To many
Americans being in the military is seen as honorable and courageous. Many
served honorably and would do it again. It is celebrated with parades,
discounts, holidays and standing ovations at sporting events. But only 1% of
the U.S. population has enlisted into the military. Many like me served
honorably and would do it again. I served the in the Navy for five years, I’ve
traveled all over the country and across the world. It’s nice, but I’ve also
had health issues due to the military. Dislocated shoulder, plantar fasciitis, Achilles
tendonitis and the list keeps going. I decided not to reenlist to be with my
family and to focus on school. Yet, I have to work full time to have insurance
and keep working full time to keep my health care benefits. Many veterans need
help and no insurance to help them. Serving in the military should grant
members free health care after they serve.
The
government spends billions of dollars to fight wars and to have the latest
technology to fight them. The military demands more than 40 hours a week and in
many cases, for service members to work in dangerous settings. Once a member
decides to leave they get a thank you for enlisting handshake and good-bye.
Countless veterans leave with heavy health issues and get a limited amount of
help and income for it. According to an NPR article, the VA is over funded just
not administrated right. My best friend a former Marine, receives a check every month at the expense of a brain tumor. Many veterans take their life away by suicide. Does the life of a veteran not matter after they serve? Free health care should be mandatory to better care for the country's heroes.
4 comments:
Ronnie, I could not agree more with your argument! The United States of America NEEDS to offer FREE health care to "Americas Heroes." Like you stated in your argument many veterans do develop health issues after serving our Country and have limited resources to help pay for them, which should not be the case. You guys sacrifice everything for our Country. Many leave their families while they are deployed or stationed in a different city, State or Country and miss many precious moments. Although there are holidays, discounts and all that other good stuff that is not enough for what you guys do for our Country. And if the VA is really over funded and the only problem is it's administration, then they need to get with the program and fix it. It is not our veterans fault, and just like our veterans did their job the VA should do theirs.
Privatiza- AHHHH!
In my colleague's blog, "What Would American's Do?", Ronnie Medrano addresses the call for U.S. veterans to receive free health care due to the physical and psychological impact on a person from serving their country. Although I fully agree with Medrano who served in the U.S Navy for five years, the word "free" scares some people and will require steps to achieving this goal of health care for all veterans.
The first step, in my opinion, would be the privatization of health care for individuals that served this country. That being said, a question to consider: why in the world are we denying care from qualified private providers when those on Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare can? According to the New York Times, even the Veterans Health Administration's direct employees "enjoy a vast array of private health care and coverage options that are denied to the veterans they ostensibly serve" (Avik Roy, Veterans Should Enjoy the Same Health Care Options as All Americans). The privatization health care for veterans is nothing to be scared of, the Department of Veterans Affairs would improve from public resources, and providing the option for individuals who served this country the option to receive care from high-quality, private sources is a win-win.
http://paigedausin.blogspot.com/2017/04/privatiza-ahhhh.html
And thank you for your service!
Hi Ronnie,
To start, thank you for your service. I wish that I could give you more than a thank you, because the service that you (and all the others in the military) provide(d) to this country is invaluable, and deserves a lot more than these two little words. But "thank you" is all I have to give, so I will just offer that with all sincerity. Secondly, thank you for writing this post. It's good to hear from your perspective. I have never served, and service in the military is not something that's close to my life. While my father was in the Navy, that was before I was born, so it's never really been a factor in my life. My step-sister was just promoted to Senior Master Sergeant in the Navy, and I am very proud of her. Interestingly, she and I have had some enlightening conversations about healthcare.
I have lived in other countries in the world that have universal healthcare. When I returned to the States, it was a struggle to get insurance, as I had pre-existing conditions (this was before the ACA went into law). Without health insurance, most doctors wouldn't see me. When talking to my step-sister about this, she stated, "I have a hard time commenting about "free" healthcare, as I have always had it (career military) and so has my family. I can't imagine how it is for non-military to have to worry about it and try to afford it". This conversation made me really think about healthcare accessibility. I am grateful that my step-sister and her family are secure in their health care coverage. They absolutely should be. And when she retires in a couple of years, they still should be. After being deployed on four occasions, I think she damn-well deserves the peace of mind that she and her husband and kids will be taken care of when the need arises. I am happy that the tax dollars I pay will help fund this. And I would like to take it a step further. My conversation with her strengthened my conviction that the people of this country are desperately in need of universal healthcare. We owe it to our military folks, without a doubt. I think we also owe it to our teachers, and grocers, and mailmen, and salespeople, and janitors, and everybody else who contributes their efforts and tax dollars in this country. I think that healthcare is a right, much like education, that needs to be accessible to all. I have lived in countries that provide universal healthcare, and interestingly, I paid very similar rates in taxes to those I pay here. It can be done. We need to do it. And Ronnie, I would happily replace my "thank you" to you with a portion of my taxes to make sure that you (and all Americans, both military and not) live out your life with the dignity and peace of mind of available healthcare.
Ronnie, I see your argument and I agree with you one hundred percent. I think that many Americans take for granted their freedom. I feel that today society has influenced people to think about money. For example like you said you have been all over the world. You have witness first hand how many Americans take for granted what we use every day. I have worked with many people that were in the military and I can see the struggle. She server in the army since she was eighteen years old and now suffers from many health issues. Although I believe the military is a decision many take knowing the consequences, I still believe that as a country we should do much more for our troops. I think the main idea about this is to stop focusing on small things and start focusing on the people who have sacrificed so much for this country and their families. I think that all military personnel should be taken care of and their families after going through the military.
Thank you for your service!
Post a Comment