Incredible--UPDATED

When I first heard that the Obama Administration was mulling making veterans pay for service-related disability-related care--i.e., you got your leg blown off, you have top pay for any and all related care, even in a VA hospital--I thought "Well, that doesn't sound right, I'm sure it was a typo or something."

Evidently not.

He really is that big of an asshole.

The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment
Mon Mar 16, 5:49 pm ET

To: POLITICAL EDITORS

Contact: Craig Roberts of The American Legion, +1-202-263-2982 Office, +1-202-406-0887 Cell

WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

I have, I believe, made clear that I think the VA sucks as a health-care provider. Many military retirees make the mistake, when they are offered a choice of medical coverage as part of their transfer to the retired reserves, of electing to get their primary care at either the local installation, or the local VA hospital. And find them waiting six months for an appointment for a serious health condition.

But, as the article above points out, the government does have a moral, as well as a legal, obligation to those who have suffered a service related disability, most especially a combat-related one, and this is simply reprehensible.

H/T Blackfive.

UPDATE--THIS JUST IN--

Courtesy Politico.com, His Imperial Majesty Barack Hussein Obama I has reversed his postion:

Obama backtracks on veterans policy
By: Jen DiMascio 
March 18, 2009 05:57 PM EST
President Barack Obama reversed course Wednesday on a highly charged proposal to have private insurance companies, instead of the Veterans Affairs Department, pay for veterans' service-related injuries. 

The proposed policy shift was aimed at recouping $540 million, but it risked souring goodwill of veterans, an enormous political constituency. And veterans groups, learning of the possibility last month, had quickly mobilized to oppose it. 

Eleven veterans' service organizations met the president on Monday, then followed up with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday. 

Later, at another meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), they were assured the president had changed his mind, said Jim King, executive director of Amvets. 

"Our message to the president was simple and direct: that our government must not abandon its moral responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms," said David Gorman, executive director of Disabled American Veterans. 

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement confirming the reversal, saying the president had listened closely to the veterans' concerns and ordered the proposal "dropped." 

Now, Gibbs said, the president was eager to "continue a constructive partnership" with the veterans' groups as they work through other budget issues. 

For Obama, pressing forward would have been politically risky, King suggested, because going to the insurance companies could have had the ultimate effect of curtailing veterans' health care. And doing so would have been seen as "breaking of that bond" of those who served the nation, he said. 

With the president backing down, King said, veterans can focus again on Obama's proposal to dramatically increase funding for veterans' health care, which had been overshadowed by the insurance controversy.
© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC

 He's still an asshole, for even having considered this for a femtosecond.