One in 10 veterans under the age of 65 is currently living without health insurance and reports not using Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, according to a new study examining health care access for retired service members.
The report, which also found a high number of veterans’ family members living without insurance, notes such rates are highest in states that have made little progress in implementing provisions of the Affordable Care Act. These states account for 40 percent of uninsured veterans.
Despite having higher rates of health insurance than the general population, “an estimated 1.3 million veterans lack health insurance coverage and do not use VA health care,” noted the study’s co-author, Genevieve Kenney, who points out a majority of uninsured veterans tend to be younger and less well educated.
The study, released Thursday by the non-partisan Urban Institute, comes as the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision on the fate of the ACA. A ruling is expected in June.
If upheld, about 630,000 uninsured veterans under the age of 65 would likely qualify for Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program for the poor, which would be expanded under the law. Under current law, just one in 10 qualifies for the program.
Another 520,000 uninsured vets would be eligible for subsidized health coverage in new marketplaces, or insurance exchanges, mandated under the ACA. This would also benefit close to 80 percent of the nearly one million family members of uninsured vets.
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There are currently around 13 million veterans between the ages of 19 and 64 living in the United States. Some 17 percent of those without insurance report suffering from service-related disabilities or functional limitations, while 41 percent say they have unmet medical needs. Another 34 percent say they have delayed care due to cost, the report notes.
With two wars winding down in Afghanistan and Iraq, the findings also showed that one in four uninsured veterans served between September 2001 and 2010.
The report is the first to examine rates of health insurance among veterans on both the national and state level. States with more than 14 percent uninsured – Louisiana, Oregon, Idaho and Montana – are also those that have “taken only limited steps toward implementing exchanges under the ACA,” according to the report.
Texas and California are each home to more than 100,000 uninsured vets, the study found.
While the authors of the report say more aggressive implementation of the ACA would help ameliorate the problem, J.P. Tremblay, spokesperson for the California Department of Veterans Affairs, says the real issue is making sure vets understand the benefits available to them through the VA system.
“Many don’t know,” says Tremblay, who explains that when returning home, soldiers “get a week of transition services” – meaning they sit in a class while someone lectures them on accessing benefits. The problem, he says, is that most are only thinking of one thing, and that’s “getting home.”
Tremblay says the ACA is in many ways modeled after the VA system, which he describes as “top notch,” adding that all returning vets are guaranteed coverage for the first five years. The challenge, he says, is “getting into the system.”
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other maladies common to service members can take time to manifest, he explains, so many put off registering. When they do experience symptoms, it can exacerbate frustrations of trying to register for the first time.
Reports of lengthy waits and delayed process times for claims have become fairly common since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Urban Institute report also found that proximity to a VA center was key to whether or not service members accessed the health care that was available to them. Expanded coverage through the ACA, authors contend, would provide a greater availability of options for veterans and their family members.
They do note, however, that with increased options come problems of fragmented care. Those accessing both VA and non-VA coverage, for example, may need “targeted assistance… to help them make informed choices that do not disrupt the care they have been receiving.”
With uninsured veterans accounting for roughly 5 percent of the nation’s 47 million people without health insurance, the study concludes, “more aggressive ACA implementation” will help ensure they get the care they need.
PRAYER FOR PEACE, MEMORIAL DAY 2012
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Our Nation endures and thrives because of the devotion of our men and women in uniform, who, from generation to generation, carry a burden heavier than any we may ever know.
On Memorial Day, we honor those who have borne conflict's greatest cost, mourn where the wounds of war are fresh, and pray for a just, lasting peace. The American fabric is stitched with the stories of sons and daughters who gave their lives in service to the country they loved.
They were patriots who overthrew an empire and sparked revolution. They were courageous men and women who strained to hold a young Union together. They were ordinary citizens who rolled back the creeping tide of tyranny, who stood post through a long twilight struggle, who saw terror and extremism threaten our world's security and said, "I'll go." And though their stories are unique to the challenges they faced, our fallen service members are forever bound by a legacy of valor older than the Republic itself.
Now they lay at rest in quiet corners of our country and the world, but they live on in the families who loved them and in the soul of a Nation that is safer for their service.
Today, we join together in prayer for the fallen. We remember all who have borne the battle, whose devotion to duty has sustained our country and kept safe our heritage as a free people in a free society.
