Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 11 November 2015
1. Access to Benefits/Care
1.1 - The New York Times: White House Seeks to Ease Veterans’ Access to Care (11 November, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) The Obama administration on Wednesday will call on Congress to enact measures to help military veterans gain easier access to health care, disability and educational benefits, part of a push to spotlight its efforts to improve the way the government treats veterans after a scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. President Obama will urge Congress to improve a program that allows veterans to receive private medical care, speed the appeal process for disability claims…
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1.2 - The New York Times (FirstDraft): Hillary Clinton Pledges to Make Better Treatment of Veterans a Priority (10 November, Amy Chozick, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday called the Department of Veterans Affairs an “archaic system” that was “built for the past, not the future,” as she unveiled a multipronged set of proposals to expand care and medical services to the country’s 21.8 million veterans. “America’s promise to our veterans is a sacred responsibility,” she said at a round-table discussion with veterans in Derry, N.H. “They need to be fixed; they need to be fixed now.”
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1.3 - CNN (Video): Hillary Clinton rolls out plan to reform VA (10 November, Dan Merica, 61.3M online visitors/mo; Atlanta, GA) Hillary Clinton on Tuesday rolled out her plan to address issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs, pledging in New Hampshire to "modernize" the struggling agency and "overhaul" its governance. Speaking at a roundtable, Clinton said the current iteration of the VA is "failing to keep faith with our veterans" and promised, as president, that she would institute and top to bottom review of the maligned agency.
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1.4 - The Huffington Post (The Blog): Honoring Veterans This Open Enrollment (10 November, Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Robert A. McDonald, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Christopher Flurry served his country as a Marine for over 13 years, and when he left the Corps in 2014, he had a number of things to do to transition into civilian life. One of those was finding health insurance. Chris had three options: He could enroll in VA's national health care, join his wife's insurance plan, or he could shop around, something that was difficult to do before the Affordable Care Act.
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1.5 - The Huffington Post (HuffPost Politics): The VA Can't Seem To Fix A Computer Glitch That's Denying Health Care To 29,000 Combat Vets (10 November, Jennifer Bendery, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) It's been seven months since top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs learned that tens of thousands of combat vets were being denied VA health care enrollment because of a Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 11 November 2015 1
computer system error. Not much has changed. The Huffington Post first reported in August that more than 35,000 combat vets were missing out on health care because their applications had been mistakenly flagged as pending, simply because they didn't complete a so-called means test, which assesses their household income.
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1.6 - The Huffington Post (HuffPost Politics, Video): Hillary Clinton Calls For Overhauling Veterans Health Care System, Her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination also are making pitches for better veterans care (10 November, Marina Fang, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will announce a series of proposals to help military veterans, including an overhaul of the backlogged VA health care system. "Secretary Clinton believes that supporting our veterans is a sacred responsibility," Clinton's campaign said in a statement the day before the Veterans Day holiday.
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1.7 - ABC News (AP): Clinton Outlining Proposals to Improve Services for Veterans (10 November, Ken Thomas, 22.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Hillary Rodham Clinton is rolling out a series of steps to improve health care and services for American veterans while pushing back against Republican calls to privatize the system. The Democratic presidential candidate was discussing a package of proposals for veterans at a New Hampshire town hall meeting on Tuesday. The event comes as Republicans have questioned her commitment to those who served in the military.
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1.8 - U.S. News & World Report (AP, Video): Clinton proposes improvements to veterans health care, services after her remarks criticized (10 November, Ken Thomas, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined steps to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, casting herself as a protector against proposals to privatize the sprawling health care system for those who have served in the military. In a pre-Veterans Day event, the Democratic presidential candidate said she would seek to improve veterans' health care, modernize veterans' benefits system and address an unwieldy bureaucracy…
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1.9 - U.S. News & World Report: Did Veterans Anti-Suicide Bill Go Far Enough? Ahead of Veteran's Day, access to mental health care continues to be a hurdle (10 November, Kimberly Leonard, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Members of Congress unanimously rallied around the suicide prevention bill President Barack Obama signed in February, but now veterans advocates say the legislation didn't go far enough in guaranteeing access to mental health care providers. Finding enough behavioral health care workers has been a struggle for the Department of Veteran's Affairs, but also for the rest of the country as health care coverage continues to expand under Obama's signature health care law…
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1.10 - The Boston Globe: Veteran, Fulbright scholar aims to improve VA health care (10 November, Thomas Farragher, 16.8M online visitors/mo; Boston, MA) Mike Verlezza worshiped his grandfather, a blue-collar tough guy who, as a young man, had been a member of Merrill’s Marauders, a fabled World War II fighting unit that earned its place in military history for its deep-penetration missions behind Japanese lines. “I wanted to do what my grandfather did,’’ Verlezza said. “I wanted to be a hero like him.’’
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1.11 - USA Today: Claire McCaskill: Cruel and unusual service (10 November, Sen. Claire McCaskil (D-MO), 14.2M online visitors/mo; McClean, VA) In 1944, Rollins Edwards was a 22-year-old Army recruit serving at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. While World War II raged in theaters across the world, the Pentagon was using the chemical weapon mustard gas on its own soldiers in secret experiments, both abroad and at home. Without an explanation of what mustard gas was, Edwards was directed by his superiors to repeatedly expose his entire body to the toxic gas. The tests also divided service members by race, with Rollins recently telling National Public Radio, “They said we were being tested to see what effect these gases would have on black skins.”
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1.12 - USA Today: Era of high unemployment for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans ends (10 November, Gregg Zoroya, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA) An era of high unemployment for those who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars appears to be over, according to federal statistics showing jobless rates for those veterans are now on par with civilians. The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was lower in October — at 4.6% — than the national average of 5%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
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1.13 - TIME: Hillary Clinton Pledges to Overhaul the VA and Tackle Wait Times (10 November, Sam Frizell, 13.5M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Hillary Clinton will announce on Tuesday a detailed plan to address widespread barriers veterans face in getting healthcare and reintegrating into daily life once they return home. The plan, which Clinton will discuss at a roundtable discussion in New Hampshire, comes after deep-seated waste and barriers to care were exposed at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a day ahead of Veterans Day.
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1.14 - MSNBC (Rachel Maddow, Video): GOP on wrong side of veterans with VA privatization plan (10 November, 4M online visitors/mo;New York, NY) Rachel Maddow reports on the partisan divide over how to improve health care for veterans, with Democrats like Hillary Clinton proposing changes to improve the V.A. and Republican candidates proposing to privatize the V.A. against the wishes of most veterans.
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1.15 - The Washington Times (Video): Clinton seeks to upgrade VA computer system to help fix wait-list issue (10 November, Anjali Shastry, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Tuesday to modernize the troubled VA’s computer system to try to stop a repeat of the waitlist scandal, and even praised Republicans’ solution to allow veterans to seek private care if they get stuck waiting too long for government care. In a town hall the day before the Veterans Day holiday, Mrs. Clinton said the Department of Veterans Affairs…
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1.16 - Washington Examiner (Video): Clinton rolls out VA reform plan (10 November, Sarah Westwood, 2.8M online visitors/mo;Washington, DC) Hillary Clinton spoke out against problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs Tuesday, soon after suggesting the VA's failures were "not as widespread" as Republicans have made them out to be. Clinton vowed to fix the "absolutely inexcusable claims that are sitting in backlogs," as well as a number of problems she called "serious, systemic and unacceptable" during a town hall event with veterans in Derry, N.H.
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1.17 - The Arizona Republic: My Turn: 412,000 ways we're helping veterans, TriWest CEO: A year after the Choice Act passed, we're working hard to get veterans access to timely health care (10 November, David McIntyre, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) Veterans Day is a time to thank the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. It is also a time to remember our country’s obligation to our nation’s veterans, who have put their lives on the line in defense of freedom. There should be no question that after serving in the military, the health-care needs of veterans will be met.
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1.18 - The Arizona Republic: Homebuying strategies for veterans, service members (10 November, David M. Brown, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ) Every day our servicemen and servicewomen keep us safe in our homes. West Valley Realtor Stormy Randolph helps put veterans into them. In 2014 and 2015, the Surprise resident and member of the Elite Group for HomeSmart in Surprise has worked with at least 15 families who are veterans or active military to find them houses during and after their service to the country.
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1.19 - The Washington Times: Honoring veterans by improving health care, The VA should grant nurse practitioners full-practice authority (10 November, Cindy Cooke, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) At this very moment, thousands of U.S. veterans wait for vital, long-delayed health care services. They are not the only ones. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ 4,800 nurse practitioners (NPs) also wait. They wait to be freed of needless regulations that prevent them from best serving veterans in their care. For 50 years, NPs have been educated and clinically prepared to provide care with what health policy experts call full-practice authority.
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1.20 - Chicago Sun-Times: Senate approves funding bill to give veterans medical marijuana access (10 November, Emily Gray, 2.1M online visitors/mo; Chicago, IL) The United States Senate approved an amendment Tuesday that would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to veterans in states where medical cannabis is legal, according to The Drug Policy Alliance. The Veterans Equal Access Amendment was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee 18-12 as part of the FY2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill.
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1.21 - Washington Free Beacon: Whistleblowers: Lawmakers Dismissed Evidence of Veterans Hospital Abuse (10 November, Alana Goodman, 1.9M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Medical workers at an Illinois VA hospital say two prominent lawmakers were aware that veterans were at risk due to rampant medical neglect at the facility, but neglected to seriously address the problems despite multiple requests. The employees at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital said they were forced to go to the media with evidence of hospital negligence after they had a string of fruitless meetings with Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) in 2013 and 2014.
