The Healthcare Information Systems Blog

This has been a bad news week for people who have been promised medical care by the government, either by virtue of simply being Americans or because they put their life on the line for this country and nearly lost it.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday rejected calls to extend a May 15 deadline for the elderly to sign up for a new prescription drugs plan despite complaints that it is too confusing.

At a meeting with residents of a senior citizen community in Silver Spring, just outside Washington, Bush said families of older Americans, particularly adult children, should help them sort out their Medicare options.

One woman, saying she was having trouble helping her 75-year-old mother make a choice, asked whether the deadline should be extended.

"No, and the reason why is there's got to be a fixed time for people to sign up," the president said. "We want people to realize there is — now is the time…. Rolling back deadlines is not going to help your mom make a good decision."

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Ah, yes - the Republican's fondness for adhering to “fixed time.”  Like the time they extended debate in violation of parliamentary procedure on a failed bill that gave away public land to oil refineries until it passed. I guess that means some members of the GOP had voted against the bill before they voted for it?

Over the last year and a half, President Bush has staged more than a third of his major public events before active military personnel or veterans. His rowdy “Hoo-ah”s and policy pronouncements—even when they have nothing to do with military matters—are predictably greeted with rabid applause.

But those easy and unquestioning crowds at military bases and American Legion halls will be increasingly hard to come by as soldiers and veterans start to notice the string of insults and budget cuts inflicted upon them.

• With 130,000 soldiers still in the heat of battle in Iraq and more fighting and dying in Afghanistan, the Bush administration sought this year to cut $75 a month from the “imminent danger” pay added to soldiers’ paychecks when in battle zones. The administration sought to cut by $150 a month the family separation allowance offered to those same soldiers and others who serve overseas away from their families. These payments were deemed “wasteful and unnecessary” by the White House.
• This year’s White House budget for Veterans Affairs cut $3 billion from VA hospitals—despite 9,000 casualties in Iraq and as aging Vietnam veterans demand more care. VA spending today averages $2,800 less per patient than nine years ago.
• This year’s White House budget for Veterans Affairs cut $3 billion from VA hospitals—despite 9,000 casualties in Iraq and as aging Vietnam veterans demand more care. VA spending today averages $2,800 less per patient than nine years ago.
• The administration beat back a bipartisan attempt in Congress to add $1.3 billion for VA hospitals to Bush’s request of $87 billion for war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• The White House is seeking to block a federal judge’s award of damages to a group of servicemen who sued the Iraqi government for torture during the 1991 Gulf War. The White House claims the money, to come from Iraqi assets confiscated by the United States, is needed for that country’s reconstruction.

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When it comes to the U.S. healthcare crisis I have seen the enemy, and he is sitting in the White House.