I was born in 1954, in OK while my father was in the Army.  He retired in 1965 after serving in both WW2 and Korea as field artilly.  After he retired he went to work with the Army muntion plant in IN, where he could still get his military benfits that all retirees received.  He passed away at the young age of 62 from phnonima, after his fith open heart surgey.  His hospital bill was well over 1 million dollars, that was paid for by the tax payers, because of his military status as a retiree.  Then the government paid for their medical as well as dental work.

 

I have always been in the care of the government until I retired from the US Air Force in 1993, after serving in Viet Nam and the first Gulf War.  While in the military I was an Air Force recutier and I told my recrites that the government would paid for their medical and dental, which they did until about 1992, when under the guilds of Hillary Clinton's medical board recomendations, dental was taken completly away from retirees and medical would be paid for on a as need basis.  This great social experment into social medience was taken to prove the way for todays's heath care push by the government. 

 

Upon retiring from the Air Force, I had a choice for medical, I could choose, the social or pay for Tricare Prime Insurence, provied by the government, but I had to pay for it.  Of course being mule headed I went with the social and did not need medical attendtion until I was 43 years of ages.  When my wife pointed out that there were dark brown spots showing up on my feet that were not there a week prior.  Called to get an appointed at the hospital and was told that because I was a retiree with Tricare Standard (social medicine) it would be about six months to get in to see the doctor.  So I went to the VA side of the house and was seen in only three weeks.  However...it took another five months to get in and seek a specialist in OK City, OK.  It was only after many months of pleding from my wife did I finally brakedown and bought the Tricare Prime medical insurence.  It only cost me $115 a quarter to cover both my wife and me.  Now with this insurenance, we both can see our primary care giver within a few days instead of months, still need permission to see a specialist both it does not take months.

 

I know this sounds like a push for government insurance, BUT IS  NOT.  You see this Tricare is only for DOD personnel both active and retirees and their families member living at home under the age of 25, other than the spouse of the DOD member.  While I was on Tricare Standard, the people who made the dicision on who I saw were not even medical personnel, their office was in Tulsa, OK , and sometimes in Washington DC,  if still on that program I would be dead today because it was discovered that my family has a history of heart problems and I got them as well.  So without me buying my own insurance even through it is from the government my medical coverage was way faster then the social network that they have set up already to work with the medical field.