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1.22 - Washington Free Beacon: Veterans group ad hits Hillary on VA scandal (10 November, Morgan Chalfant, 1.9M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Nearly three weeks after Hillary Clinton minimized troubles with the federal government’s treatment of veterans, the Democratic presidential candidate unveiled her policy proposals to fix “systemic” failures at the VA. At a campaign event in New Hampshire Tuesday, Clinton discussed her plan to overhaul the VA, which involves having the department contract with private healthcare providers for various services. Clinton, however, also vowed to fight against what she labeled a “misguided, ideological crusade” by Republicans to privatize the VA.
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1.23 - KGW-TV (NBC-8, Video): Veterans voices heard in town hall (9 November, 1.4M online visitors/mo; Portland, OR) This two-minute clip details the outcome of a community hall event held by the Vancouver VA. community leaders and Veterans met with VA representatives to voice their concerns. Veterans approved of the town halls held in a local community center and the VA’s continued outreach.
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1.24 - The Kansas City Star (Video): VA foster care program offers a new kind of veterans home (10 November, Donald Bradley, 928k online visitors/mo; Kansas City, MO) Morning coffee at the kitchen table. Roque (Rocky) Riojas, 93, sits at one end, Bronze Star cap on his head, World War II shrapnel in his leg, and he’s telling how his son always comes to visit. At the other end of the table, Theodosia Mobley, 84, who fought in Korea, scoffs: “He doesn’t always come to visit.” These two are about what you’d expect in a new foster family. A little picking, a little sniping. But it’s early.
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1.25 - WMUR-TV (ABC-9, Video): Updated: Clinton rolls out vets plan, promises to fight full-fledged privatization of VA, Democrat accuses GOP of 'ideological crusade,' but McCain calls charge 'inaccurate, offensive' (10 November, John DiStaso, 665k online visitors/mo; Manchester, NH) Hillary Clinton on Tuesday promised to fight “as long and hard as it takes” against any Republican effort to fully privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs but said she would allow the agency to contract with the private sector for some “specialty” surgical services. The Democratic presidential candidate told a crowd of about 200 veterans and supporters at the Derry Veterans of Foreign Wars post that veterans’ issues would be a priority of her administration.
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1.26 - WDRB-TV (FOX-41, Video): Louisville's VA Hospital shows WDRB how recent improvements are changing veteran care (6 November, Lindsay Allen, 625k online visitors/mo; Louisville, KY) After a tough year for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Louisville VA hospital opened its doors Friday. The staff showed WDRB what's changed to treat patients better and faster, and most importantly, how they're working to regain people's trust. It's been more than a year since President Obama signed the $16 billion VA healthcare overhaul bill and more than a year since the agency was rocked by scandal…
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1.27 - Journal Star: Peoria County agency helps veterans navigate VA red tape for benefits and medical care (10 November, Andy Kravetz, 530k online visitors/mo; Peoria, IL) Those who have served in the military know about red tape and about the “hurry up and wait” mentality that often occurs. Just ask Kalab Woods, a 32-year-old Peoria man who was seriously injured in 2004 while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near him. A machine-gun team leader, he returned to duty 48 hours later and over the next several months…
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1.28 - Amarillo Globe-News: Kiefer: Quality health care is a way to honor heroes (9 November, Michael Kiefer, 493k online visitors/mo; Amarillo, TX) The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918 — the guns of World War I were silenced. Today — almost 100 years and many conflicts later — we continue the tradition of paying tribute to American veterans who wore the uniforms of our armed forces. Recently, I was honored to participate in a “Welcome Home” tribute. The Thomas E. Creek VA staff was honored to host hundreds of American heroes…
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1.29 - Military Times: Poll: Veterans oppose plans to 'privatize' VA (10 November, Leo Shane III, 450k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) Veterans like choice. But they don't like privatization. That’s the bottom line from a new poll out Tuesday from the Vet Voice Foundation, designed to counter recent proposals that left-leaning advocates say would move Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals to an outsourced, privatization model. The poll of 800 veterans, conducted jointly by a Republican-backed firm and a Democratic-backed one, found that almost two-thirds of survey respondents oppose plans to
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replace VA health care with a voucher system, an idea backed by some Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates.
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1.30 - Military Times: Clinton unveils plan for veterans, military personnel (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday unveiled what will be her priorities on veterans and military personnel issues if elected, focusing on reforms to existing programs rather than the extensive overhauls and eliminations favored by her Republican rivals. The move comes just hours before Veterans Day and just weeks after Clinton took heavy criticism from Republican candidates who portrayed her as downplaying problems in the Veterans Affairs Department.
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1.31 - Montgomery Advertiser: Agent Orange: A killer among veterans (10 November, Rebecca Burylo and Josh Moon, 275k online visitors/mo; Montgomery, AL) As the nation pauses this Veterans Day to remember its war heroes, inaction from Congress threatens to leave many veterans suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical used during the Vietnam War, without medical treatment. Last month, House and Senate veterans affairs committees allowed a provision of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to expire.
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1.32 - KVIA-TV (ABC-7, Video): VA announces pilot program for El Paso, Proposal to improve health care access, facilities for El Paso veterans (10 November, 202k online visitors/mo; El Paso, TX) It is expected to ensure veterans in need of medical care here are seen quickly by the best available provider in the region. Here's how it will work: The VA will prioritize service or combat- connected conditions like post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries within the VA, allowing them to concentrate on those conditions.
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1.33 - WCHS-TV (ABC-8, Video): VA Medical Center In Huntington Hosting Early Veterans Day Activities (10 November, Jeffery A. Morris, 190k online visitors/mo; Charleston, WV) Although Veterans Day is officially observed Wednesday, the VA Medical Center in Huntington is celebrating early. All day Tuesday, the center is hosting several activities to honor veterans. The day kicked off with an early morning yoga session, followed by a musical tribute. Students across the Tri-State also have written cards and letters thanking those for their service.
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1.34 - Kaiser Health News: It’s On The Test: New Questions Require Doctors To Learn About Military Medicine (10 November, Julie Rovner, 187k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Veterans Day is when America stops to thank those who have sacrificed to keep the country safe and free. This year, gratitude for their service includes a significant step to help keep them healthier. Most former servicemen and women (and their families) get their health care at
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civilian facilities, where only rarely do health professionals ask patients if they or close relatives have a military background.
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1.35 - New Hampshire Public Radio (Audio): Recreation Therapy Program for Veterans Offers Relief from PTSD, TBI (10 November, Pete Biello, 182k online visitors/mo; Concord, NH) Thirty-five year old Navy veteran Zech Anderson shifts gears on a mountain bike and glides down a leaf-littered path. He’s riding through the woods near UNH with a fellow veteran, Lou Fladger. Anderson’s been down this trail before. "When I first started doing this biking stuff, I would be huffing and puffing by now," he says. This summer he biked once or twice a week, but since classes started, he’s had to cut back to once or twice a month.
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1.36 - WCAV-TV (CBS-19): Legislation to Improve Staffing, Care at Veterans Affairs Health Facilities (10 November, 159k online visitors/mo; Charlottesville, VA) A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Mark Warner, has introduced legislation to change staffing policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs and improve veteran care at VA health care facilities. According to a release, veterans face wait times of weeks or months for an appointment at VA health centers across the United States, causing roadblocks to timely and quality health care for veterans that stems partially from a shortfall of medical staff.
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1.37 - Federal Computer Week: VA's troubled IT is a campaign trail topic (10 November, Adam Mazmanian, 150k online visitors/mo; Vienna, VA) The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs have struggled for years to share health data with each other and with the private sector. The problem is an issue of perennial concern on Capitol Hill. Unlike many government IT issues, which are largely inward facing, problems in the systems that support veterans' care have a visible impact on the ability of the government to deliver services.
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1.38 - Kennebec Journal: Togus director announces more staff, expansions of veterans’ care, Togus Director Ryan Lilly said some of the new hires for mental health services come in response to a federal watchdog report that linked the hospital to 'nationwide systematic problems' of delayed appointments or other problems (10 November, Keith Edwards, 146k online visitors/mo; Augusta, ME) VA Maine Healthcare System has added 110 staff members over the last year, mostly at Togus, and plans to add space to its medical care facilities and replace its outdated long-term care facilities for veterans, officials announced Tuesday. Of those 110 new workers, 19 work in mental health services. They were hired partly to address what a federal watchdog’s report earlier this year called “nationwide systematic problems” that were also linked to Togus…
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1.39 - Task & Purpose: How VA Privatization Can Improve Veterans’ Health Care (10 November, Darisse Smith, 102k online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
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Privatizing the Veterans Health Administration would give vets the same options in health care as every insured American. The 2014 scandal involving the Phoenix Veterans Health Administration infuriated the nation, but produced at least one positive effect. As more details emerge about the systemic ways waiting times were manipulated for big executive bonuses, Americans agree that radical reform is needed throughout the VHA.
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1.40 - Santa Clarita Valley Signal: Jane M. McNamara: Are VA benefits available to the veteran in your life? (10 November, Jane M. McNamara, 89k online visitors/mo; Santa Clarita, CA) During this time of year we honor those who served our country. As an accredited attorney with the Veterans Administration, I want to make sure our veterans understand and obtain the benefits available to them. Many people are aware of veterans benefits that assist with the cost of education or training. Another well-known benefit involves monthly compensation benefits, which are available based on a service-connected injury, such as hearing loss or tinnitus.
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1.41 - Kearney Hub: Serving nation’s veterans, keeping our promises (9 November, Jason Rodgers, 81k online visitors/mo; Kearney, NE) Many Americans are aware of the health care services provided to military veterans through Veterans Administration, but there’s another aspect to VA that is not as familiar to many people — VA Regional Benefits Offices. During my time as the acting director of the Lincoln Regional Benefits Office, I have seen first-hand the hard work my employees do in serving our Nebraska veterans.
