Socialized Health Care

[andysocial]

Originally published at BunkBlog. You can comment here or there.

It seems the vast majority of military active duty and veterans I have ever met are vehemently opposed to socialized medicine for the country.  If you’re using socialized medicine, why do you want to deny it to others?

Comments

[theonides.livejournal.com]

You know, that term is really a misnomer and it bugs me. Socialism is about controlling production... and medicine isn't really "production". So government control of it is just government control... yeah, I get that they are extending the meaning, but frankly, socialism's meaning has been extended by some people out of all usefulness to be "whatever I don't like".

[andysocial]

It is, in one definition, socialized, because it is something which is paid for by society at large, rather than piecemeal. See also, police and fire departments, public schools, yada yada yada...

I guess we like some things to be socialized, but we don't want to be reminded of that?

[theonides.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know. I used to make the argument from that point, with the final point being that private health insurance hasn't done a great job. They had their chance.

But I got tired of that argument after the last election, when conservatives started calling Obama a socialist, and libertarians were calling ME a socialist (and that fascists are socialists), etc. etc. Basically that capitalists agree with me, and socialists are everyone else. They are making the word socialist totally meaningless, and refuse to even work from the restricted definition in political discourse about political philosophy. It's sloppy and fucking irritating.

Every time I think I should read more of the M-Atheists list, I get pissed off by something like this, and I just don't think I can handle Keith's inanity again. I miss the sane people, but the rest make me angry.

[andysocial]

I've set M-Atheists to "special notices" for now. Triage for my brain.

[daddygod.livejournal.com]

Maybe because the military medical system sucks on an overall basis?

[andysocial]

Picky picky.

I deal mainly with retirees now, and none of them opt out of using Tricare. Says something to me.

[daddygod.livejournal.com]

That's because they're so indoctrinated into the system they are unable to deal with public sector medicine for the most part. That and the "I gave you X years of my life so you're damn well going to take care of me now" viewpoint.

I was a 906x0 (4A0x1 in the new AFSC nomenclature- Health Services Administration) for seven years and I never found a retiree that could financially afford civilian sector care still utilizing the military system. Granted that's anecdotal from one base, but the theory seemed to hold true wherever I went TDY as well.

[andysocial]

Every one of my coworkers makes the same as I do. I have to use the private health insurance (I got out at 12, not 20). So, if I can afford it so could they. Not one of them chooses to do so. They find that Tricare provides a significant enough benefit to them, obviously.

If nothing else, Tricare and active duty medical care are definitely simpler to navigate than the mass of bullshit I have to deal with in private sector land.

[daddygod.livejournal.com]

As for the navigation BS, it all depends on what insurance carrier you have, but I know where you're coming from. My company just switched from Aetna to United Health. Aetna was like the Labyrinth of Knossos where UH is like Xanadu in comparison.

After 20 years most retirees are so used to dealing with the military system it becomes so ingrained into their psyche they feel odd going elsewhere. Add to that the fact that even as convoluted as it is it's free and you can see why they use it.

The ones that paid for the civilian system on their own would still get all the care done outside then get aerovac'd out for surgeries even if they could pay for it just because it was free.

[dantheserene.livejournal.com]

Heck, I've got a couple amusing anecdotes just from my three years.

The retirees I know who still use the system live right next to a base and have time on their hands. The others use private insurance.

[evilegg.livejournal.com]

I see the mil taking care of their troops like UPS takin' care of their trucks.

[andysocial]

I used to tell my soldiers that the Army wanted them healthy, but only for twenty years. If they wanted to be healthy longer than that, they'd be wise to care about their health on their own as well.

[daddygod.livejournal.com]

Active duty is different.