by Robert F. Sawallesh
10 March 2010
If the White House and the US Congress are looking for an example of lottery health care they do not have to go to Canada http://www.digitalj ournal.com/ article/257099. All they have to do is look south to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Fastback to 1998: MacDill Air Force Base http://www.macdill. af.mil/ in Tampa, Florida implemented a program called MacDill 65. This was a special program to provide medical care to military retirees 65 and older. One retired US Marine from Valrico, Florida received a letter from MacDill AFB that stated: "You meet all requirements for entering our random drawing being held in August 1998." His name was put in a screened drum at MacDill AFB and then 2,000 names were drawn to see who would be treated in the new MacDill 65 program.
Nine organizations participated in drawing the 2,000 names for a military retiree lottery http://www.merriam- webster.com/ dictionary/ lottery for health care. Those nine organizations were the MacDill AFB Retired Activities Office, Air Force Sergeants Association, The Retired Enlisted Association, TROA (Sun City), TROA (Sarasota), TROA (Clearwater) , TROA (St. Petersburg), Military Widow Chapter 35 and the Tampa Greater Chamber of Commerce. TROA is now MOAA http://www.moaa. org/.
I wonder if the national headquarters of the above organizations would support a universal health care lottery today?
The 2,000 names were drawn within 315 minutes (5.15 hours). I am not sure if these military retirees were told when they enlisted or when they were in the combat zone http://www1. va.gov/opa/ fact/amwars. asp that they would have military retiree medical care based on a lottery.
Hence, a military retiree who spent 20 to 30 years in the military and served in one to three wars would have his or her military medical care determined by the roll of a screened drum over a period of 5.15 hours.
In August 1998 I received a letter from General Harry H. Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He stated: "The lottery system you described is part of a demonstration project, 'MacDill 65,' designed to better serve the medical needs of military retirees."
On 14 February 1998, Katherine Gazella, St. Petersburg Times Reporter stated the following in an article: " Young [ http://www.house. gov/young/ ] who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees defense spending, urged the Department of Defense to make MacDill the nations first test site." I wonder if Congressman Young wanted military medical lotteries at all bases?
Phil Willon, Tampa Tribune Reporter, wrote the following in an article on 17 February 1998: "U.S. Rep. C.W. 'Bill' Young [ http://www.house. gov/young/ ] R-Indian Rocks Beach, [FL] pushed for the pilot project, and said there is 'not a better place in our nation' to test the program." I am not sure if Congressman Young knew there was going to be a military medical lottery or maybe he did want to know.
MacDill AFB was no doubt very proud to hold a military health care lottery. The lottery was noted on the front page of the base newspaper, "The Macdill Thunderbolt" on 3 July 1998.
The following is a quote from an article by Orval Jackson, Reporter, Tampa Tribune, 22 August 1998: "Malakoff [Lt. David Malakoff, USAF, spokesman, MacDill AFB] said 5,233 applications were received and the names of the 2,000 selected were drawn at random Thursday by volunteers from retiree organizations in the area."
I wonder why members of the US Congress did not help in the military health care lottery drawing at MacDill AFB?
They could of had their photo on TV and in the newspapers showing their support of health care lotteries.
For some reason there is very little Internet information on the MacDill AFB 65 Health Care Lottery.
Can you imagine a universal military health care lottery? For example: A military wife goes to the PX at Ft. Bragg http://www.bragg. army.mil/ 18abn/px. htm, puts a dollar in the health care lottery machine in the food court at then scratches off a winning ticket and wins "one free vaccination of your choice for a dependent" at the base hospital http://www.wamc. amedd.army. mil/. This would be just like the North Carolina Education Lottery http://www.nc- educationlottery .org/.
See http://mrgrg- ms.org/ for the tragic history of US military medicine.
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