Once a soldier, always a dependent.
Why are veterans entitled to special benefits, such as free medical care? Not because such a benefit is an inducement to military service, or because a soldier accepts risk. Rather, the relationship of the Army, to use one service as an example, to a soldier is like that of a parent to a child. The right to health care, even carried beyond the term of service, is an extension of this quasi-familial relationship.
D035881:Compensation and Redress; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D035082:Federal Government; D006801:Humans; D028681:Moral Obligations; D026706:Paternalism; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans