Readers of Tom Philpott’s Military Update column sound off.

The Fight Over Medical Priority Group 8 Enrollments

As a veteran and a VA employee, I say the VA's argument for restricting healthcare enrollment of Priority Group 8 veterans is hogwash.

The VA can readily accommodate priority patients as well as those with no service-connected ailments. The service-connected have always had priority except for medical emergencies. The problem is that a succession of administrations has refused to upgrade VA funding. There’s plenty of money for war but not for the VA

Currently we are forced to turn away patients without insurance but with income levels a smidge over the threshold. Some have been diagnosed with cancer and the like!

Even more galling is geographic means testing put in place by Bush that limits enrollment on different incomes in different zip codes. I cannot get many vets into our system from the 95482 zip code but if they have a zip code closer to San Francisco they can get in with higher incomes.

Also VA is not keeping up with registrations so we have vets being kicked based on incomes from years past after they’ve been getting treatment for three to four years. One day you’re eligible and next you're not, and all your appointments are canceled. It’s too bizarre.

It’s also a waste of staff time. We are not the overbooked!

ALAN WINTER
Mendocino County, Calif.

I am a 100-percent disabled Vietnam combat veteran who has been dealing with the VA healthcare system for many years. Never have I seen it in such disarray. I have had so many appointments cancelled that I no longer try to reschedule. I just make sure my medications are refilled and go about my life.

I hear the cry about veterans in Priority Group 8 not getting care. Please, give me a break and just make sure those in higher priority categories get deserving care. It seems there are too many hands in a pot too small and all are suffering.

Put the blame where it belongs and vote out of office those who created this mess and refuse to fund properly the VA health system. We the People can solve this problem. Register to vote and do it.

PAUL CAGLE
South Carolina

I am an honorably-discharged veteran who served during the Vietnam War era, 1967 through 1969. I used the GI bill for college and to purchase my first home. I applied for VA health benefits in 2004 and was denied because I had made too much money. As I approached retirement, I was trying to establish a safety net if things were to go south.

I did what was right for the country, even when there was such an outcry against us. As a veteran in his sixties am I now to be left completely out of VA health care? When the country needed me, I was there. Will the VA now be there for me?

RICHARD E. PUGSLEY
Pensacola, Fla.

Congress gives millions of dollars each budget cycle to wool producers and bee farmers. It funds projects such as a Lawrence Welk Memorial Center and recently tried to spend $450 million for bridge to an island inhabited by 50 people. But let there be discussion of healthcare for men and women who have sacrificed their time, income and proximity to family for their country and, oh my, we cannot afford it.

I have health care. But there are others -- good men and women working at Wal-Mart and McDonalds -- who also served their country and now cannot afford eye glasses or dental care. I know a woman veteran who cannot work due to physical impairment that is not service connected. She has not had a pap smear in 12 years. She cannot afford it.

The United States is a great nation. How long will it be so when it treats its most faithful servants like Kleenex?

THOMAS MURPHY
Huntsville, Ala.

I can't tell you how disgusted I was reading of the arguments between Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, and committee Republicans Steve Buyer, Jeff Miller and Cliff Stearns and their logic for excluding new Group 8 enrollees like me from the healthcare system. How dare they give lip service to war veterans and then fight to keep us out because it would cost $33 billion to finance over 10 years.

My hope is that any Republican or Democrat who fights reinstatement of care for all war veterans gets voted out. With any luck, all branches of government will be Democratic following the next election. Meanwhile I hope none of our Republicans get too chocked up with that flag wrapped around them so tightly. Rep. Filner, keep up the attack please.

RANDALL MCGARR
Via e-mail

EX-SPOUSE HEALTHCARE

Can an "unremarried" former spouse of a retired military member have unlimited eligibility for health coverage under the TRICARE Continuation of Health Care Benefits Program (CHCBP) if they have been awarded, as part of their divorce settlement, either a portion of the member’s retired pay or former spouse’s coverage under the Survivor Benefit Plan?

I know CHCBP allows for an unremarried former spouse who is not eligible for TRICARE because of a 20-year overlap of marriage with member’s service to purchase continuation of health coverage for up to 36 months from date of divorce. However, it also appears that if the unremarried former spouse is entitled by court order to a portion of retired pay or former spouse SBP Coverage, then eligibility for CHCBP may be “unlimited.”

Our regional TRICARE Customer Service Office offered only an “informal" response that this is correct. I seek a more definitive response.

I was advised by an attorney who practices military family law that such continued coverage pertains only to victims of domestic violence. However, I don't see that limitation in the regulations.

A former spouse needs desperately to continue CHCBP coverage beyond 36 months due to significant existing illnesses. Private health insurance is not a realistic option for her. Can you help clear the confusion?

JOHN CAMP
USAF-Ret.
Via e-mail

The answer to your question is "yes," according to TRICARE officials, if the former spouse meets all statutory criteria set forth in Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1078a(g)(4). Generally, CHCBP coverage, which is the equivalent of TRICARE Standard, can continue for a former spouse who has not remarried before age 55 and is receiving a portion of military retired pay or an annuity under SBP. Also, the former spouse must have been eligible for TRICARE on the day before the date of the final divorce decree.

To participate in CHCHP, apply with Humana Military. You can visit their website, www.humana-military.com or call 1-800-444-5445 to...