In last week's issue of Nature magazine (behind subs firewall) the Editors drew attention to the fact that the military is at it again, shafting veterans and active duty soldiers on the issue of medical benefits. This time its the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, a bill before Congress that bans the use of genetic information to discriminate against health care recipients. Guess who's fighting the bill using the heavy hand of (R)Tom Coburn. The Health Insurance Industry, of course. Yeah, I know; that was a real difficult guess. You're totally shocked.
But then again, guess who's been granted an exemption, largely without comment or public discussion? The Pentagon. While that might not shock you, it should make you very, very angry.
In mid-August the LA Times described the perfidious actions of the US military in denying medical benefits to military personnel for genetic disorders. This was nicely diaried by Eddie C. In a bizarre bastardization of "don't ask, don't tell", it's generally a bad idea for military personnel to permit testing for a genetic disease because if it's discovered before more than 8 years of service have passed, the military is under no obligation to treat the condition. In fact, the soldier with a genetic disease often gets a medical discharge with denial of benefits. Such a policy is illegal in 31 states, for federal civilian employees and anyone in a group health plan. So that means, just about everywhere in the US except in the military, where you would think that the willingness to put your life on the line for your country would engender a (just a tiny bit) sense of responsibility.
The Editors of Nature did a rather nice job of framing this situation.
...Congress seems to have taken its marching orders from the senior brass, even when they conflict directly with the interests of men and women in the ranks. This is a disgrace. The argument for the exemption, such as it is, holds that the military has to beware in case its health-care provisions turn it into a haven for people who know they are ill and connive to milk these provisions once they have been signed up.
It is — to put it very, very mildly — improbable that someone seeking to malinger into a cosy health-care plan would chose, at this juncture, to sign up for service in the US military. They would be far more likely to go and work, for example, on Capitol Hill, where they could loaf around all day drafting preposterous clauses for insertion into otherwise sensible legislation. And where, when illness strikes, they could cash in on the relatively generous health-care benefits afforded to congressional staff.
Nicely put. It is interesting to note that the journal Nature is a British journal. I for one certainly appreciate the "special relationship" between the US and Britain, especially when they use their voices to cry out against stupidity and perfidy in US policy.
Of course, where are all my favorite Democratic Senators and Congress persons? Crickets.
That's why I'm angry. This bill should not let the military exemption stand. The Democrats are in charge of this Congress and they let this exemption persist. What.were.they.thinking. Our soldiers are people who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country, even when we throw them in a meat grinder of a civil war brought on by callous, narrow-minded, stupid and arrogant old men. Our Democratic legislators are not just unwilling to stand up to a duplicitous and pernicious President on funding for this idiocy, but they are willing to deny our soldiers basic protections and benefits afforded to everyone else. This is not laisse-faire Washington politics; this is a deliberate and reprehensible act of callous disregard. If this is what we can expect from our Democratic lawmakers, maybe it is time for a re-evaluation of our political system. Something.must.change.