Should a contract with the government be just one sided?

There are thousands of men and women that retired from the military service of our great nation that were promised free medical care and treatment for themselves and their families. Now that free Medical Care and treatment is a situation where if you don't pay you won't have medical care. I find it not fair to do the work and then the Government says we don't have a contract. The Officers and senior Noncommissioned Officers promised all enlisted and for that matter Officers as well that if we would stay in service that we would have free care for self and family. My comrades and I stayed in the service doing our country's bidding, and when have filled our side of the contract the government says that we never had a contract. Does that not qualify as a verbal contract? Besides not medical care that I was promised what am I not getting?