A bill that would provide 100-percent taxpayer subsidized healthcare for veterans from the World War II and Korean War era has 216 co-sponsors. Rep. Jim Gibbons isn't one of them - and that's got some Nevada veterans pretty upset.
Vets here in Nevada, like Lou Wodrich, are left scratching their heads, wondering why they can't get a response from Gibbons.
"We were promised life-time medical care and they haven't kept their promise," Wodrich said. "Lots of guys are living hand to mouth because of this."
A veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, Gibbons remains silent on the HR 602 issue. A Gibbons spokeswoman in Las Vegas tried to clear up the matter, saying, "Gibbons is a veteran and supports all vet issues."
Ah. Right.
The bill, which Rep. Jon Porter co-sponsors, has been resting in the House Subcommittee on Health since Feb. 25. No action will take place until Congress comes out of recess.
A Gibbons spokesman in Washington suggested the Congressman will probably make a statement after the bill leaves the subcommittee.
The promise Wodrich is talking about appeared in pamphlets and other recruiting tools prior to 1956. Recruiters enticed young men to become career soldiers by exclaiming, "Put in 20 and get full health care for you and yours for life."
Wodrich believes that Gibbons' inaction will cost him votes when he runs for governor. Gibbons, who normally had the favor of Nevada vets, now has angered Nevada's military voters, Wodrich contended.
Affected vets retired from the military rely on Medicare, yet sit through waiting lists at second-rate military hospitals for their healthcare. Others spend their own money on supplemental health insurance.
A bill identical to HR 602 is in the Senate. That bill, SR 407, is moving even slower with only nine co-sponsors - none from Nevada. It was referred to the Committee on Armed Services the same day it was introduced, Feb. 16., and remains there.
Veterans have been working to pass legislation like this since 1956 when the government broke a more-than-century-old tradition of full healthcare for retirees and their dependents by changing "Hospital space shall be made available" to "may be made available."
In 1996, new life was given to the cause as Col. George Day, representing the affected vets, filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Pensacola, Fla., to recover the debt that was promised them. Two years later, District Court denied their entire petition.
So the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, D.C. They issued the current court ruling affirming the U.S. government position that military retirees have no legal standing to receive the medical care promised.
Apparently the people that promised the benefits didn't have the right to do so. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the argument, ending Col. Day's legal fight.
Only an act of Congress can bring satisfaction to these aging warriors. Despite complaints from seasoned vets about empty promises made by recruiters, the practice still continues.
The latest deception from recruiters involves false claims about the G.I. Bill. Recruiters and advertisements have students joining the military under the impression that the government will pay their tuition. LW