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1.42 - Augusta Free Press: Poll: Americans blame Congress, VA for poor care of veterans (10 November, 77k online visitors/mo; Waynesboro, VA) Republicans and Democrats rarely agree on anything these days, but as the nation prepares to celebrate its bravest, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that the vast majority of all Americans believe the United States is shortchanging its veterans. In a nationwide survey of adults, PublicMind finds that almost half (48%) believe the US is doing a poor job in caring for its veterans, with an additional third (32%) who believe their treatment can best be described as fair.
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1.43 - California Healthline: VA Secretary Says Wait Times Are Growing Despite Increase in Staff (10 November, 71k online visitors/mo; United States) The number of appointments that are not completed within 30 days at Department of Veterans Affairs health care centers continues to grow despite the department's efforts to increase clinic and hospital staffing and see more patients, AP/Modern Healthcare reports. The number of appointments that are not completed within 30 days has increased from 300,000 to 500,000. McDonald noted that veterans who have other sources of coverage…
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1.44 - Augusta Chronicle: Local veteran defends VA care at Veterans Day celebration (10 November, Wesley Brown, 45k online visitors/mo; Augusta, GA) A retired Army major who served in Afghanistan as a Special Forces medic defended the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, saying that the agency’s Augusta hospital saved his life and is committed to its more than 45,000 patients regionwide. “Roughly one in three VA employees are veterans. That’s huge,” said Maj. Peter Way during Augusta’s Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center’s Veterans’ Day ceremony. “As a veteran, it’s comforting to come to a place where I am surrounded by veterans who understand my struggles. It’s a unique experience.”
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1.45 - Healthcare DIVE: Despite more staff at VA, veterans still waiting for care (10 November, Nina Flanagan, 40k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) McDonald said the VA plans to hold a nation-wide event at all its hospitals on Nov. 14, so teams of clinical leaders, administrators, and volunteers can contact veterans with acute needs to ensure their healthcare needs are being addressed. A VA scandal broke last year, which cost the public $16 billion, with several senior employees, resulting in former VA Secretary, Eric Shinseki and Allison Hickey, former Under Secretary for Benefits, resigning.
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1.46 - KTSA-FM (FM-99.9): Update: Growing Concerns Over Wait Times at San Antonio V.A. (10 November, 27k online visitors/mo; San Antonio, TX) You can hear the concern and frustration growing as another Veteran’s Day approaches. Wait times have been on the rise at Veteran’s Affairs facilities in San Antonio, and a number of others around the country. “I asked that very question to the Director at Audie Murphy about wait times” said the American Legion’s National Commander Dale Barnett. He told KTSA News his group understands there is a fine line between providing the services so many veterans need– and making sure the V.A. is being good stewards of American tax dollars.
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1.47 - Rapid City Journal: Update on the Hot Springs VA issue, meeting dates set (10 November, John D. Taylor, 23k online visitors/mo; Rapid City, SD) Several developments have occured in the effort to prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Black Hills Health Care System, from moving forward with what many perceive are its plans to move the current domiciliary from Hot Springs to Rapid City and eventually close the Hot Springs VA facility.
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2. Ending Veterans’ Homelessness
2.1 - NJ.com: Trenton on track to end veterans homelessness by year end (10 November, Cristina Rojas, 6.7M online visitors/mo; Iselin, NJ) Clinton Geddis' descent into homelessness began when he returned home from war and was unable to cope with the day-to-day stress. "When it's all over, when you lay down your weapons and you're not under orders anymore, what becomes of you?" said Geddis, 65, a Marine who served two tours in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. "You still have to live, you still have to maintain ... so I had to learn how to do that. We're not taught how to do that."
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2.2 - The Birmingham News: We must do more to help our homeless veterans (10 November, J. Pepper Bryars, 4.5M online visitors/mo; Birmingham, AL) There is a simple seven-word line in the Soldier's Creed that always strikes a chord in my heart whenever I hear it uttered: "I will never leave a fallen comrade." It's both a task and a promise, and it's something that soldiers, and all members of our armed forces, take very seriously. Many men and women have risked their lives, and some have died, living up to those words.
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2.3 - WISH-TV (CW-8, Video): Program gives homeless veterans a place of their own (10 November, Evan Johnson, 1.3M online visitors/mo; Indianapolis, IN) Matt Igleski enjoys spending time at home watching television and reading when he’s not volunteering in the community. His studio apartment is only 324 square feet, but it means a lot to the Navy veteran who was once homeless. “It feels more like a home than any place I’ve been since ’03,” he said. Igleski joined the U.S. Navy in 1985, just before his 18th birthday.
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2.4 - WDBJ-TV (CBS-7, Video): Roanoke's efforts growing to help homeless veterans, Zero 2016 aims to end chronic homelessness by the end of the year (10 November, Kimberly McBroom, 750k online visitors/mo; Roanoke, VA) Homelessness is a problem for our nation's veterans, including those in our area. But there are local efforts to provide housing for our vets, including Roanoke Continuum of Care's role in Zero 2016. That's a rigorous national change effort designed to help a committed group of communities end chronic and veteran homelessness by December, 2015. There is a lot happening locally to support that effort.
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2.5 - The Spokesman-Review: VA rule could leave some homeless veterans out in the cold (10 November, Patty Murray, 574k online visitors/mo; Spokane, WA) Some homeless veterans could soon be turned away from a program that provides them with temporary shelter. The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to decide this month whether to start denying temporary housing to veterans who received a less than honorable discharge or served fewer than two continuous years in the military.
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2.6 - The News Journal: Getting homeless vets off the street (10 November, Jenna Pizzi, 491k online visitors/mo; New Castle, DE) Tyrone Furrowh calls out in a deep, friendly voice into the darkness. “Good morning,” he says, making a quick pass with his flashlight, exposing people sleeping in makeshift tents or on mattresses beneath railroad bridges, overpasses and in parks. For three days this week, Furrowh and other volunteers are scouring anywhere homeless people are known to gather, searching specifically for homeless veterans who are not connected to services that can help them.
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2.7 - WAJR-AM (AM-1440): Clarksburg Mission to Open Five New Beds for Homeless Vets (10 November, Aaron Payne, 89k online visitors/mo; Morgantown, WV) The Clarksburg Mission will host an open house Wednesday to showcase their new additions in the fight against veteran homelessness. Clarksburg Mission Director Chris Mullet said some office spaces, including his own, were converted into additional bedroom space–allowing for five additional beds for homeless veterans. “The goal is that in six months, somebody will be in recovery–if that’s what they need–working, or independently housed,” he said.
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2.8 - The Jefferson Post: Don’t forget our distressed veterans (10 November, Ken Lynn, 58k online visitors/mo; West Jefferson, NC) Tomorrow is Veterans Day, a day set aside each year to honor all individuals who’ve honorably served in the U.S. Armed Forces; either in wartime or peacetime. For many of America’s 23 million living veterans it’s a special day where folks in the community honor their service with parades, business discounts and other forms of recognition. North Carolina is home to nearly 800,000 veterans with about 2,500 of them living in Ashe County.
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3. Ending the Claims Backlog – No coverage
4. Veteran Opportunities for Education/GI Bill
4.1 - The New York Times (Reuters): White House Announces In-State Tuition for U.S. Veterans, Families (11 November, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) All recent U.S. military veterans and their families will now be offered in-state tuition rates to public colleges and universities throughout the country, the White House said on Wednesday. Announced in honor of the U.S. federal holiday Veterans Day, which fell on Wednesday, the change is part of President Barack Obama's "steadfast commitment" to military families and aims to make sure veterans can both access and get the most out of higher education, administration officials said.
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4.2 - The Washington Post (Grade Point): White House urges Congress to protect U.S. troops from aggressive for-profit colleges (11 November, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Greg Jaffe, 20.3M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) The White House is urging Congress on Veterans Day to pass a series of bills that would protect U.S. troops from colleges taking advantage of their military benefits without delivering a quality education. Men and women who serve in the military receive $57 billion in federal education funding that has become a stable source of revenue for many schools.
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5. Women Veterans
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 12 11 November 2015
5.1 - The Washington Post (Post Politics): Clinton promises better health care, other services, for female veterans (10 November, Anne Gearan, 20.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Contraception and other reproductive health-care would be guaranteed to female military veterans under changes to the troubled federal veteran health and services programs that were proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday. The Democratic front-runner would go beyond reform efforts instituted by President Obama to address the backlog in veterans’ health care that threatened lives and embarrassed the White House.
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5.2 - Inc.: Why Women Veterans Are the Fastest-Growing Group of Entrepreneurs, The number of companies owned by female veterans has nearly quadrupled in the past five years (10 November, Kimberly Weisul, 3.7M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) We already know that women business owners are driving the growth in small business, and that within that group, it's women of color who are making the most progress. But if slice the data slightly differently, and you'll find an unexpected trend: The group of business owners that really putting stakes in the ground are women veterans. That's right -- women who have served in the armed forces, and now are returning to civilian life to build businesses and jobs.
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5.3 - The Baltimore Sun: For women who served, getting them to see themselves as veterans is a battle (10 November, Ian Duncan, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Baltimore, MD) Tiffany Rogers watched the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold from the gym at Fort Lewis, Wash. The installation was quickly locked down, tanks began rumbling through the streets and Rogers' career in the Army changed dramatically. She deployed to Germany as a medic, helping treat troops wounded in Afghanistan and then Iraq. "At first it was exciting," she said. "It seemed to be what I wanted."
