Akaka Endorses VA Healthcare System

The system

Dear Lost and in Pain, I totally agree with 3Dogman. I've seen it with my own eyes. The Doctor in Texas that I first went to see for my 4 blown disks, Dr Arun Sharma, was just picked up last week by the FBI for conducting a "pill mill". Check it out. I figured it out after my third or fourth visit and left, but by looking around at the other deadbeat tatooed, body pierced, ignorant scum that were his patients and what he was trying to get me to take, I left for a reputable doctor.

I had a guy and his girlfriend who worked for me at a small money loosing businesses that were the same way. (There work was more of me giving them a small job as a hand out). The taxicab would be called and take her across town to Houston to a doctor, then back home then another one would take her to the pharmacy, then back home. How much do you think that cost. She aand her boy toy always had transportation to their drug and beer partys. And sure enough half the pills were sold because that was the third or fourth prescription they had filled. They would sell half their pills, load up on beer, then their other deadbeat friends and family would find out and sure enough show up and party until the next month rolled around. They ended up bringing trash to my business that I had to chase out at gunpoint. The worst thing is that they are still out there doing it on our nickel yet today. That is why your deserved slice of the coverage pie is so small, because you are sharing the medical funding with a pool that is made up of 90% deadbeat bums. That's why those that are truly in need as you appear to be an now myself, who after 38 years of work, (half of which was two jobs at once as an Air National Guardsman and the other as an airline pilot), get such a small, poor portion of the safety net that exists. If the dead beats were flushed out there would be plenty to go around but as 3DOGMAN describes the ones who fall through the crack are the crackheads, and deadbeats, but they fall through the filtering crack that should keep them out and you in!

To lost and in pain

It sad to see that you are another citizen just like me that has fallen thru the cracks? My comments were not directed at you or people like you.You have paid into the system only to be treated like leper for asking for assistance.

The system is broken and I see very few politicans stepping forward to fix it.

In my opinion,you would not be helped any better by nationalized health care when the system allowed 9 people in Texas to make over 2600 emergency room visits in 3 years costing the state over 3 million dollars.YOU DID NOT FAIL THE SYSTEM,THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED YOU!

Nationalized health care would only further delay your treatment because of the increased load of 30-50 million people into the system.This number does not reflect the millions of illegal aliens that will be allowed into the system after they are given ammesty and given full citizenship.

How many of these people have had any inoculations as a child? We are facing a medical nightmare of epic proportions if we allow them into our country.We will have more outbreaks of diseases that we thought we had under control and we wont be able to get treated as quickly as we do now.

My advice is to found a good Social Security lawyer and go after them.Social Security wont take care of everything but you can pay a few bills to keep the wolves away from your door.He also might be able to help you get your doctor bills paid. People treat you different when they know you have a lawyer.Its sad but TRUE.

Try finding a local massage therapy school and volunteer to be a guinea pig to get a free massage for training a new therapist.They wont charge you and you will give a student a real learning experience.

Use your computer to locate others like yourself for support,educate yourself on your condition and to relieve your anger as I have done in my previous post.I now have a four year degree in VA ADMINSTRATION and burned up 2 computers doing it.

If no one hears what I have posted then no one will know that there is a problem.

OUR ELECTED OFFICALS ARE TOO BUSY TRYING TO GET THEIR FACES ON TV AND LINING THEIR OWN POCKETS WITH OUR MONEY AND NOT SPENDING ENOUGH TIME TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ELECTED THEM.

My comments were not directed at persons such as yourself. They were directed at the systems failure and welfare clients that dont work.They complain if you try to make them and they have tons of backers that will fight you because they claim you are picking on poor people.

On the first of month many of them(not all of them)use their govt check to buy illegal drugs or cases of beer. They sell the drugs for a profit,then buy more drugs or get drunk then bitch at us for not giving them more money.Just look at our current president taking hard working families money and giving it to these bums.Our president wants to give them even more and the rest of us in America will be forced to pay for it.

Good luck and keep fighting for what you have earned!

proud American

I am a veteran and use VA for my service connected disabilities. However, my dad is a veteran of the Korean War, but he doesn't use VA because he wasn't injured while in service and his income was always too high to qualify for VA healthcare. I am sure there are millions of veterans, like my dad and Senator Akaka, that rely on other health insurance because they can't use VA.

Senator Akaka is not service connected for injuries or disease and, though I don't know his income, wild guess is it is above the national income threshold. So he is not eligible for VA healthcare.

