A little-known part of federal law forces veterans families to pay up years earlier for children on their health plans.

Denial of service

Sergeant James Creamer of Lancaster was part of the Army's 1999 hurricane relief effort in Honduras. The Chinook helicopter he was on crashed in the jungle near the military airport.

“Then the number one engine caught on fire. Then you just switch to your training. Get everybody out, get everybody out,” recalled Sgt. Creamer. “I didn't realize how bad I was hurt until afterwards. I spent eight and a half hours in a Honduran hospital.”

Creamer received the Army Achievement Award for pulling fellow soldiers out of the helicopter wreckage. Five back surgeries later, Creamer was only considered 40 percent disabled by federal standards. The Army believes the back injury happened because of a natural aging process. Creamer is 45 years old and now walks slowly with a cane.

Creamer appealed the disability percentage decision from the Veterans Benefits Administration.

“Pain scale of 1 to 10, it's a 9 everyday. My wife has to help me out of the chair, has to help me to the latrine,” explained Creamer.

In July 2010, Creamer received a letter from the VA stating, “There is no evidence or record documenting this accident even occurred.” The VA claimed, in effect, there was no proof of a disabling helicopter crash – despite Sgt. Creamer’s military honors for his service during the crash.

6 years later, Creamer finally received retroactive disability pay from the VA, as well as an increase in his monthly benefits check. It took a member of Congress.

“One of my case workers was able to get the military records - the medical records - substantiating documentation that helped Mr. Creamer,” said Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15).

“Unfortunately, sometimes our VA is slow and very bureaucratic, but if they stick with it and we get the information before the VA case workers, they'll make the right choice,” added Rep. Stivers.

“Keep fighting. Never quit that. Never quit that,” said Creamer.



Inequality for veterans' families Under Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act allowed millions of American families to keep their kids, whether they went to college or not, on their parents' health plans until age 26. A little-known part of federal law forces veterans families to pay up years earlier- and the government says it will simply cost too much to give veterans what everybody else gets.

Patricia McCambridge is not looking forward to her 23rd birthday.

"I will lose my insurance on my 23rd birthday," explained the Ohio State University pre-med student.

Most of her fellow college students get to keep their health coverage until age 26. Not McCambidge. Patricia's father Sgt. Jeff McCambridge, is a disabled Army veteran.

"If something were to happen, I would not have a way to pay for medical care," added Patricia. The OSU student hopes to become a psychologist to help veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an illness McCambridge says her father suffered upon his return from Iraq.

The Affordable Care Act forced private insurers to keep children on their parents' plans until age 26. The federal government carved out an exemption for themselves. That means the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) health plan the McCambridge family uses removes children from parental policies at age 23 or earlier.

"We are not asking for anything extra. We're only asking for what everybody else's children are getting, and that's insurance up to age 26," said Patricia’s McCambridge’s mother Sandy.

Congress estimates the cost of extending family health coverage to families of disabled veterans and families of veterans killed in service at $51 million the first year and $750 million dollars over ten years.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1) introduced HR 220 January 8th. 2015. The Veterans Dependent’ Parity Act, if enacted, would extend the eligibility of a child under the CHAMPVA plan until 26 years of age, regardless of marital or education status. HR 220 was referred to the Subcommittee on Health within the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, where it has remained since with no legislative action.

“What are they discussing? I don’t understand why it's taken so long. How can it be there for a year and a half?” questioned Sandy McCambridge.

Rep. Stivers explained, “There are some people chirping about the cost of continuing this beyond age 23 to 26 like everybody else gets. I do think we need to try to find a way to make that happen. We need to make an offsetting savings somewhere else to make it happen. It’s about fairness and it's about making sure we get people access to care, especially those who were disabled or killed providing our freedoms for us.”

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