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5.4 - Midland Daily News: Celebration of Sisterhood: Saginaw VA reaching out to female vets (10 November, Jessica Haynes, 74k online visitors/mo; Midland, MI) A day to honor veterans is Wednesday, but one group experienced a special day of celebration a bit early at the Aleda E. Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw on Saturday. About 30 female veterans from across the Great Lakes Bay Region gathered together in the facility’s auditorium during Celebration of Sisterhood for two sessions of relaxation, meditation and education hosted by VA staff and volunteers.
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5.5 - Kokomo Tribune: Military Appreciation Days says 'thank You,' women veterans (10 November, Carson Gerber, 58k online visitors/mo; Kokomo, IN) When Anna Schulte joined the Air Force in 1980 to work in aircraft maintenance, she was stepping into a man’s world. At the time, she was one of just a handful of women across the entire military serving in a unit that fixed and maintained airplanes. Shulte said it wasn’t easy being the only female, but she stuck with it.
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Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 13 11 November 2015
6. Other
6.1 - The New York Times (First Draft): Hillary Clinton to Release Plan to Address Veterans Affairs Scandal (10 November, Amy Chozick, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) On Monday, just after she officially registered as a Democratic candidate in New Hampshire, Hillary Rodham Clinton declared, “This election is about our veterans.” It’s a line she will most likely repeat on Tuesday when she rolls out her proposals to help veterans and to improve the treatment they receive at the Department of Veterans Affairs while also criticizing Republicans for their proposals to privatize the department.
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6.2 - The Wall Street Journal: Hillary Clinton Vows to Fight VA Privatization (10 November, Laura Meckler and Ben Kesling, 39.2 online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton offered her vision for veterans’ health care Tuesday, promising to fight full-fledged privatization while allowing the government to contract with private providers for a range of health services. In her proposal, Mrs. Clinton struck a balance between support for traditional government-run veterans health programs while acknowledging that many veterans want to access care from private providers as well, given the system’s failings.
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6.3 - ABC News (AP): The Latest: GOP Presidential Candidates Meet for 4th Debate (10 November, 22.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says someone needs to go to prison over scandals at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He cited problems at the VA when asked during Tuesday's undercard Republican presidential debate how to restore a sense of pride in the military. He says all veterans should get the health care they want, no matter what hospital they want to go to.
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6.4 - The Washington Post: Hillary Clinton: U.S. is ‘failing to keep faith with our veterans’ (10 November, Anne Gearan, 20.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the United States has failed its military veterans with broken promises and uneven services but that Republican proposals to privatize veterans’ services would be a sellout. Releasing a wide- ranging set of proposals to improve veterans’ services, on the eve of Veterans Day, Clinton praised the Obama administration’s efforts to address serious shortfalls and long delays in health-care services but said they do not go far enough.
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6.5 - U.S. News & World Report (AP): Senate passes $80B measure boosting spending for veterans, military base construction (10 November, Andrew Taylor, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) The Senate passed its first spending bill of the year on Tuesday, a popular $80 billion measure for veterans' programs and construction projects on military bases long delayed by infighting
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 14 11 November 2015
over the broader budget. The 93-0 vote sends the measure into House-Senate negotiations, where it is likely to serve as a vehicle for a $1.1 trillion catchall measure that would include 11 other spending bills comprising the approximately one-third of the budget that passes each year at lawmakers' discretion.
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6.6 - USA Today: Obama using Veterans Day to prod Congress (11 November, Leo Shane III, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA) President Obama will use his Veterans Day platform to push Congress for a broad slate of new legislation and reforms, including plans to squeeze for-profit colleges' ability to accept GI Bill benefits. The commander in chief is also touting progress and reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs at a time when public confidence in the agency is still shaky, and lawmakers’ criticism of operations continues to rise.
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6.7 - USA Today: Hunger-striking veteran deserves attention (11 November, Deborah Sainz, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA) For the last few days there has been a young man on the steps of the Capitol. He is on a hunger strike about how the Department of Veterans Affairs has treated him and thousands of other veterans. This Army Ranger’s name is Adam Brewer and he comes from a very strong military family (his great-uncle was one of the Merrill’s Marauders) and with great pride…
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6.8 - CBS News: Republican debate transcript: Undercard debate on economy (10 November, 4.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) This evening Fox Business is partnering with the Wall Street Journal to bring you the fourth republican presidential debate of the 2016 campaign. For the next hour, four of the candidates will be here answering the question voters want answered.
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6.9 - CBS News: Hillary Clinton to roll out plans for veterans and families (10 November, 4.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) Hillary Clinton will roll out her plan for veterans' health care, benefits and services Tuesday at an event hosted by the Truman National Security Project, according to a Clinton campaign aide. On Veterans Day, Wednesday, Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark will campaign at several Iowa stops in support of Clinton's proposal. He'll meet with veterans and supporters in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Marshalltown and Des Moines.
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6.10 - Washington Examiner: Fiorina slams Clinton on VA comments (10 November, Sarah Westwood, 2.8M online visitors/mo;Washington, DC) Carly Fiorina slammed Hillary Clinton for her comments about the Department of Veterans Affairs Tuesday during the fourth GOP debate. "Imagine a Clinton presidency. Our military will continue to deteriorate, our veterans will not be cared for, and no, Mrs. Clinton, that situation is not exaggerated," Fiorina said in her closing statement.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 15 11 November 2015
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6.11 - Government Executive: Clinton: Hold VA Employees Accountable, But Respect Due Process (10 November, Kellie Lunney, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) On the eve of Veterans Day, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pledged to hold employees at the Veterans Affairs Department accountable for their performance and conduct without sacrificing due process, if she becomes commander-in-chief. Clinton on Tuesday rolled out her plan to reform the VA and expand services and benefits to military families, in conjunction with an appearance at a veterans’ forum in New Hampshire sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
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6.12 - The Washington Times: Obama promises fall flat as VA continues to fail veterans (10 November, Dave Boyer, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) On Veterans Day President Obama will lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and talk about his administration’s progress in caring for vets, but critics of the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs point to fresh scandals and persistent mismanagement as proof that little has changed. White House officials said Tuesday that Mr. Obama will highlight progress in five areas for veterans, including cutting the backlog of benefits claims…
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6.13 - The Hill: Senate passes VA spending bill — just in time for Veterans day (10 November, Jordain Carney, 2M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) The Senate on Tuesday passed a fiscal year 2016 funding bill for veterans' benefits and military construction, making it the first spending bill to clear the upper chamber this year. Senators voted 93-0 on the legislation after lawmakers reached an agreement to wrap up work on the proposal before Veterans Day. “Today the Senate put our veterans first,” said Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who is up for reelection in 2016 and took a leading role on the legislation.
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6.14 - International Business Times: US Military Veterans Feel Federal Government Has Not Treated Them Well: Report (10 November, Sarah Berger, 1.5M online visitors/mo; New York, NY) While the majority of veterans said they valued their service and would do it again, most do not feel as if they received adequate support in reintegrating into civilian life, a new survey released Tuesday by Disabled American Veterans revealed. Roughly two-thirds of veterans of recent wars said their qualifications do not translate well to the civilian job market…
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6.15 - MinnPost: Can the VA fire its way out of its problems? (10 November, Sam Brodey, 665k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN) “Zero-sum situation.” “Culture of bureaucracy.” “Doesn’t make sense in the 21st century.” These were some of the harsh words that some members of Congress, including First District Rep. Tim Walz, have spoken recently over an agency many are well past fed up dealing with: the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. If you believe the headlines, Congress’ goal of improving the VA will be a monumental task:
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 16 11 November 2015
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6.16 - Military Times: Vets advocates script plan for new president's first 100 days (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) Veterans advocates have already scripted the first 100 days of the next president's agenda, whoever he or she might be. In a new policy paper from the Center for a New American Security, analysts say swift engagement on veterans issues will be critical for the next administration as a signal not only to those who have already served, but also to those in uniform today and future potential recruits.
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6.17 - Military Times: Senate approves VA funding for fiscal 2016 (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) Senate lawmakers advanced plans for a $166 billion Veterans Affairs Department budget for fiscal 2016, a potential next step not only for veterans program funding but also a broader budget deal for all federal spending. The military construction and VA spending measure is the first fiscal 2016 appropriations bill to make it through both chambers of Congress, although revisions from the $163 billion House plan mean it will have to go through further negotiations…
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6.18 - WFED-AM (AM-1500): Clarification, cutting ‘red tape’ at heart of proposed changes to VA contracting program (10 November, Meredith Somers, 461k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC) The Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress are working to make it easier for veterans to take advantage of a special veterans-focused contracting program while also protecting it from abuse. The VA released proposed amendments to its Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Guidelines, while Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, recently introduced a bill he called a “three-pronged approach” to reform how the government awards its contracts and ensure the program “operates effectively for our veterans.”
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6.19 - Montgomery Advertiser: Rep. Martha Roby's VA takeover bill to get a hearing (10 November, Mary Omdorff Troyan, 275k online visitors/mo; Montgomery, AL) Legislation to give the Veterans Affairs Department new power to take control of struggling VA medical centers will be debated by a congressional subcommittee next week. The bill, introduced by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, would require VA officials in Washington to send a team of turnaround specialists to local VA hospitals with persistent problems involving patient care, customer satisfaction and employee morale.