Though our hearts ache in their absence, we find comfort in knowing that their legacy lives on in all of us -- in the security that lets us live in peace, the prosperity that allows us to pursue our dreams, and the love that still beats in those who knew them. May God bless the souls of the venerable warriors we have lost, and may He watch over the men and women who serve us now. Today, tomorrow, and in perpetuity, let us give thanks to them by remaining true to the values and virtues for which they fight.
In honor of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 28, 2012, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite in prayer. I also ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.
I request the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff until noon on this Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
Thank God that Pastor Marvin Winans was not injured more severely. It is such an outrage that we have a society where young Black men do not believe they can make a living in a normal manner and think that their only avenue of financial acquisitions is to steal from others who have mastered the means of legitimate survival in one way or another. When are we as a Black community going to take responsibility for this ugly, shameful and unacceptable behavior? What are we are a people going to try harder to do something about it.
I applaud the men in my own church who are working to mentor young African-American males in our community on a bi-monthly basis for several years. It is only a small group, but we have to save them one at a time. It takes an entire community, so if we cannot do it firsthand, we can be supportive of any and all efforts for programs of personal contact to take place wherever they can. I believe that Pastor Winans will find a way for increasing whatever efforts that will be developed to help restore dignity and respect for all people in the Detriot community. I wish, hope and pray for his good results.
A Brazilian federal prosecutor has launched a second $10.9bn lawsuit against US oil company Chevron and drilling company Transocean following the discovery of a second leak in the offshore Frade oil field earlier this month.
The new lawsuit, announced on Tuesday by the federal public prosecutor's office, is prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira's second civil case against the companies in less than five months.
The case also seeks to prevent Chevron and Transocean from operating in Brazil, transferring Brazilian profits overseas, obtaining government-backed finance and moving equipment from the country, the statement said.
The prosecutor's office said that Santos de Oliveira also planned to investigate Brazilian national oil regulator ANP and environmental protection agency Ibama over their handling of the November spill and latest leak, discovered on March 4, at the Frade field, northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
"The second leak is as serious or more serious than the first, so the damages have to be in the same category," de Oliveira told Reuters. "While they are not a simple mathematical calculation, they are not symbolic either."
Chevron and Transocean's activities may have damaged the Frade reservoir, making it impossible to produce from the field, denying Brazil its right to royalties on a public resource, Santos de Oliveira added.
Santos de Oliveira has called last year's estimated 3,000-barrel spill one of Brazil's worst-ever ecological disasters, although the leak amounted to less than 0.1 per cent of BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron said the March leak, which led to the latest lawsuit, resulted in a spillage of just two barrels. Unlike in the Gulf of Mexico, no Chevron oil came near the coast.
BP last month agreed to pay out $7.8bn to more than 100,000 people who said they were hurt by US spill in which 11 people died and about 4.9bn barrels were leaked over three months.
Cases 'arbitrary' and 'irresponsible'
Both Chevron and Transocean have said they have done nothing wrong, that they are innocent of any crimes and will defend their employees against civil and criminal charges.
"Transocean acted responsibly appropriately and quickly, putting safety first. We'll continue to strongly defend our company, our people and the quality of our services," Transocean, the world's largest drill rig operator said in a statement.
"The filing of the second lawsuit is another in a series of outrageous actions brought by the same district attorney who previously filed both a criminal and civil case, all of which are without merit," Chevron said in a statement, calling the $10.9bn figure “arbitrary”.
The size of the damages have also caught the attention of politicians close to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's government.
Jorge Viana, a senator from Rousseff's Workers' Party and one of the country's leading environmentalists, said the damages being sought were "irresponsible" and if applied to all companies working in the country could lead to the shutdown of Brazil's oil industry.
The industry generates revenue worth more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product in Brazil, the world's sixth-largest economy.
A Brazilian federal prosecutor has launched a second $10.9bn lawsuit against US oil company Chevron and drilling company Transocean following the discovery of a second leak in the offshore Frade oil field earlier this month.
The new lawsuit, announced on Tuesday by the federal public prosecutor's office, is prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira's second civil case against the companies in less than five months.
The case also seeks to prevent Chevron and Transocean from operating in Brazil, transferring Brazilian profits overseas, obtaining government-backed finance and moving equipment from the country, the statement said.
The prosecutor's office said that Santos de Oliveira also planned to investigate Brazilian national oil regulator ANP and environmental protection agency Ibama over their handling of the November spill and latest leak, discovered on March 4, at the Frade field, northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
"The second leak is as serious or more serious than the first, so the damages have to be in the same category," de Oliveira told Reuters. "While they are not a simple mathematical calculation, they are not symbolic either."
