Veteran Medical Benefits

To:  US Congress

It has come to my attention that there is a plan to change health care benefits for military veterans. While companies routinely shed health care costs by reducing coverage and increasing employee contributions, this same logic should not be applied to servicemen and women. Heath care benefits represent a much larger portion of their compensation after serving their country on active duty.

Our country is asking troops to go to Iraq and fight a war, lose a limb or even die, but when they return home either to retire or continue active duty, it is saying to each service member and veteran, "We used you, and now we don’t need you."

How is it that this country can give billions of dollars to other countries and not appropriate enough money in the fiscal budget to support the health care of those who have sacrificed so much for the freedom of this country?

We have given our blood, sweat and tears for this nation, and the thanks we get is, "Yes, we told you that you would get free (or affordable) health care, but I’d rather give that money to the defense contractors in my home district." When I signed on, we were told we’d get "free health care for life" when we retired. Then, when I retired after 22 years, we were asked to pay about $500 a year for "enhanced" health care. Now, they’re attempting to triple our current monthly costs in addition to transferring the medical mission back to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vets who visit VA centers (including myself) are not going to get the quality of health care they deserve when an additional 6 million folks are dumped into existing centers that are expected to operate business as usual.

I hold the President, Congress and most of all, the senior leadership in the military accountable for not standing up to the politicians who think of ways to take more and more from the ones who gave the most but got little in return.

If Washington doesn’t change its thoughts about veterans soon, there won’t be any more veterans because no one will volunteer. Don’t expect veterans to encourage the younger generation to make the military a career. The young people of today aren’t stupid; they watch how the government treats its service members. I have two children both on active duty. Why would I recommend that they stay in?

When politicians talk about the military, it’s about the fancy tanks or that pretty airplane or a social experiment. Throughout the history of warfare, no weapon has ever won a war. It was the grunt in the mud in a foreign land, the sailor standing watch on a cold sea, and the airman working on a ramp in the desert heat.

I urge you to reconsider these plans to pass additional health care costs on to this country's veterans. In more fundamental terms, I urge you to honor your commitments to those who honored theirs.

If you agree and support this, please forward to others. More importantly I'd ask that you write your elected officials. You can find your individual state representative by going to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Veteran Medical Benefits Petition to US Congress was created by and written by Frederick C. Montney III, MSgt USMC (Ret) (msgt@montney.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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