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6.20 - The Daily Times: Honoring our veterans requires action, COMMENTARY: Our veterans fought abroad; we must ensure they don’t have to fight another battle at home (10 November, Rep. Andy Harris, 264k online visitors/mo; Salisbury, MD) As we celebrate Veterans Day, it is crucial for us to take another hard look at how our Department of Veterans Affairs is working for our men and women in uniform. As a veteran myself, I believe it is absolutely essential we take care of the service men and women who
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fought to protect our country’s freedom so many take for granted. Our veterans fought their fight abroad…
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6.21 - Federal Times: Veterans Affairs names new permanent CISO (10 November, Aaron Boyd, 229k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA) The Veterans Affairs Department has a new full-time chief information security officer, Brian Burns, a longtime VA employee and health IT security expert. Burns will take over for acting CISO Dan Galik, who was serving in the interim after the departure of Stan Lowe this summer. "I am very pleased to announce that Mr. Brian Burns has accepted the job as the new chief information security officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs," VA CIO LaVerne Council wrote…
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6.22 - Albuquerque Journal: Ceremonies, parades will honor veterans (10 November, Charles D. Brunt, 165k online visitors/mo; Albuquerque, NM) A parade of restored military vehicles, ceremonies at the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial and the long-awaited dedication of a pair of statues honoring veterans at the National Hispanic Cultural Center are among activities scheduled for Veterans Day. Veterans Day was formerly known as Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. The legal federal holiday, previously held on the fourth Monday in October, reverted to Nov. 11 in 1978.
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6.23 - Eden Prairie News: Commentary: Commitment to veterans goes beyond Veterans Day (10 November, Rep. Erik Paulsen, 12k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN) For nearly a century, Nov. 11 has served as a day to remember the service, bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. While originally called Armistice Day to honor veterans of WWI, in 1954 the day was changed to recognize all veterans that have served our country in the military. There is no group of people that have defined the trajectory of the United States quite like our veterans. Those who have pledged to serve our country, leave their family for long periods of time, and put their life in harm’s way deserve our utmost respect and gratitude.
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Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 18 11 November 2015
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1. Access to Benefits/Care
1.1 - The New York Times: White House Seeks to Ease Veterans’ Access to Care (11 November, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
The Obama administration on Wednesday will call on Congress to enact measures to help military veterans gain easier access to health care, disability and educational benefits, part of a push to spotlight its efforts to improve the way the government treats veterans after a scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
President Obama will urge Congress to improve a program that allows veterans to receive private medical care, speed the appeal process for disability claims and pass legislation aiming to improve the quality of schools that serve veterans. Timed to coincide with Veterans Day, Mr. Obama’s proposals also come as the administration is promoting the first fruits of its efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans, with Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia set to announce that his state has become the first to end veteran homelessness.
The cities of Las Vegas; Syracuse; and Schenectady, N.Y., will also announce that they have ended veteran homelessness, the White House said.
The administration laid out a plan in 2010 to end chronic homelessness among veterans by the end of this year, saying that goal would be reached when there were no veterans sleeping on streets and no more than 12,500 veterans in shelters or transitional housing. In August, Connecticut became the first state to be designated by the administration as having achieved the milestone.
The Obama administration is also set to unveil a new tool to allow veterans to compare college and university options, modeled after a college scorecard website it started in September to provide information to prospective students and their parents about annual costs, graduation rates and salaries after graduation.
It will also announce that all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will provide “recently transitioning veterans” and their dependents with in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, in line with a provision in the $16 billion overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs passed by Congress last year after the scandal.
The moves reflect the degree to which Mr. Obama is still fine-tuning that law, including provisions that allow veterans to use private doctors at the government’s expense if they cannot get an appointment with a Department of Veterans Affairs physician within 30 days. The White House said that 7 percent more veterans have been able to use that option over the past year, but that the program needs improvements. The agency sent Congress a plan to do so earlier this month.
Mr. Obama will also call for speeding what the White House called a broken appeals process for disability claims. Last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs administrator responsible for reducing the huge backlog of veterans benefits resigned after questions were raised about the agency’s assertions that it had drastically reduced the number of pending claims.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 19 11 November 2015
The steps come as the administration works to recover from the scandal of backlogs and wait times that last year caused the resignation of Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and the early retirement of the agency’s under secretary for health, Dr. Robert A. Petzel.
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1.2 - The New York Times (FirstDraft): Hillary Clinton Pledges to Make Better Treatment of Veterans a Priority (10 November, Amy Chozick, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday called the Department of Veterans Affairs an “archaic system” that was “built for the past, not the future,” as she unveiled a multipronged set of proposals to expand care and medical services to the country’s 21.8 million veterans.
“America’s promise to our veterans is a sacred responsibility,” she said at a round-table discussion with veterans in Derry, N.H. “They need to be fixed; they need to be fixed now.”
The plan proposes broadening health care for women, and devoting more money for mental health care providers and training. In light of past controversies over sexual abuse in the military, Mrs. Clinton also proposed ensuring that military sexual trauma be recognized as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The plan would go beyond improving medical treatment to expanding child care options at V.A. facilities, bolstering protections for whistle-blowers, providing additional job training for veterans, closing loopholes that allow for-profit schools to target members of the military and strengthening nondiscrimination laws to protect military families.
Mrs. Clinton’s proposals come as she has faced criticism from Republicans for saying last month that the problems plaguing the veterans department are not as “widespread” as her political opponents make them out to be.
“From all my work on behalf of veterans, there’s a lot about the V.A. that’s right, a lot that works,” Mrs. Clinton told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “Let’s focus on what’s wrong and fix it.”
She has repeatedly accused Republicans of wanting to “privatize” veterans’ medical care. “Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple,” Mrs. Clinton said on Tuesday. “I am not going to let it happen.”
But her proposals included allowing veterans to strategically purchase private-sector health care — a plan similar to one presented by Senator John McCain, Republican operatives pointed out.
“Hillary Clinton Proposes Exact Same V.A. Plan She’s Been Demonizing,” read an email from America Rising, a conservative “super PAC.”
The wide-ranging discussion at the New Hampshire event, which came the day before Veterans Day, drew questions about her 2002 vote in the Senate to authorize the use of force in Iraq. (“It was a mistake for me to give that vote to President Bush, for a lot of reasons that are now obvious to us,” she said.) And Mrs. Clinton was also pressed on whether she would support sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State.
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“We are not going to put our troops on the ground, but we will support others who are willing to fight for themselves,” she said.
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1.3 - CNN (Video): Hillary Clinton rolls out plan to reform VA (10 November, Dan Merica, 61.3M online visitors/mo; Atlanta, GA)
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday rolled out her plan to address issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs, pledging in New Hampshire to "modernize" the struggling agency and "overhaul" its governance.
Speaking at a roundtable, Clinton said the current iteration of the VA is "failing to keep faith with our veterans" and promised, as president, that she would institute and top to bottom review of the maligned agency.
"These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable," Clinton said. "They need to be fixed, they need to be fixed now."
Clinton's proposals take on an agency that an internal inspector general report found in 2014 was gripped by "systemic" issues with scheduling that caused some veterans to die while waiting for treatment. The scandal led to the resignation of then-VA secretary Eric Shinseki.
A more recent CNN investigation found the problem is actually getting worse -- veterans continue to wait months for care at some VA facilities, and a September federally funded report concluded the agency remains "plagued" by problems including growing bureaucracy, staffing challenges and unsustainable costs.
"Everyone at the VA has to meet the highest standards and never forget their mission," Clinton said, adding that the problems that have crippled the agency "need to be fixed, they need to be fixed now."
Clinton's plan, which her campaign outlined in detail in a fact sheet on Tuesday, would allow some private sector care, but not full privatization like some Republicans have called for, and would allow VA supervisors "to suspend or remove underperforming employees."
"As we work to improve the VA, I will fight as long and hard as it takes, to prevent Republicans from privatizing it as part of a misguided, ideological" push," Clinton said. "Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I am not going to let it happen."
Clinton hit Republicans on privatization, arguing they will "seize on anything they can to help advance this goal of theirs."
Clinton rolled out her proposal at a veterans roundtable with the Truman National Security Project, a left leaning organization focused on national security and veterans issues, at a VFW hall in Derry, New Hampshire.
After a prepared speech, Clinton was peppered with questions on the Irar War, ISIS and how she would actually deal with the backlog of requests at the VA.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 21 11 November 2015
"I have said it was a mistake to go into Iraq and it was a mistake for me to give that vote to President Bush for a lot of reasons that are now obvious to us," Clinton said in response to a question about the Iraq War, which she voted to authorize in 2002. "A lot of mistakes were made."
In front of the veterans, Clinton ruled out boots on the ground against ISIS -- the terrorist group "will have to be dealt with first and foremost by the people in the area themselves, she said -- and said she would not declare war on radical Islam as president.
"I, at this point, would not," she said. "I am not ready to say we will need a declaration of war to do" combat them.
After telling MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last month that issues within the VA have "not been as widespread as it has been made out to be" -- a comment that was blasted by Republicans and Democrats -- Clinton has regularly used the word "systemic" to describe the issues within the VA.
Clinton's VA plan addresses the waitlist issues by proposing combining Department of Defense and VA medical evaluations, allowing some "rules-based automatic adjudication" for simple applications and providing veterans with an appeals process to challenge the VA when they think their health claims are unfairly denied.
Clinton also pledged to end the backlog of disability benefits and appeals by allowing more overtime work within the agency.
"Lets just tackle it like we would tackle and serious challenge facing our country," she said.
As president, according to the fact sheet, Clinton would push for more coordination between the Veterans Health Administration and other insurance providers and allow some private sector care "when it makes sense to do so" or "when the VA cannot provide timely access to necessary care."
Clinton will pledged on Tuesday to be more vigilant in monitoring the VA. Clinton's plan included establishing a new oversight governance board and will promise to "personally convene the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense regularly in the Oval Office."
