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| Improving Hospital Conditions | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 22 2007, 12:01 PM (480 Views) | |
| bsb006 | Feb 22 2007, 12:01 PM Post #1 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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Looks like the Army may do something..... |
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| legitlinda | Feb 23 2007, 11:11 PM Post #2 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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I heard it about this on the radio. Sounds like they got shamed into doing something. There's a word in Italian for this, it's Scumbari, it means to lose face or be shamed. When our parents would take us to visit somebody, the last words they would say to us before we got out of the car was... "Remember...don't make me "scumbari".
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| Sunshine | Feb 24 2007, 08:15 AM Post #3 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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If I am not mistaken I believe I heard on fox news that those that were responsible for allowing the hospital to get in this condition are going to behelo respnsible. No Veteran should have to be treated this way. They deserve top care in the best enviroment. Afterall these men and women gave us our freedom. I hope the idiots that caused the hospital to get in this shape get the book thrown at them . Ticks me off the way our Veterans are treated.
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| Condor | Feb 24 2007, 08:54 AM Post #4 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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Lots of attention, but some of the changes may be not as good as invisioned: February 23, 2007 Surgeons General Blast Health Budgeting Top service medical officers expressed their frustrations with the DoD health budgeting process at a February 20 hearing before the Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. Wake-Up Call for Wounded Warrior Care A nation's outrage over deficiencies in assistance to war-wounded members and families at Walter Reed will hopefully generate more conscientious attention to the needs of the 1% who have sacrificed so much for America. Why Discriminate Against Our Troops? This week, MOAA sent a letter urging the new Secretary of Defense to authorize active duty and Selected Reserve families the same flexible spending account and premium conversion programs that all federal civilians and most other American employees already enjoy. Commission Hears Case Against "Military Widows Tax" The Veterans Disability Commission heard Military Coalition testimony on SBP inequities and decided on some recommendations concerning certain disability claims issues. Colonel Ayres, In mid February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the January 2007 Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the metric used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for military retired pay, VA disability compensation, survivor annuities, and Social Security. The CPI had its second increase of the fiscal year by jumping 0.2% above December's CPI. However, the CPI still stands 0.8% below the FY2007 CPI base. This isn't the first time that inflation has been negative for the first four months of a fiscal year. How large do you think the COLA ended up when this happened previously? a.) 1.1% b.) 1.4% c.) 2.8% d.) 4.1% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surgeons General Blast Health Budgeting Top service medical officers expressed their frustrations with the DoD health budgeting process at a February 20 hearing before the Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care. Army Surgeon General LTG Kevin Kiley and Navy Surgeon General VADM Donald Arthur expressed their dissatisfaction with "efficiency wedges", or budget cuts, that DoD imposes on them each year. An "efficiency wedge" is a budget euphemism for, "We're cutting your budget by X amount and it's up to you to find ways to stay within that lower amount by becoming 'more efficient'." VADM Arthur said there was "no rational thought behind the cuts," indicating they're simply a way to pay for private sector care and don't actually make the services any more efficient. The SGs agreed that one way to make military health care more efficient would be for military hospitals and clinics to recapture more of the primary care workload that's now being addressed in civilian care networks. There is capacity in military facilities that's being paid for but not being used, they said. Both the Navy and Army reiterated their support for a unified medical command. The Air Force Surgeon General said the joint command concept wouldn't work with the Air Force's current command and control structure. MOAA believes it would be reasonable to investigate the idea further for additional possible saving options that could be used to help offset increasing military health costs. VADM Arthur took issue with the current strategy of increasing fees and copays for the TRICARE program. He offered a presentation entitled "Can Not Break Promises", and said he was uncomfortable with assuming savings from pushing retirees out of TRICARE, which does nothing to address actual health care cost increases. LTG Kiley commented that fee/copay increases do not have to be so quick and should only be small increases. back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wake Up Call for Wounded Warrior Care This week's media reports of problems experienced by wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center got MOAA, government leaders and the public up in arms about making sure these heroes and their families are being treated. Defense and Army leaders and President Bush were quick to assert their commitment to ensuring these members and families get the best possible care and support during this time of great trauma in their lives. In a DoD press briefing on Feb. 21, Army Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody responded to a question about this apparent leadership breakdown by saying, " I'll take responsibility. I'm the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. I'll take responsibility for this and I'll make sure it's fixed." That was a refreshing change from a situation whose occurrence would seem an impossibility if military leaders up and down the chain had been living up to their professional responsibilities to keep tabs on the welfare of the troops assigned to their care. Understandably - and appropriately - the uproar over these conditions isn't going to die with the cleanup of the specific cases cited in the media. Bipartisan calls for congressional hearings reflect public outrage at any leadership insensitivity to the needs of those who have paid such an extraordinary personal price for the rest of America. When 1% of the population is bearing 100% of the nation's wartime sacrifice, the other 99% should and must bear a tremendous sense of responsibility and guilt when the basic needs of the wounded few are neglected. Hopefully, this well-deserved