Brian Caulfield, over at Fathers for the Good, has a couple of good posts, if you haven’t read ! His latest post “Man Your Battle Stations” talks about the 2nd annual Catholic Men for Christ Conference reminds me of the Esto Vir men’s conference I attended last month in Appleton, and although much smaller in size, it no less provided some of the same results. Here is a link the local Esto Vir site, thier next Monthly Mass and Spirtiual Talk is scheduled May 9th; check out what they have to offer. March 27th will be there will be an Evening of Recollection service starting at 7:30pm. Check them out
Browsing Posts published in March, 2009
The following email was recently sent to me ~
The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President’s Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment
Mon Mar 16, 5:49 pm ET
To: POLITICAL EDITORS
Contact: Craig Roberts of The American Legion, +1-202-263-2982 Office, +1-202-406-0887 Cell
WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.
“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “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.”
The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, “This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”
Commander Rehbein was among a group of senior officials from veterans service organizations joining the President, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Steven Kosiak, the overseer of defense spending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group’s early afternoon conversation at The White House was precipitated by a letter of protest presented to the President earlier this month. The letter, co-signed by Commander Rehbein and the heads of ten colleague organizations, read, in part, ” There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran’s personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable.”
Commander Rehbein reiterated points made last week in testimony to both House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees. It was stated then that The American Legion believes that the reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate that VA treat service-connected injuries and disabilities given that the United States government sends members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran’s condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits. The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles
to be paid before any benefits are covered. Additionally, the Legion is concerned that private insurance premiums would be elevated to cover service-connected disabled veterans and their families, especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in small businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board insurance policy pricing. The American Legion also believes that some employers, especially small businesses, would be reluctant to hire veterans with service-connected disabilities due to the negative impact their employment might have on obtaining and financing company health care benefits.
“I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted,” said Commander Rehbein, “is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue. The American Legion has long advocated for Medicare reimbursement to VA for the treatment of veterans. This, we believe, would more easily meet the President’s financial goal. We will present that idea in an anticipated conference call with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel in the near future.
“I only hope the administration will really listen to us then. This matter has far more serious ramifications than the President is imagining,” concluded the Commander.SOURCE The American Legion
More news from Supreme: (If you don’t think this can happen here you might be mistaken!)
The Knights of Columbus stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Catholic bishops and priests of Connecticut this week, and won a significant battle with opponents of the Church. But more battles probably lie ahead.
(March 13, 2009) – When the Connecticut senate and house co-chairmen of the Judiciary Committee introduced Bill 1098 on March 5, they apparently hoped few would notice until it was too late. The measure proposed to strip the bishops and priests of the state of all administrative authority over their own churches, a blatantly unconstitutional intervention in the internal affairs of a church. The Knights of Columbus quickly joined the bishops and the Connecticut Catholic Conference in a public condemnation of the bill. The bill’s sponsors were taken by surprise, and cancelled a planned Wednesday hearing. But some 5,000 Catholics from all around the state came to Hartford for a protest rally at noon on March 11, when the hearing had originally been scheduled to begin.
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson delivered a strongly worded speech, along with Archbishop Henry Mansell, Bishop (and Supreme Chaplain) William Lori, and Bishop Michael Cote. You can watch the video of the speeches by going to this web page:
You can read more about the rally and the controversy here:
Read the Supreme Knight’s op-ed column in the Stamford Advocate here:
Good news, bad news I guess ~ the fact that legislators thought they could simply pass a bill like speaks volumes about how some politicians want to destroy not only the Catholic Church, but our religious freedom we enjoy here in America. The good news is that this bill seems to be defeated – at least for now! Read more about the bill and how Connecticut Church, lead by the Knights help organize and defeat this bill.
On what would have been the day of Bill 1098’s public hearing in the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, bishops from the state’s three dioceses, along with other speakers, including Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Connecticut-based Knights of Columbus, addressed a crowd of more than 5,000 Catholics and others concerned for religious freedom.
The overall theme of the rally: that Bill 1098 should never have been raised, that it smacked of anti-Catholicism and that the Catholic Church in Connecticut strongly supported the bishops and priests threatened by the legislation.
Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) updates and information now available on the USCCB website: USCCB – Pro-Life Activities – http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA/