And on veteran suicides, something she speaks about regularly on the trail, Clinton proposed increasing funding for mental health providers and training within the VA and expanding programs for "veterans that have participated in classified or sensitive missions without compromising non-disclosure requirements."
Clinton's proposal also moves to address veteran homelessness by increasing funding for the problem and making the post-9/11 GI bill, which provided increased benefits to new veterans, permanent for both veterans and their families.
Clinton currently has no plans to campaign Wednesday on Veterans Day, but Gen. Wesley Clark, retired four-star general and former NATO supreme allied commander Europe, will headline four events for Clinton throughout Iowa.
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Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton's top rival for the Democratic nomination, served on the Senate Veterans Committee and helped pass a bill with Sen. John McCain to reform that VA.
And former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced his veterans plan Monday, promising to increase "transparency, accountability And outcomes" by increasing scrutiny on the administration.
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1.4 - The Huffington Post (The Blog): Honoring Veterans This Open Enrollment (10 November, Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Robert A. McDonald, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Christopher Flurry served his country as a Marine for over 13 years, and when he left the Corps in 2014, he had a number of things to do to transition into civilian life.
One of those was finding health insurance. Chris had three options: He could enroll in VA's national health care, join his wife's insurance plan, or he could shop around, something that was difficult to do before the Affordable Care Act. Before the law passed, insurance companies could deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions, or set restrictive annual limits on their coverage. Even if they didn't, it was nearly impossible to find a clear and understandable menu of health plans. People shopping for coverage had to call each insurance company individually to get quotes on a plan.
Chris chose to explore his options for private coverage outside of the VA. Fortunately, when he began his search, he had the Health Insurance Marketplace. He logged onto HealthCare.gov and quickly found a plan that offered the same coverage as his wife's plan, but at a monthly premium that was $150 less. The Marketplace was there for Chris and his wife when they needed it.
Every Veterans Day, we recommit ourselves to serving the men and women who have served our country. We work to fulfill the spirit of the words that President Lincoln delivered a century and a half ago, when he called on our nation to care for those "who shall have borne the battle" and their families. For many veterans and their families, like Chris, that means ensuring access to quality, affordable health coverage.
If you're a veteran, you may be eligible for additional Federal health options. Veterans who retire from the military are covered through TRICARE and all eligible veterans can choose to enroll in the VA health care program; they don't need to purchase additional coverage. If you're unsure if you or a loved one is eligible for health care through the VA, visit www.va.gov/healthbenefits or call 1-877-222-VETS(8387).
If you're a veteran who does not have coverage through a veterans' health program, you should visit HealthCare.gov. Or perhaps you know someone, like a family member or even a fellow veteran, who isn't enrolled in VA's health care plan and doesn't have other qualifying veterans' health coverage. In that case, you should let them know that the Marketplace is open for business.
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Open Enrollment for the Marketplace started on November 1 and goes until January 31. People looking for coverage to start on January 1 need to sign up by December 15. Chris found out how easily he could search through a clear list of private, affordable health plans, and this year we're continuing to put the customer at the center.
First of all, financial help is available to make health coverage more affordable. In fact, more than 7 in 10 returning Marketplace customers will be able to buy a plan for $75 or less a month in premiums after tax credits.
Second, signing up is even easier than before. Once people have applied for coverage on HealthCare.gov, they can immediately see the type of coverage they qualify for and how much financial help they can get. A new Out-of-Pocket Cost estimator will help customers estimate the cost of their insurance based on their personal situation. We've also made it simpler to reenroll. Returning customers can view and compare their current plan to others without entering a 14- digit plan identification number.
Finally, no one has to shop alone. There are people available to help, whether in person or over the phone. So if you have any questions, you have a place to turn to get assistance. Our consumer call-line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-318-2596. And people can sign up right in their communities. In-person help can be found online at LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.
Chris soon answered the call to serve again and he joined the Reserves. In the Reserves, he and his wife have quality health coverage through TRICARE and he maintains his enrollment in VA healthcare. But he is relieved that the Marketplace connected him and his family with affordable, quality coverage when they needed it most. For many veterans, their families and their communities, the health coverage available through the Marketplace is one way that our nation keeps our promise to them.
This Veterans Day, we honor those Americans who have served in uniform by making this nation stronger and healthier.
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1.5 - The Huffington Post (HuffPost Politics): The VA Can't Seem To Fix A Computer Glitch That's Denying Health Care To 29,000 Combat Vets (10 November, Jennifer Bendery, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
It's been seven months since top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs learned that tens of thousands of combat vets were being denied VA health care enrollment because of a computer system error. Not much has changed.
The Huffington Post first reported in August that more than 35,000 combat vets were missing out on health care because their applications had been mistakenly flagged as pending, simply because they didn't complete a so-called means test, which assesses their household income. Many vets have to submit a means test to enroll in VA health care, but not combat vets, who are automatically eligible for free insurance for five years after they're discharged.
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The problem is that the VA computer system isn't set up to exempt combat vets from the means test requirement. So when a combat vet applies for VA care, unless he or she voluntarily fills out a means test, the application may end up in a backlog. Combat vets lose their eligibility for free health care after five years, so the longer the delay, the more it eats into their free coverage.
VA management says they first learned about the computer glitch in April. But there are signs that some at the agency were aware of it as far back as 2012. In a "report of accomplishments" from the VA's Chief Business Office sent out in the third quarter of that year, officials boasted of enrolling 10,163 combat vets who had been mistakenly listed as pending (see page 6).
All of the combat vets in a pending status served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and nearly half have been listed as pending for more than five years. The number is now at 29,000, and it hasn't changed since September.
VA spokeswoman Walinda West disputed the idea that senior officials could be moving faster to fix the problem. She said the agency conducted an initial review in August and, after reaching out through phone calls and letters, it was able to enroll 8,578 of these vets.
"VA is continuing to research Combat Veterans with expired eligibility in order to ensure appropriate remedies," West said in a statement.
But the problem runs far deeper, according to Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta and a past whistleblower on VA mismanagement.
Davis said VA officials are intentionally slow-walking the process because enrolling all of the combat vets at once would force them to admit they made a huge mistake. More significantly, it could expose the agency as liable for compensating thousands of vets and their families for health care costs that should have been covered, had those vets been enrolled when they first applied.
"They're choosing to take the slowest route that's going to have the least amount of results," Davis said. "Any other time, they would have just enrolled them." The VA does seem to have the ability to quickly enroll large numbers of veterans in health coverage when there's been a mistake.
In 2013, the agency processed more than 11,000 health care applications that had been overlooked for months, according to a damning VA Office of Inspector General report released this summer. And in January, VA officials reviewed pending applications for 173,000 vets and found that nearly 18,000 of them should have been enrolled, according to an internal VA document obtained by The Huffington Post. All 18,000 were enrolled by April.
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is among those wondering what the problem is. In August, he asked VA Secretary Robert McDonald for details on all combat vets listed as pending, including their names, contact information and a list of those who may have died.
He never heard back. So he wrote to McDonald again last week.
"Please provide the Committee with VA's plan for resolving these issues," wrote Miller. "Please be advised that neither a briefing nor an 'in-camera' review will be acceptable for this request."
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 25 11 November 2015
The VA's current response strategy -- calling and sending letters to each pending combat vet, asking them to submit new information -- doesn't seem to be cutting it, particularly since the computer system is continuing to make the same errors. Case in point: During the same period this summer that VA officials enrolled the 8,578 combat vets, more than 2,000 additional combat vets were entered into the system as pending, according to Davis.
He also noted that of the 8,578 combat vets the VA did enroll over the summer, 3,000 of them weren't enrolled as part of the phone and letter outreach campaign. They were directly enrolled into the system by staff at VA hospitals.
"That's 3,000 reasons we should be able to enroll all 29,000 of the veterans now," he said.
Davis says the easiest thing to do would be to collect the Social Security numbers of combat vets listed as pending and direct the computer system to enroll all of them immediately. He said McDonald has the authority to issue that order, and arguably a responsibility to do so given that combat vets have been legally entitled to special health care eligibility status since January 2008.
The computer system also needs to be fixed, obviously. A VA official put in a so-called "change request" in July directing their tech team to create a computer script to "automatically complete a means test" for all pending combat vets, but that hasn't happened.
West says McDonald doesn't have the authority to automatically enroll vets in health care. She wouldn't clarify, though, whether he specifically has the authority to direct the tech team to fix the computer system error, thereby clearing the path for combat vets to be enrolled.
"We are taking steps to contact and/or enroll combat veterans in pending status as quickly as possible to ensure all appropriate action is taken and resolved to the satisfaction of those Veterans for whom we are honored to serve," West said. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this issue may have caused our Veterans. We are working to get this right."
McDonald gave out his phone number at a Politico event in August, in response to a question from The Huffington Post about pending combat vets, and encouraged a personal call.
"I like to deal with specifics and not generalities," McDonald said at the time. "Customer service is about one-on-one care. ... You have my phone number."
The Huffington Post called McDonald in August and again last week to discuss the backlog. He didn't respond either time.
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1.6 - The Huffington Post (HuffPost Politics, Video): Hillary Clinton Calls For Overhauling Veterans Health Care System, Her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination also are making pitches for better veterans care (10 November, Marina Fang, 30.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 26 11 November 2015
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will announce a series of proposals to help military veterans, including an overhaul of the backlogged VA health care system.
"Secretary Clinton believes that supporting our veterans is a sacred responsibility," Clinton's campaign said in a statement the day before the Veterans Day holiday. "As Commander-in- Chief, she will personally commit to fulfilling America’s promise to our veterans, our troops, and their families -- a commitment driven by her recognition not just of the extraordinary sacrifices they make, but also of how essential that promise is to our long-term national security and our vitality and prosperity at home."
