White House Backs Down on Third-Party Billing

During a meeting with leaders from the nation's top veterans' service organizations, including AMVETS, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the White House had scrapped the idea of billing veterans' third-party insurance companies for service-connected health care.

Earlier in the afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once again hosted veterans' leaders to discuss the Administration's controversial proposal.

"The meeting didn't last all of 15 minutes," said AMVETS Executive Director Jim King. "We walked in unified against the policy, we said our piece, and it was clear that [Emanuel] understood."

AMVETS was happy to hear that the White House reconsidered its proposal, and King said that he's prepared to move forward with the Administration on veterans' issues.

Immediately following Monday's meeting with President Obama, AMVETS started work on a proposal that would allow the VA to collect necessary third-party funding without placing a new burden on service-connected veterans. AMVETS stands ready to present this option to the White House in the coming weeks.

(Photo: On a Saturday in January, President Barack Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met with the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget to discuss the FY2010 federal budget. White House photo by Pete Souza, released.)

PS - King also mentioned that during the meeting someone chimed in with: "When John Stewart and Rush Limbaugh agree on something, it's probably a good indication of how the country feels." To view Rush Limbaugh's comments, Click Here. John Stewart's feelings on the issue can be viewed here:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

That Can't Be Right - Veterans' Health Insurance

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Update on Third-Party Billing

The follow-up meeting with the White House has been moved up to early this afternoon.

AMVETS will present its plan to offset the Administration's request of $500 million from VA service-connected billing in an effort to stave off the proposed toxic policy change.

American Veteran Online will be following this story closely. Check back this afternoon for updates on the day's proceedings.

-Ryan

Changing the Rules: Let us know what you think

Last week, the veterans' community received word of a proposal to bill veterans' private insurance companies for health care related to service-connected conditions. AMVETS vehemently opposes this idea. We understand that the costs of health care keep skyrocketing, but that does not preclude the VA from fulfilling its obligations to our veterans.

Service-connected conditions are quite different from the kinds of health care conditions many Americans cope with. Service-connected conditions are injuries and maladies that the VA has acknowledged have a direct link to our time in the military; a time when we each forfeit certain rights and priviledges to defend our fellow countrymen and our way of life. In return for agreeing to go wherever we are asked to go, and do whatever we are asked to do, our government has made a promise to take care of us, should something happen in the line of duty. Now the government wants to pass this burden onto our private insurance companies.

I understand if the VA wants to treat normal patient triage as any private hospital would by billing third-party insurers for routine visits, but it is the VA's obligation to ensure that service-connected conditions are treated at no cost to the veteran.

Proponents of third-party billing may believe that this will simply help the VA save some much-needed cash in a turbulent economic time, since many veterans already enjoy adequate third-party coverage. However, this could create dire unintended consequences when insurance companies start to drop veterans from their plans. Under the current scenario, private insurance companies can look the other way when a veteran needs monthly counseling for PTSD or repairs to a prosthesis. But once the bills start rolling in for Blue Cross or United, somebody is going to have to reassess the situation. Veterans will become a greater liability.

The new Administration has proposed a much-needed increase in funding for the VA in FY2010. Unfortunately, third-party billing for service-connected conditions may be a part of their equation. This would be a tremendous disservice to our veterans, and I hope that the White House and Congress will not seriously consider this move. AMVETS is waiting anxiously to see the President's full budget proposal in early April. In the meantime, let us know what you think about the third-party billing proposal by posting your comments below.

-Ryan

(U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Jake Berenguer, released)