Tell Every Veteran You Know

I'm passing this along in its entirety. It's something each of us can do to actually support the troops.


If you are a veteran or you know one, please read and pass this along. I'm
sending this to my whole address book because I've seen the main stream
press ignoring this since it passed in 2003 and the Democrats seem to be
also ignoring it until it's too late. I hope you will join me in spreading
the word so all of our veteran friends and loved ones are covered as
promised.

Veterans Need to Enroll in VA Healthcare Before January 17

As another brilliant example of the Bush Administration supporting our
troops, hidden in one of the many bills passed during the
Republican-controlled Congress was a little-noticed provision to cut off VA
Health Care for millions of veterans from all our wars of aggression.

Under this provision, any veteran who is 0% service-connected (not disabled
by being wounded or otherwise injured during their service) will be unable
to enroll in VA Health Care after January 17, 2008. This ends a promise made
to vets that has stood since WWII, that their health care needs would be
taken care of in perpetuity.

ALL VETERANS: Take a copy of your DD214 and RUN do not walk to your nearest
VA Clinic and enroll in VA Health Care - even if you don't need it right
now! If you lose your civilian health insurance and need to fall back on VA
Health Care - you will not be able to unless you enroll now.

IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WAR VETS: This applies to you as well - only the news
is actually worse. In the last military appropriation bill, your "free"
health care was extended from two years to five. Yes, you heard right - you
are currently only entitled to two years of free health care - even if you
have seen combat. After Bush vetoed the military spending bill, which
contained another three years, you are back to TWO WHOLE YEARS!

EVERYONE: Write to your Congresscritters and protest this asinine policy. I
am a veteran - who never saw combat during the Vietnam era. I am enrolled,
and as such, am entitled to whatever healthcare I need for the rest of my
life. I have no other health insurance (due to pre-existing conditions and
past medical problems) so the VA system is my lifeline. But why in the world
are the combat veterans of our latest idiotic wars being told they can only
have TWO YEARS? Some ailments do not become apparent until much later. For
instance - Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange develop diabetes at a rate
that has resulted in an automatic assignment to a special group for care.
However, this diabetes does not develop in some cases for 10-20 years later.
Another example - Gulf War vets from the first time who suffer from Gulf War
Syndrome develop strange cancers and other problems - but much later than
two years after the fact - and many are still fighting to get their
diagnoses confirmed.

This is totally nuts - and is yet another example of the Bush
Administration's support of the valiant fighting men and women - NOT!

So...if you are a vet - or you know one - urge them all to go sign up. Even
if they don't need it. Right now. Even if they have heard horror stories.
Even if they never use it. Sign up anyway. We need to send a message that VA
Health Care is a right for ALL VETERANS as compensation for their service.
(The pay certainly isn't much!)