Two days before the birthday of our great nation, the media should spend more time thanking all veterans for their service and their sacrifices that protects their freedom of the press! Amanda should be thanking Senator Akaka for his work as Chairman of the Senate Veteran's Committee and the increase and improvements in benefits for veterans he works through legislation instead of telling a fraction of the truth as a way to generate controversial talk around the water cooler. It's nonsense. To my fellow veterans, thank you for your service. Don't always believe what you read. And God Bless America and the men and women who have served and are serving!

to the angry vet above

I have no children, a master's degree and was injured not in war, but here at home. I have a permanent nerve injury which resulted in Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome. I know pain intimately, it is my daily companion. I didn't pop out any children, sell any drugs nor am I lazy. I did what I was supposed to do - got a good education and worked..until the accident. Now what? Social security of course has denied me. My private health care is a nightmare - it didn't pay for the physical therapy to help me keep walking so my foot/leg wouldn't continue to atrophy. The Blue Cross Blue Shield I have is from Texas and they will only take information from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (the state I live in) resulting in my doctor not getting paid now for five months, resulting in him stating "I don't know how much longer we can go on like this before you have to start paying and having them reimburse you." I have no money, I'm 41 years old and am back living with my mom and dad. I did my part for America didn't I? Where is America for me?

VA HOSPITALS

The time has come that all of our elected officals use the VA health care system to ensure that all veterans are getting properly health care.If they dont they have no business telling the rest of us vets what to do and how to do it.

The truth is the terrorists at GITMO or someone on welfare has better care then our veterans. 10,000 vets told to get blood tests after colonoscopy devices were not cleaned between patients. The Walter Reed hospital mess. Eight VA hospital staff fired after having sex in patients rooms in Beckley,WV.Vets having to travel 300 miles one way for surgery when another VA hospital 90 miles away was not used and the vet suffered on painkillers for 3+ months and finally paid a private surgeon do the surgery.Veteran after open heart surgery being put in the same room with someone that had MRSA/flesheating bacteria and it killed him.Vets in Philadelphia had too much or not enough radioactive seeds inserted for prostate cancer because the monitoring machine had been broke for over 1.5 years.

My local VA clinic is staffed by doctors who could not pay for private malpractice insurance and are now practicing medicine again without having to pay any malpractice insurance.They dont even have to go to court and testify anymore and their VA doctor buddies cover up for them.

THE VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS KILLING MORE VETS THAN ANY OF OUR ENEMIES HAVE DONE ON THE BATTLEFIELD OR AT SEA IN ALL OF OUR WARS.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE BEST EXAMPLE OF NATIONLIZED HEALTH CARE JUST GO AND VISIT A VA MEDICAL CENTER OR TALK TO A VET WHO IS ENDURING THE LONG CLAIMS PROCESS TO GET HELP AFTER RETURNING FROM IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN WITH HEAD INJURIES OR PTSD. THEY CANT WORK AND WHEN THEY FILE THE PAPERWORK IT ENDS UP GETTING DESTROYED BY THE STAFF AT THE VA REGIONAL OFFICES AND DELAYING THEIR CLAIMS EVEN LONGER.

IT IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE IN WHAT WE DOING TO OUR VETERANS. THE SITUATION IS SO BAD THAT I NO LONGER ENCOURAGE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO ENTER THE ARMED SERVICES OUT OF FEAR THAT THEY TOO WILL BE INJURED AND HAVE TO ENDURE WHAT I HAVE ENDURED.MY CLAIM IS 5.5 YEARS IN THE SYSTEM AND THE END IS STILL OVER A YEAR TO COMPLETION.

I TRULY WISH THAT I WOULD HAVE DIED IN THE HELICOPTER ACCIDENT INSTEAD OR RETURNING TO THE US AND GOING THRU WHAT I HAVE GONE THRU.I WOULD HAVE BETTER OFF.

I STEPPED UP AND SERVED MY COUNTRY WHEN NO ONE WANTED TO AND THIS IS HOW I AND OTHER VETERANS GET TAKEN CARE OF WHEN WE RETURN HOME WITH MEDICAL PROBLEMS AND ASK FOR ASSISTANCE.

US VETERANS SAVED ALL OF YOUR ASSES FROM OUR ENEMIES AND NOW ALL WE GET IS EXCUSES AND SLAPDOWNS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS.

IF YOU HAVE SPENT ALL OF YOUR DAYS ON YOUR BACK POPPING OUT BABIES,SELLING DRUGS OR JUST PLAIN LAZY YOU DESERVE NOTHING FROM OUR GOVT. YET YOU GET FOOD STAMPS,MEDICAL COVERAGE AND MONTHLY CHECK FOR DOING NOTHING.

GET OFF YOUR DEAD ASSES AND DO SOMETHING FOR AMERICA EVEN IF IT ONLY GOING ALONG THE ROADSIDE AND PICKING UP LITTER.