps.

Just STFU with your idiocy.

 

[g5000]

The only way to protect veteran's EARNED benefits is to send Obama packing in November. Every vet group I am affilitated with plans to do this. It's a MAJOR hot topic and he's not fooling any of us into believing he gives a shit about veterans or those who are currently on active duty + their families.

I don't trust most politicians to treat vets right. It used to be you could not get elected if you had not served, but now vets in Congress are a tiny minority.

This maltreatment I was speaking of above began before Obama was elected. October 2008.

There is a crack in the Tricare insurance rules. And it would cost about $50 billion to close it.

But goddam it, we paid for those guys to go over there. We need to pay for them to come back. All the way back.

Imagine if your last solid memory is in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Every day you wake up you have to be reminded where you are, and what happened. And when you ask about people you cared about, you have to be told they died. And you grieve their deaths all over again.

That's what these kind of injuries are like.

 

[theHawk]

There hasn't been a budget passed in years. The Army is hurting bad for funds. I imagine the same is going on in places like the VA.

 

[Mr Natural]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

You are seriously, a fucking moron. Some join MacDonald's cause they cannot make it at anything else. Some shovel shit in "shovel ready" jobs. Some are still living in Mommy's basement when they're 34 - and some are on Food Stamps.

Just STFU with your idiocy.

So you couldn't get a job as a burger flipper, ay?

 

[g5000]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.

You are seriously, a fucking moron. Some join MacDonald's cause they cannot make it at anything else. Some shovel shit in "shovel ready" jobs. Some are still living in Mommy's basement when they're 34 - and some are on Food Stamps.

Just STFU with your idiocy.

So you couldn't get a job as a burger flipper, ay?

Let's not do this.

 

[Warrior102]

So you couldn't get a job as a burger flipper, ay?

Huh?
This doesn't even make fucking sense

 

[usmcstinger]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.
Sad but true and I did say SOME.
A couple on here come to mind.

And there are those who would soil themselves at just the thought of serving in our Armed Forces. You and a bunch of others here come to mind. One day in USMC Boot Camp and they would be crying for their mommies.

 

[theHawk]

So you couldn't get a job as a burger flipper, ay?

Huh?
This doesn't even make fucking sense

To idiot libs, "making it" in life means having some shit job at McDonalds or better yet sitting on your ass collecting welfare checks.

To libs, people that join the military are just a bunch of gun crazy baby killers.

 

[High_Gravity]

The benefits of the Military like the free medical, dental, coverage for families etc. is what kept alot of people in, if you take that away, how are you supposed to convince people to enlist?

 

[Warrior102]

some join the military cause they cannot make it at anything else.
Sad but true and I did say SOME.
A couple on here come to mind.

And there are those who soil themselves at just the thought of enlisting in our Armed Forces.

US Cit would be one of those....

He/she/it, whatever the fuck it is, will soon tell us of He/she/it's exploits in the jungles.All the while, chomping on a ding-dong in his/shit/it's trailer

 

[strollingbones]

tri care is simply getting harder and harder to use.....

 

[Warrior102]

The benefits of the Military like the free medical, dental, coverage for families etc. is what kept alot of people in, if you take that away, how are you supposed to convince people to enlist?

You can't.

I can't wait for the draft.....

 

[Againsheila]

One more thing. My Congressman busted some serious nuts.

And he's a Democrat. I don't like any of his political ideas, but this guy really worked over the Tricare system to get that cognitive therapy turned on.

I actually got a phone call from a Colonel on the medical review board to offer me his deepest and sincerest apologies after my Congressman get involved.

It was sweeeeeeeeet!

Your Congressman has to respond to a flare sent up by a vet. They all have military affairs staff.

Just so you know.

The only way to protect veteran's EARNED benefits is to send Obama packing in November. Every vet group I am affilitated with plans to do this. It's a MAJOR hot topic and he's not fooling any of us into believing he gives a shit about veterans or those who are currently on active duty + their families.

This is not new, benefits have been being cut for the military for YEARS. Under Bush I they did away with my mothers health benefits. My parents had paid extra into their retirement to insure that my mother would have the same health benefits as my father when he retired. They did away with the health benefits for spouses. They never gave back ONE DIME of the money my parents paid in to insure those benefits for my mother.

And let's not forget the Bonus Army, they didn't get what they were promised either and that goes back to the great depression.