In addition to VA reform, Clinton's proposal calls for more funding and programs for addressing mental health issues and homelessness among veterans, and expanding tax credits that encourage employers to hire veterans.
For LGBT veterans, Clinton supports the military "proactively reviewing and upgrading discharge records for veterans who were discharged because of their sexual orientation," under Don't Ask Don't Tell. That policy, implemented by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, prohibited openly gay individuals from serving in the military.
Consistent with her campaign's emphasis on issues involving women and families, Clinton pledges she will adopt flexible family leave policies, ensure better access to child care for military service members and improve reproductive care for female veterans. She also demands zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military.
On Monday, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), unveiled a similar platform that includes more transparency in the VA system and full employment for veterans by 2020. He also called for expunging the records of veterans who were discharged for being gay during the Don't Ask Don't Tell era.
Fellow Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has made veterans care a prominent part of his pitch to voters. So far, his platform is not quite as comprehensive as that of Clinton or O'Malley.
Sanders frequently cites his legislative track record on veterans issues, as a sponsor of veterans-related bills in Congress, and has received praise from veterans groups. While serving as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last year, he helped broker bipartisan legislation to reform the VA system, which continues to be dogged by procedural delays in delivering health care to veterans.
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1.7 - ABC News (AP): Clinton Outlining Proposals to Improve Services for Veterans (10 November, Ken Thomas, 22.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Hillary Rodham Clinton is rolling out a series of steps to improve health care and services for American veterans while pushing back against Republican calls to privatize the system.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 27 11 November 2015
The Democratic presidential candidate was discussing a package of proposals for veterans at a New Hampshire town hall meeting on Tuesday. The event comes as Republicans have questioned her commitment to those who served in the military.
Clinton said in an interview last month that the scandal involving chronic delays for veterans seeking medical care or to have claims processed wasn't "as widespread" as made out to be and that Republicans had politicized the agency.
Clinton has since said she was outraged by the systemic failures and would seek a "top-to- bottom" review to address deficiencies in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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1.8 - U.S. News & World Report (AP, Video): Clinton proposes improvements to veterans health care, services after her remarks criticized (10 November, Ken Thomas, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined steps to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, casting herself as a protector against proposals to privatize the sprawling health care system for those who have served in the military.
In a pre-Veterans Day event, the Democratic presidential candidate said she would seek to improve veterans' health care, modernize veterans' benefits system and address an unwieldy bureaucracy that was exposed in a scandal involving chronic delays for those seeking medical care or to have their claims processed.
"These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed," Clinton said at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. She added: "Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I am not going to let it happen."
Clinton's town hall meeting included questions about how she might tackle the threat posed by Islamic State militants if she becomes commander in chief. Clinton said in response to a question that she does not currently support a declaration of war against the Islamic State given the diffuse nature of the group and the potential costs. "If you have a declaration of war you better have a budget that backs it up," she said.
At another point, a man who once worked for Hewlett-Packard told Clinton that when he sees Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, a former HP chief executive, on television, he wants to reach in and "strangle her."
Clinton laughed along with the audience as the man said, "I know that doesn't sound very nice." Clinton told him, "I wouldn't mess with you."
Republicans National Committee spokeswoman Allison Moore said that the joke was in poor taste and that Clinton and Democrats had "lost all credibility claiming to be a party that stands up for women."
Clinton's plan for veterans would seek fundamental changes to veterans' health care to ensure access to high quality health care in a timely fashion and address the backlog in claims. She
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 28 11 November 2015
said within the first 30 days of taking office she would convene the defense secretary and VA secretary for regular meetings and there would be "zero tolerance" for abuses and delays within the system.
Clinton's campaign has pointed to plans circulated by the conservative Concerned Veterans for America that would restructure the Veterans Health Administration into a government chartered nonprofit corporation to help it compete with the private sector. Republicans say she has overstated efforts to privatize veterans' health care.
Responding to her proposals, GOP officials said Clinton was offering hypocrisy, noting that her plan would allow the government to contract with the private sector for certain services such as special inpatient or surgical procedures and access to mental health and substance abuse treatment when the VA couldn't provide timely access to care.
"For her to accuse me and my Republican colleagues of wanting to 'privatize' the VA is, of course, inaccurate and offensive," Arizona Sen. John McCain said in a statement. He pointed to a veterans' bill signed into law last year by President Barack Obama that included an expansion of private care options.
Clinton was forced to backtrack last month after she said in an interview with MSNBC that the veterans' health care scandal was not "as widespread" as suggested, and accused Republicans of politicizing the agency.
Republicans, led by McCain, responded that Clinton lacked an appreciation for the crisis facing veterans' health care" and urged her to apologize. Phoenix was the epicenter of the wait-time scandal that led to the resignation of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and a new law overhauling the agency and authorizing billions in new spending.
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1.9 - U.S. News & World Report: Did Veterans Anti-Suicide Bill Go Far Enough? Ahead of Veteran's Day, access to mental health care continues to be a hurdle (10 November, Kimberly Leonard, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Members of Congress unanimously rallied around the suicide prevention bill President Barack Obama signed in February, but now veterans advocates say the legislation didn't go far enough in guaranteeing access to mental health care providers.
Finding enough behavioral health care workers has been a struggle for the Department of Veteran's Affairs, but also for the rest of the country as health care coverage continues to expand under Obama's signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act. With millions more people covered by health insurance, there has been an increased demand for mental health care, and the country faces a severe shortage: Half of U.S. counties don't have mental health professionals, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Experts explored some of these gaps in a sparsely attended briefing Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 29 11 November 2015
"We’ve been a nation of war for such a long time," Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said at the briefing. "Members from [our military] come back and there’s such a disconnect … They see things and deal with things that completely change their lives."
Donnelly this year has introduced three bipartisan bills – which he calls the "care package" – to expand on recently passed legislation. The bills would track data on programs, require the Department of Defense and the VA to provide training on suicide risk recognition and how to intervene, and recruit physician assistants, among other provisions.
The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which Obama signed in law in February, is named after a Marine Corps veteran who killed himself in 2011 as he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after deployments to Iraq and in Afghanistan.
The bill requires independent reviews of the VA and the Department of Defense programs aimed at preventing suicide, creates peer support and community outreach pilot programs, and forms a program to repay loan debt for psychiatry students to incentivize them to work in the VA health system. It also creates a website to provide veterans with information about mental health services and allows the VA to collaborate with nonprofit mental health organizations on suicide prevention.
"Let's build on the success of Clay Hunt," Bill Rausch, political director at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said at the briefing. He said Americans don't talk about mental health and suicide. "The idea of getting a checkup for mental health is foreign in this country," he said.
People who work in the military are more likely to die by suicide than in combat, comprising 22.2 percent of all suicides in the U.S., according to data from the Department of Defense and the VA. Many also face unemployment, social isolation, homelessness or addiction as they struggle to cope with what they experienced as soldiers and the difficulty of adjusting to life back at home. Often, such problems are connected to PTSD, a mental disorder that can occur following a traumatic event like war or sexual assault. It can include painful flashbacks, nightmares, outbursts, thoughts of suicide and feelings of worry, guilt or sadness.
Yochi Dreazen, author of "The Invisible Front: Love and Loss in an Endless Era of War," said at the briefing that suicides don't stop after war stops, as PTSD can persist for decades. Service members also can become depressed if they suddenly stop taking prescription painkillers or sleep aids, which can bring about suicidal thoughts.
Members are reluctant to seek help because they are afraid they will be perceived as not wanting to serve anymore, Dreazen said.
Clay Hunt's passage followed other government actions to address the issue of suicide among military members. In 2011, the Obama administration reversed a longstanding policy to deny presidential condolence letters to families of soldiers who killed themselves. And last August, Obama announced a series of executive actions aimed at improving access to mental health services for service members, veterans and their families. The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act, also introduced by Donnelly and signed by Obama in December, requires a yearly mental health assessment for all service members.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention aims to reduce suicide by 20 percent by 2025, but a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows suicide rates are on the rise. More than 40,000 Americans kill themselves every year, making it the 10th leading cause
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 30 11 November 2015
of death in the U.S. and the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24. Dreazen said at the briefing that beginning in 2009, during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the military suicide rate began rising.
"We owe the military more than saying, 'Thank you for your service,'" he said.
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1.10 - The Boston Globe: Veteran, Fulbright scholar aims to improve VA health care (10 November, Thomas Farragher, 16.8M online visitors/mo; Boston, MA)
Mike Verlezza worshiped his grandfather, a blue-collar tough guy who, as a young man, had been a member of Merrill’s Marauders, a fabled World War II fighting unit that earned its place in military history for its deep-penetration missions behind Japanese lines.
“I wanted to do what my grandfather did,’’ Verlezza said. “I wanted to be a hero like him.’’
Verlezza, the only child of a corporate executive, lived in Franklin during his high school years. But his family had strong ties to the Bronx, where his Italian ancestors first settled, and to an aunt who worked for an investment firm at the World Trade Center.
When the airplanes hit on 9/11, a deep emotional chord was struck, and by the following May, he was at an enlistment center in Milwaukee, swearing an oath to his country.
The recruiters tried to steer Verlezza to the Air Force and a job as a nuclear weapons specialist. No thanks, he said. He joined an Army infantry unit, just like his grandfather.
“I said, ‘I’m going to do that,’ and that’s what I ended up doing,’’ he said. “War is long periods of boredom punctuated by extreme violence.’’
And so for eight years he served: Qatar, Kuwait, and 15 long months in Iraq, where he provided convoy security.
