I had to change policies and doctors yesterday.

[fasttense]

7. I was getting health care through the military from TriCare Prime

It was a great program, I had premiums of about $500 a year, $25 for a day in the hospital, $12 co-pay and no other costs aside from medicines. But they did away with it in the South (I understand you can still get the program if you live in the North) unless you live near a military base (now why would you pay for a program if you lived near a military base, when at the base you can get all your medical needs filled for free?).

They were trying to force us onto TriCare Standard where a day in the hospital costs $250.00, a $1,5000 deductible per person and 20% copay with no premiums. It is a very bad program for retired military people who were guaranteed Free health care for life. And since my husband is a disabled vet he is in the hospital allot. If we moved near a base we could have of course gotten it cheaper. But then we would have to sell our farm and we probably would NOT get it's value in this market.

So, we went to the VA. We were very lucky to find a first class VA hospital only an hours drive from our farm. My husband is on 9 different meds for blood pressure and he had to change his doctor in the middle of getting out of the hospital. But it was the best thing that ever happened to us. The doctors at the VA are so good. They even call him at home to check on him. The doctor under TriCare Prime was very casual about my husbands medical problems and we just thought all doctors were like that.

If you are a military vet, check out the VA near you. You might be pleasantly surprised. Yeah, socialized medicine. Every American deserves it.