Chevron and Transocean's activities may have damaged the Frade reservoir, making it impossible to produce from the field, denying Brazil its right to royalties on a public resource, Santos de Oliveira added.
Santos de Oliveira has called last year's estimated 3,000-barrel spill one of Brazil's worst-ever ecological disasters, although the leak amounted to less than 0.1 per cent of BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron said the March leak, which led to the latest lawsuit, resulted in a spillage of just two barrels. Unlike in the Gulf of Mexico, no Chevron oil came near the coast.
BP last month agreed to pay out $7.8bn to more than 100,000 people who said they were hurt by US spill in which 11 people died and about 4.9bn barrels were leaked over three months.
Cases 'arbitrary' and 'irresponsible'
Both Chevron and Transocean have said they have done nothing wrong, that they are innocent of any crimes and will defend their employees against civil and criminal charges.
"Transocean acted responsibly appropriately and quickly, putting safety first. We'll continue to strongly defend our company, our people and the quality of our services," Transocean, the world's largest drill rig operator said in a statement.
"The filing of the second lawsuit is another in a series of outrageous actions brought by the same district attorney who previously filed both a criminal and civil case, all of which are without merit," Chevron said in a statement, calling the $10.9bn figure “arbitrary”.
The size of the damages have also caught the attention of politicians close to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's government.
Jorge Viana, a senator from Rousseff's Workers' Party and one of the country's leading environmentalists, said the damages being sought were "irresponsible" and if applied to all companies working in the country could lead to the shutdown of Brazil's oil industry.
The industry generates revenue worth more than 10 per cent of gross domestic product in Brazil, the world's sixth-largest economy.
Will criminal charges slow Brazil's oil rush?
The discovery of vast reserves of pre-salt oil - some 50 billion barrels of it - off the coast of Brazil is supposed to create a boom for the nation as Western oil companies, together with their vast cash stockpiles and superior technology, rushed in to take their slice of the pie.
But now the Brazilian authorities are pitting themselves against two US oil companies, Chevron and Transocean, following a relatively small oil spill last November at the Frade field some 360km from Rio de Janeiro's coast.
The accident cracked geological structures in the reservoir and oil will continue leaking from the field until it is emptied. So far it has leaked up to 3,000 barrels of oil - which is considered as a small leak compared to many others.
But just last week, the same well started seeping oil once again, prompting Chevron to temporarily suspend all production.
As a result, 17 managers from the two companies have had their passports revoked, and they are likely to face criminal charges. Prosecutors will allege that the companies should not have drilled the deep-water well that leaked, and that they knew of the risks.
There has been an outcry against the regulations, which some say are inconsistent.
Marcelo Lins, a journalist with Globo News TV, believes Brazil is in a delicate position, because the country is hosting the Rio+20 United Nations Convention on Sustainable Development in June and it is very important for the government takes a stand on these issues.
Lins is also the producer of a film in which he predicted the Chevron oil spill before it happened. He says:
"Chevron was not careful enough … perhaps using too much pressure in it drilling may have caused the first spill four months ago. I don’t think we can expect a prison mandate but should be seeing some huge fines to send a sign of alert to big companies coming to exploit oil in Brazil."
So will harsh penalties against Chevron discourage it and other oil companies from drilling off the coast of Brazil? And is there such a thing as too much regulation?
To answer these questions Inside Story America talks to Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research; Marcelo Lins, a journalist with Globo News TV in Brazil, and the producer of a film in which he predicted the Chevron oil spill before it happened; and finally Diane MacEachern, an author on environmental issues and former consultant for the Environmental Protection Agency.
"If Brazil overplays it hand with respect to the regulations, and more importantly the inconsistencies there, they will send a chilling effect to the industry... It is up to the Brazilians to decide for themsleves how they will fuel the next period of growth. They are the sixth-largest economy in the world."
The work is not over we MUST continue to build for real change.
We need to stay involved and pushing in our local communities.
Helping others areas all over the country. This will not be a short term effort, THE PROBLEMS ARE MASSIVE ,so must
our effort be. We must continue to build local and regional group to register new voters and inspire old ones to come back in. We need to organize around local issues and candidates.
The work is not over we MUST continue to build for real change.
We need to stay involved and pushing in our local communities.
Helping others areas all over the country. This will not be a short term effort, THE PROBLEMS ARE MASSIVE ,so must
our effort be. We must continue to build local and regional group to register new voters and inspire old ones to come back in. We need to organize around local issues and candidates.
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