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NNN0LHI Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:40 AM
Original message
Iraq Contractors Denied Medical Insurance
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=43932

US contractors serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who have sustained psychological injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder are often finding themselves "caught in a morass of red tape and rejected insurance claims" finds a new Los Angeles Times investigation. "Some seriously afflicted contract workers have been dumped into indigent medical care programs, according to court records," reports the Times. "Many have had to wage lengthy legal battles to win payments for psychological treatment. At least four have committed suicide after returning home...
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:41 AM
Response to Original message
1. another example of Why Sicko should be taken seriously.
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malaise Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:43 AM
Response to Original message
2. I do not have on iota of sympathy for them
The Iraqis who they killed, tortured and damaged psycologically had even less support. Let them spread the word that killing for profit does not really pay.
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:47 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Mercenaries deserve what they get.
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Captain Hilts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:48 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. Well, to be fair, most contracters aren't Blackwater killers. nt
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:53 AM
Response to Reply #5
11. War profiteers, all of them.
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Captain Hilts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 11:14 AM
Response to Reply #11
15. Remember that truck driver who was captured? He was horribly in debt...
and his family needed money.

It's not fair to generalize. Condemn Blackwater's Gucci-salaried mercenaries, but a lot are working stiffs who desperately needed the money. The US Govt. has an economic draft, and it's not just military people that get caught up in it.
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 11:20 AM
Response to Reply #15
16. People need to take responsibility,
Are not the poor and unfortunate usually the ones to become mercenaries? Their plight is a separate issue. Becoming a war profiteer is not an acceptable solution. Yes, it is wrong for companies like blackwater to take advantage of these folks, but it is wrong for these folks to sign on for it. Much akin to taking up a life of crime 'cause you are broke.
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malaise Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. That simple
Edited on Mon Jun-18-07 03:26 PM by malaise
Many people could use more money but don't become mercenaries. Money for blood has consequences.

Sp.
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Eugene Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. Not all contractors are killers, mercanaries, or even guards.
Many of these contractors include truck drivers, cooks,
and construction workers, people who worked in extremely
dangerous conditions.
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:52 AM
Response to Reply #6
10. Went to a war for profit: Mercinenaries, all.
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:59 AM
Response to Reply #6
14. The only exception are those working for aid agencies.
Edited on Mon Jun-18-07 11:00 AM by MNDemNY
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Donnachaidh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #6
18. and these people are paid handsomely for their work over there
And they KNEW they would be going into a warzone. Why should we feel sorry for people who were war profiteers? Why should they get better treatment than the military kids who get a fraction of the pay they received?

I have no pity for people who went there for the money, and are now complaining because they are getting the shaft by their insurance companies. Did they really expect the insurance companies to cover injuries in a warzone? :sarcasm:
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aikoaiko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:50 AM
Response to Reply #2
9. I agree, we should extend your thinking to felonious criminals too...


:sarcasm:
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #9
12. The went to Iraq for profit. They are outside or laws.
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Captain Hilts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:46 AM
Response to Original message
3. Well, join the club. Insurance covers only whom they want to cover. nt
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:49 AM
Response to Original message
7. They're not all murderers trained by Blackwater
They're also construction guys, cooks, clerks, truck drivers and other assorted personnel. Since jobs here are evaporating, they took a chance at going there, dodging bombs and bullets, and coming home with enough saved pay to start a business, go back to school, or pay debts.

I know people who have applied for those jobs because there was nothing here at home.

Dodging mental health claims is what insurance companies do best. Blame them, not the guys who went to Iraq for the same reasons Mexicans come here, to better their lot in life by a temporary job that pays a very high wage at great risk to themselves.
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MNDemNY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:56 AM
Response to Reply #7
13. Their beef is with their "employers".
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magellan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-18-07 10:50 AM
Response to Original message
8. I call that poetic justice.
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