indignation will be translated into positive remedies and protective measures to ensure such problems never recur. There is an old saying that a leader must "inspect to get what you expect." Failure to live up to that standard leads to disaster and destruction of trust, and that risk is exponentially increased in the case of wounded members and their families whose inputs aren't accorded priority in the decision tree. MOAA is hopeful that this will generate a renewed concern about our national obligation to meet the extraordinary needs of members suffering from traumatic brain injury and post'traumatic stress disorder as well as the terrible physical injuries of the combat-wounded. We hope it will lead to more appropriate allocation resources for healthcare givers, facility upgrades, maintenance, repairs, rehabilitation, and family outreach and support. At a press conference on Feb. 23, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, appointed a panel to review the Walter Reed situation. He said that those that were responsible for the problems will be held accountable. It's simply sad that it took a newspaper story to generate the kind of concern that should have been there all along. back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why Discriminate Against Our Troops? What will it take to get the Defense Department to allow currently serving military members the same tax-favored health and dependent care options already enjoyed by all federal civilians and most other Americans? These include: Allowing active duty members to have family dental insurance premiums and Selected Reservists to pay reserve dental insurance and TRICARE Reserve Select premiums deducted from their pre-tax pay, just as federal civilians can have this done for their federal health insurance premiums. Authorizing active duty and Selected Reserve members the option to use flexible spending accounts to set aside part of their pay on a pre-tax basis to pay out-of-pocket expenses for dependent care and health care (e.g., dental deductibles and copays; eye exams, glasses and contact lenses; over-the-counter medication costs, TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Reserve Select deductibles and copays). MOAA president, VADM Norb Ryan, Jr., USN (Ret), says he doesn't understand the Pentagon's reluctance to provide military members these pre-tax options. "The Federal government extended them to all federal civilians years ago. MOAA offers them to our employees, just as virtually all corporate employers do," he said. "Defense leaders are just sending the wrong message when they discriminate this way against the military families who are making such extreme sacrifices for the rest of the country." "These programs are worth plenty to military families," says Ryan. "For every $1,000 they spend on child care and medical, dental, or optometry expenses, they could save $250 to $400." Two years ago, MOAA persuaded the Senate Armed Services Committee to issue a report expressing support for these initiatives and demanding a Pentagon report on what it would take to implement them. "That report was due last March, but we're still waiting for it," said Ryan. "We're hopeful that, with a new Secretary of Defense, things might change." In a Feb. 20 letter, Ryan urged Secretary Gates to examine the Department's position and end the denial of this basic benefit to our troops. MOAA hopes Secretary Gates will set a new leadership example and implement these programs to demonstrate that DoD "takes care of its own." back to top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Commission Hears Case Against "Military Widows Tax" Survivor benefits were under the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission's spotlight during this week's two-day hearing in Washington, D.C. Commissioners debated the Survivor Benefit Program (SBP)/Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC) offset with a panel of Military Coalition representatives. The panel, across-the-board, called for the elimination of the SBP/DIC offset - one of MOAA's and the Coalition's top legislative goals. The Commission members were grateful for the panel's written and oral statements and were particularly moved when several representatives from the Gold Star Wives of America provided personal, compelling accounts of the impact of losing a spouse and the subsequent financial hardships many have endured. The Commission is expected to settle on a recommendation concerning the deduction of DIC from SBP annuities during next month's meeting. The Commission did make progress on several other staff-prepared research questions and provided the following tentative recommendations: Claim-Filing Time Limit - endorse the current rule that allows unlimited time to file an original VA disability claim Line of Duty - endorse the current definition that considers any disability incurred while on active duty, other than due to misconduct, as in the line of duty (e.g., members are considered on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) Lump Sum Payments - recommend against offering a lump sum payment option in lieu of monthly disability compensation At its next meeting in mid-March, the Commission will consider recommendations on concurrent receipt options, among other issues. More information can be found on the Commission website. |
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| bsb006 | Mar 1 2007, 02:39 PM Post #5 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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Fox Breaking News...... |
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| Almtnman | Mar 1 2007, 04:18 PM Post #6 |
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Administrator
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Maybe things will improve now. I watched a news segment that said most of the detrioting conditions were in building 18 and they were working on correcting the problems there now at a fast pace. |
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| bsb006 | Mar 2 2007, 05:51 AM Post #7 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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I hope so - Media coverage definately helps!!!!
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| Sunshine | Mar 3 2007, 05:39 AM Post #8 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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It's a shame the way Veterans are treated !!! Burns my arse . Our Veterans give so much and are treated like that . They better make some changes and fast. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256082,00.html |
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| bsb006 | Mar 3 2007, 05:42 AM Post #9 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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More heads rolling! |
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| bsb006 | Mar 3 2007, 05:45 AM Post #10 |
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Ruler of the Mountain
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Another story |
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