Woodruff & Vogt: Paying The Medical Bills

Earlier today, Slate’s Daniel Engber asked: “Who’s Going To Pay for Bob Woodruff‘s Medical Care?”

“Probably their insurance companies,” the site says. “As a matter of course, embedded journalists sign release forms that — in this (PDF) version, at least — make it very clear that the government isn’t responsible for the cost of any medical care in the field: ‘Persons receiving government medical or dental care who are not otherwise eligible to receive such care shall be obligated to reimburse the government.'”

The AP reports: “Jeffrey Schneider, vice president of ABC News, said outside the hospital that the network considered but rejected the idea of sending Woodruff and Vogt to a private hospital.

‘We talked to all the military people and determined that this is the best place in the world to treat those kind of injuries,’ he said. Schneider added that ABC is paying for its employees’ treatment. ‘The cost will not fall on the American taxpayer,’ he said.”

(Slate says: “ABC News claims that the network will take care of the medical bills. They wouldn’t say, though, whether they’ll pay Woodruff’s and Vogt’s medical expenses directly, or if they’ll let the insurance cover it.”