OPINION:
The democratic socialists’ promises about “Medicare for All” are just empty words. Neither they nor their naive supporters have a clue.
I know a thing or two about our free healthcare from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. I have been stuck in a never-ending nightmare for more than 50 years, dealing with a system already corrupted beyond comprehension by a bunch of soulless people.
I was forced out of my job in law enforcement because of preexisting war wounds received in Vietnam while serving in the Marine Corps.
I hurt my back during training and was sent to Vietnam in an unfit condition at the age of 18. My complaints of severe back pain were ignored even after I was wounded five times. When I didn’t relent, I was sent to Guam, where they found two ruptured discs in my lower back over a year later.
I was operated on stateside. One disc was removed and the other repaired, allowing me to become a law enforcement officer until that repaired disc moved.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars spent five years fighting the VA, which blamed my job and never gave me any retirement money. The job blamed my war wounds.
The nightmare didn’t stop, even after I was given my 100% disability. I went to a VA clinic in extreme pain in 1987 when that repaired disc became unbearable, only to be sent home with a bottle of muscle relaxers. My leg became paralyzed for life in the parking lot.
To add insult to injury, I went to another VA hospital and was refused a biopsy on a bump on my numb leg, forcing me to go outside, where I learned that I had a rare and deadly cancer. I was operated on outside the VA and left permanently unable to bend my leg.
Not trusting the free medical treatment given to veterans, I just paid $1,995.00 out of my disability check for Medicare supplemental insurance. So much for free healthcare.
GREGORY J. TOPLIFF
Aiken, South Carolina
Please read our comment policy before commenting.