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White House Declines to Explain Plan to Make Veterans Pay for War Injuries

White House (CNSNews.com)-White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs declined on Tuesday to provide any further explanation of a plan the administration is considering to have the Department of Veterans Affairs bill the private heath insurance of veterans for service-related injuries.Veterans’ groups and members of Congress,meanwhile, stepped up their criticism of the idea.The administration could face a fight in Congress over the issue, as members from both parties have slammed the plan. While administration officials say the idea is not yet a formal proposal, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag confirmed in congressional hearings last week that it is under consideration as part of their fiscal year 2010 budget.“That will be a place where we’ll have a battle,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a deputy minority whip, told CNSNews.com Tuesday. “When individuals risk their lives to protect our freedom, one of the agreements this country made with them is that we would provide health care if they were injured in the line of duty. To ask them to now pay for it goes against everything America has stood for.”Veteran groups, after meeting with Obama and senior administration officials Monday, said their impression is that the White House plans to move forward with the proposal.“Let me not make the case for a decision that this administration hasn't made yet regarding the final disposition of a decision on third-party billing as it relates to services for service-related injuries,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday.“The VSO-Veteran Service Organizations -who we’re here yesterday meeting with the president, the VA chief and the chief of staff, and who will return later in the week to meet with the chief of staff, can have confidence that the budget the president proposed represents an historic increase in discretionary spending to take care of any wounded warriors.” Not everyone expressed that same confidence about the meeting between veteran group leaders, President Barack Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Shinseki.“It became apparent during our discussion today that the president intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” American Legion Commander David K. Rehbein said in a statement. “He says he is looking to generate $540 million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.” Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Glen M. Gardner Jr. came away from the meeting with a different impression, however. "The president told us that he would not go through with the third-party billing proposal if he felt the veterans' community didn't approve of it," Gardner said in a statement."We made our opposition clearly known."Currently, the VA covers the full cost of medical ailments related to military service and bills third-party insurers for non-service related injuries.
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer
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