By Pam Weiss, Legislative Assistant to State Representative Kim Meltzer
Right now I am very grateful to have good health care options due to the health insurance offered by the employers of both my husband and me. However, that was not always the case. In the early 90′s, my husband was an active duty U.S. Air Force officer and I was subject to the awful, sporadic health care provided to military spouses and families. This plan was administered by the federal government and should provide a cautionary tale for anyone thinking that government has any business in directly managing health care.
Here are a few of my personal horror stories to share:
- No right to medical care or health records. When stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, the military hospital ran out of money in August of fiscal year 1991-1992. Since no additional funds would come until at least October 1, the hospital decided to kick out all military dependents and retirees. To make matters worse, patients were not allowed access to their own medical records so they could make alternative arrangements.
- Questionable professionalism. Doctors in the military hospital at Wright-Patterson lacked basic professionalism. My OB-GYN wore a rock concert t-shirt under his doctor’s coat.
- Negligence with no accountability. When stationed at Ramstein AFB in Germany, only 5-10% of military spouses received obstetric care through the military hospital. The German clinic I was sent to was full the day I came to deliver my baby. Since I was not a German citizen, they turned me away and said the military hospital was responsible for me. However, the military hospital also turned me away and offered no suggested alternatives. The unknown German hospital that took me had a doctor who did not speak English. I was never offered any anesthetic.
- Total abandonment. I received no dental care at all in 2 ½ years stationed in Germany. When I returned to the states I had lots of cavities.
- Less than the best health care. When my baby had a 105 degree fever, the military hospital turned me away in the emergency room. My child never saw doctors on his well-child visits – only a nurse or a P.A. was made available for child evaluations.
- Extended costs. When medical care was unavailable to me, we paid out of pocket to fly back to the states. The military health care plan never paid a dime on any doctor’s bills I had in the states even though they offered me no care of their own at the base in Germany.
With the legislation currently being pushed by President Obama and the Democratic Congress to establish universal health care, I shudder when I think of what I endured as a military spouse. As former president Reagan said, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Obama is the antithesis of limited government and the Democrats certainly don’t require accountability. Access to care, especially by the appropriate health care professional, would seriously be in jeopardy.
I will NEVER trust the U.S. government with my health care again. It is my experience you shouldn’t either.
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Just got back form my 40th public high school reunion. If that crowd is any example of the thinking of the nation then there is a heck of a shift of support for the current President going on in the country right now. From yelled questions of the exact birthplace of the current President to announced fears of overspending leading to depreciation of the dollar and high interest rates, there was bedlam at an unexpected level over what is being done to our country. Everyone was surprised at what was being said because this group wanted to have fun together. But I forgot one thing. This group is used to turmoil, we graduated at the time of protests over Vietnam. There really isn’t anything this group hasn’t seen before. They do know how to oppose this sort of thing and you can count on them to make changes.