Part 3: THOSE LEFT BEHIND

“... for his widow and his orphan…” Abraham Lincoln

What happens to the widow and family when a veteran passes on to the great parade ground in the sky? We know they must endure a life without them. Without their laughter, their tears, their smile and companionship they enjoyed for so many years. In the case of the veteran I mentioned in part one of this series, the spouse has endured not only the loss of a husband, but also the loss of much more than one person can endure in life; the loss of healthcare coverage.

While many friends and fellow veterans have felt the loss of George Davis’ passing, none feels it the same as his wife, Patricia who stood by him for thirty-four years. Through life’s difficulties, they stood together without wavering. George was the wind beneath her wings and his sudden death struck her like a bolt of lightening, sending shockwaves to her core.

The daughter of a strong military man herself, her family was proud in how she stood tall during the first few months after losing her husband. While trying to move on with life, it has been difficult without George by her side. Unfortunately, now she faces the toughest fight of her life, a fight that entails pain, frustration, and abandonment. Each day is a new lesson in life for the struggles of those left behind when a veteran dies.

Like most veterans, George worked hard in the civilian world and tried to take care of those around him, yet he never filed for benefits under the VA. Why would he, his employer provided him the benefit of healthcare insurance, so why bother to seek out any other type of coverage to take care of those emergency medical issues. His sudden massive heart attack, causally related to his service connected diabetic condition, left his wife, without health care insurance. As with so many employers, George's boss could not find it in his heart to continue her coverage therefore; she has been left to fend for herself while mourning the loss of her husband. Four months after the loss of George, her world was suddenly turned upside down when she was given the news she needed a total hip replacement. That was in mid-October of 2007.

It has now been almost five months that she has had to endure severe pain and lack of sleep as a result of not receiving proper medical assistance for her hip. Without the benefit of having healthcare insurance, she is stuck in the proverbial loop of political red tape. She does not qualify for public assistance because she owns a home and her assets are over two thousand dollars. She does not speak Spanish, nor an illegal alien of a foreign country, which gives her access to free medical care her in the United States of America. Her condition is now considered preexisting; this prevents her from obtaining new health insurance. Being the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, she turns to the Veterans Affairs Department for widow benefits.

Dependents of those eligible for benefits consist of the surviving spouse and minor children that might be currently living under the age of eighteen. If a dependent has been enrolled in the program known as ChampusVA, they can receive medical benefits just like under Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Only problem is, in most cases the veteran does not know this benefit existed, or did not file for benefits to cover their spouse before they died. Any intelligent human being would wonder why they didn’t do this. Well the information given out by the VA it is not only confusing, it is down right mumbo jumbo. A person needs a deciphering code in order to understand if they are eligible or not for various benefits.

Under the VA criteria for coverage of these benefits you must prove that you spent at least one day with “boots on the ground” in order to qualify. This is also one of the main issues under the Blue Water Case. How could they have spent time on the ground in Vietnam when they were aboard floating vessels? Therefore, any widow benefits sought would be denied based on this criteria. Here we have a spouse of a Vietnam Veteran who is in crisis, struggling with a medical emergency and is stuck in the political red tape of a program that was established to render aid “for his widow.”

When I joined forces to help advocate on behalf of Veterans benefits, I never once thought about the spouses, or the families that would be left behind; the veteran had not died, so why would I. I only thought about the issue at hand, called upon my vast network, and voiced the opinion I knew would help honor those who put on the uniform. Never once did I look at what benefits were available for the widow or widower of these brave individuals. I also never envisioned that the Blue Water Cases would have a direct link to someone I knew personally, that of George Davis and his wife Pat. You see Pat Davis is my older sister.

In an attempt to help Mrs. Davis, I have spoken to many city, state and federal agencies, as well as medical providers, who have asked me the same string of questions: "was she born in this country? Not a foreigner ok, does she qualify under the criteria of social services – less than two thousand dollars of assets?" Only to be told that if she was an illegal alien she could qualify for free medical assistance. What is wrong with the mindset of our society? We are willing to help others, but not our own.

As an American, Mrs. Davis is being denied access to necessary medical assistance in the United States because of the current system. Under the current medical system, if she were not an American, she would have received the necessary care long ago. One case I learned of recently was of a student at a nearby college, here in this country under a student visa who brought her mother here illegally for an operation. The mother, an illegal alien smuggled into this country from Columbia, South America for the express purpose of obtaining free healthcare at the Univeristy of Virginia Medical Facilty at Charlottesville, Virginia. The hospital administrator knowing the woman was here illegally, approved a total hip replacement at the protest of surgeons and medical staff who could not doing about it. I come to find out that hospitals do not check for immigration status in our current healthcare system. Why has the Department of Homeland Security not checked into this problem?

At the cost of over one hundred thousand dollars (doctors’ fees, rehabilitation, and medication), the American taxpayer pays for emergency medical assistance to illegal aliens, yet the wife of a veteran is denied access to the same medical care and assistance. One has to wonder what is wrong with a country that is willing to take care of those who come here illegally, and not take care of their own who is in serious pain and anguish. I doubt Mrs. Davis is alone in her fight. There must be thousands of widows out there who have had this same problem. Widows left behind who are the silent majority, between the ages of 58 and 62, who are stuck between the working class and the senior citizen benefits they are to young to receive. Will there ever be a time when these individuals and our veterans do not have to fight. Will they be taken care of without having to give up their life savings for emergency medical care?

Where are the benefits President Lincoln once pledged this government would provide to those who served in uniform? Why are the benefits that President Hoover signed into law so hard to obtain? Why should a widow be strapped with paperwork and red tape when they hold a death certificate and DD214 of a veteran in their hand? Where is the respect for those who protected and defended our country? Where is that grateful Nation our veterans defended?