Julia O'Malley : Mailbag: responses to Purple Heart column

Julia O'Malley

Julia O'Malley writes a general interest column about life and politics in Anchorage and around Alaska. She grew up in Anchorage and has worked at the ADN on and off as a columnist and reporter since 1996. She came back full time as a reporter in 2005.

As a reporter, she covered the court system and wrote extensively about life in Anchorage, including big changes in the city's ethnic and minority communities.

In 2008, she won the Scripps-Howard Foundation's Ernie Pyle award for the best human-interest writing in America. She has also written for the Oregonian, the Juneau Empire and the Anchorage Press.

E-mail her at jomalley@adn.com.

Send Julia a message

Twitter feed

Friend Julia on Facebook

Mailbag: responses to Purple Heart column

Posted by adn_jomalley

Posted: October 23, 2009 - 11:13 am

Comments (0) |

“ I read with interest your column where the military health care including Tricare was blasted something terrible. I think you owe it to your readers to present a balanced view and at least let those of us who have had nothing but outstanding experiences with this system. I have been dealing with extreme health care issues for the last couple of years and I have received nothing but the absolute best in doctors, facilities, prescriptions, etc.. I am sure that when some of the local doctors read your column they are ready to throw in the towel and deny Tricare which would be a major disaster.”

“Thanks so much for the article, "Behind Purple Heart..." I'm a Vietnam vet, and have had PTSD for ???. I never even knew what PTSD was until a childhood friend started me talking about Vietnam in the late '80's. Unfortunately, a decade before it had started manifesting itself. By 1980 I started "dropping out" and now I'm virtually a hermit. I understand Sgt. Waszak's statement perfectly about "eating a bullet" as do many as he alluded to. The experiences of veterans are unique, but the outcomes are, unfortunately, much the same.”

"I found your article about Tri Care very familiar. I am a current Fed. Gov employee who has the same difficulty trying to recieve treatment under FECA, Federal Employees Compensation Act. Doctors in Alaska don't take patients covered under this Government plan either."

“Thank you for covering this heart wrenching story. Unfortunately, this is all too common in Alaska. It took me over 2 years to find a good family practice doctor that would take our insurance.
My husband is active duty AF. When we were stationed in California, it was no problem to see a doctor off base - the base clinic was so small, they did not have OB ability. Our son was born in a beautiful new hospital by civilian doctors. We are now pregnant wtih our second baby. I have good insurance from my work - Aetna as primary but Tricare is still our secondary. I have been denied by 17 OB doctors refusing to see me because of Tricare. I'm at least 3 months in and have still not been seen by a doctor.”

login or register to post comments

By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to adn.com's user agreement.

UPDATE ON COMMENTS POLICY: Read before posting

Edit your profile and avatar »