When I spoke to Verlezza this week at Bridgewater State University, his alma mater, he did not come to talk about the war. He wanted to talk about the war after the war.
Like too many veterans, he had night sweats and hypervigilance. At 4 one morning, he drove himself to a VA hospital. He was disturbed by what he saw. A single doctor on duty. A dirty bathroom. An intake nurse incessantly on a cellphone.
“This makes no sense to me,’’ he thought. And a seed was planted.
Just before his 2014 graduation from Bridgewater, Verlezza applied for a Fulbright scholarship, at first planning to examine the currency exchange rates between the United States and Canada. A single word from an adviser changed that: boring.
So, when he won the Fulbright, he focused on what he knew deep in his bones, VA care. Among his findings: More than its overburdened US counterpart, Canada’s veteran care system
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 31 11 November 2015
makes a greater effort to insure there are enough clinicians more widely available to provide mental health treatment.
“Canada’s safety net is broader,’’ he said. “They have programs in place before you take the uniform off to set you up for success.’’
Wednesday is Veterans Day, and Verlezza plans to spend it away from the television and far from any words of thanks for our men and women in uniform.
“I think our hearts are in the right place, and that we genuinely want good things for our veterans,’’ he told me. “But I also think that there’s an ostrich approach, where people have their heads in the sand. You look the other way when you walk by a homeless veteran on your way to a show in Boston.’’
Verlezza wants us to be there for those who lie awake desperate at 4 a.m. “It’s just a ridiculous way to live your life,’’ he said. He hopes his Fulbright work amplifies already loud alarm bells.
During a recent visit to Bridgewater State, he was extolling the virtues of the Fulbright scholarship and the work its research ambassadors perform. This is not just for students at Harvard and Yale and MIT, he said.
You can do this, he told the students. You should do this.
Mike Verlezza is 34 now. He and his wife live in Attleboro, where they are expecting their first child.
Someday, when his little girl is old enough, she doubtlessly will ask her dad about the war.
His response will be spare, marbled with survivor’s guilt, and stripped of all vainglory.
I served my country, he will tell her simply.
I hope he remembers to add that when he came back home — out of uniform and deep in the stacks of research libraries — he continued to serve it.
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1.11 - USA Today: Claire McCaskill: Cruel and unusual service (10 November, Sen. Claire McCaskil (D-MO), 14.2M online visitors/mo; McClean, VA)
In 1944, Rollins Edwards was a 22-year-old Army recruit serving at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. While World War II raged in theaters across the world, the Pentagon was using the chemical weapon mustard gas on its own soldiers in secret experiments, both abroad and at home. Without an explanation of what mustard gas was, Edwards was directed by his superiors to repeatedly expose his entire body to the toxic gas. The tests also divided service members by race, with Rollins recently telling National Public Radio, “They said we were being tested to see what effect these gases would have on black skins.”
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 32 11 November 2015
Edwards suffered severe burns and other debilitating, life-long injuries. He was offered no specific follow-up care in the aftermath of the experiments and was sworn to secrecy after threats from superior officers.
Edwards was not alone — 60,000 service members were subjected to these experiments. At least several thousand men received the same type of full-body exposure as Edwards.
The United States declassified the experiments in 1993, letting the public know for the first time what these soldiers endured. And Congress instructed the Department of Veterans Affairs to identify and locate the victims of the experiments and inform them that they were eligible for compensation.
Edwards filed for his benefits in 1993. He finally received the compensation due to him in December 1999. But many other service members who faced the horror of these experiments, have been confronted by bureaucratic inaction and incompetence instead.
The VA made only minimal attempts to contact these individuals and, more troublingly, often denied their claims of harm.
The horrible reality is that it’s too late for the vast majority of these service members — most of these men who served and fought bravely for our country are no longer alive.
But some are alive, and many have received nothing in the aftermath of the terrible and seemingly pointless sacrifice they were forced to endure more than 70 years ago.
My staff and I have met with officials from the VA and the Pentagon to try to understand why so few of these men have received any kind of care or compensation. Following those meetings, I asked for documents from the VA and a database of service records from the Pentagon so that I could better understand where our government had fallen short and how we could reach out to the men that still need our help.
Shockingly, both the VA and the Pentagon have been largely unresponsive. As I told Defense Secretary Ash Carter at a recent hearing, “I don’t understand why this is so hard. Why is everyone not opening up these records and doing everything we can to get the word to these people?”
I’ll keep bringing pressure to bear on both agencies to provide this critical information.
But in the meantime, we must act. Using every publicly available list of victims we could find, I’ve instructed my staff to reach out, one-by-one, to each service member to open casework files for them and advocate with the VA to get them the benefits they’ve earned through their sacrifice.
I’m also encouraging any service member who was a part of these experiments or their loved ones to go to a web page I’ve set up (mccaskill.senate.gov/mustard-gas-tests) and answer some basic questions so that we can advocate on their behalf.
More than 70 years ago, some of our bravest Americans were subjected to horrific experiments against their will, and their government has all but turned its back on them. It’s time we collectively commit to honoring their sacrifice before it’s too late.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 33 11 November 2015
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the daughter of a World War II veteran.
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1.12 - USA Today: Era of high unemployment for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans ends (10 November, Gregg Zoroya, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA)
An era of high unemployment for those who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars appears to be over, according to federal statistics showing jobless rates for those veterans are now on par with civilians.
The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was lower in October — at 4.6% — than the national average of 5%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That percentage was the lowest for the group since October 2007, when it was at 4.4% two months before the recession began.
There were 1.5 million veterans of the two wars in 2007. Today, there are 3.8 million.
"They've certainly come out of the kind of hangover of the post-recession period, and they now seem to be improving on par with the rest of the workers in the country," said James Borbely, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics who studies veteran data. "It's improvement in employment. It's not the case where they're dropping out of the labor force."
Monthly jobless rates for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans climbed as high as 15% in 2010 and 2011, according to the data. For those between the ages of 18 and 24, it was even higher. Federal jobs data show periods when as many as one in three veterans in the younger age group was without work. That rate was more than double compared to civilians of the same age.
Last month, the jobless rate for veterans in that age group was 10.4%, nearly identical to the 10.1% unemployment figure for civilians in the same bracket.
The struggle to find work became part of the national narrative for this generation of veterans, along with concerns about high suicide rates, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
The high jobless rate led to new legislation in 2011 requiring all troops to go through military-to- civilian transition programs. New government and private sector initiatives also aimed to hire more veterans.
“The DOD (Department of Defense) has gotten a lot smarter about preparing servicemembers for transition," said Terry Gerton, deputy assistant secretary for policy for veterans employment and training at the Labor Department. "Partnerships across the government have been more powerful and persistent (in helping veterans find work), and then you just have a tremendous commitment on the part of the civilian sector to come through with jobs for veterans, to hire and to train them and to really understand that veterans make great employees.”
The annual cost of unemployment compensation for the military branches has also declined sharply in recent years, from its peak of $944 million paid out to unemployed former
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 34 11 November 2015
servicemembers in 2011, according to the Labor Department. That figure dropped to $565 million last year, the lowest since 2008.
Gerton, a West Point graduate and former Army officer, said that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are now "better prepared to search for jobs, to write a resume, to participate in interviews ... and to really have a better idea of what they might be interested in doing after they leave the military."
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1.13 - TIME: Hillary Clinton Pledges to Overhaul the VA and Tackle Wait Times (10 November, Sam Frizell, 13.5M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Some veterans may expect more, however
Hillary Clinton will announce on Tuesday a detailed plan to address widespread barriers veterans face in getting healthcare and reintegrating into daily life once they return home.
The plan, which Clinton will discuss at a roundtable discussion in New Hampshire, comes after deep-seated waste and barriers to care were exposed at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a day ahead of Veterans Day.
Clinton’s proposal will seek to address long wait times and mismanagement at the VA, according to a preview provided by a Clinton campaign aide. The former secretary of state plans to focus on improving the management within the Department of Veterans Affairs and streamlining the VA’s notoriously sclerotic bureaucracy, which critics have said prevents veterans from getting fair treatment.
“Secretary Clinton believes that supporting our veterans is a sacred responsibility,” the plan said. “Yet too often, we as a nation failed to uphold our end of the bargain.”
As president, Clinton would encourage whistleblowing at the VA and more strictly hold employees accountable through reviews. Clinton would also focus more of the Veterans Health Administration care on injuries related to veterans’ service, like head trauma or prosthetics, for example.
She would establish an oversight board, encourage the VA to coordinate private sector care in cases of long wait times, hold a weekly meeting of top officials in the Oval Office and streamline the electronic health record system. Clinton would also increase funding for mental health providers and expand related treatment.
Clinton would also seek new legislation to update the GI Bill, solidify existing benefits and repurpose job approaches for work at coding academies, entrepreneurship programs and others. She would seek new ways to connect the VA with leading businesses and universities, and encourage more hiring of vets in the private sector. She would also enact a plan to stop for- profit colleges from targeting veterans, a proposal she announced earlier this year.
To end veteran homelessness, she would increase resources for public-private partnerships that help vets. Her plan also would modernize some of the norms at the VA, including
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 35 11 November 2015
recognizing the service of discharged LGBT veterans and improving women’s healthcare at the VA.
Clinton’s plan is not a radical one. Many veterans have called for additional measures like mortgage relief, expanding and increasing the GI Bill rather than just preserving it, establishing an earned income tax credit for veterans and a more fundamental overhaul of the VA.
“It is evolutionary, absolutely not revolutionary in any way shape or form. It’s not going on a limb or proposing anything particularly daring,” said a senior military officer with several combat deployments who is also a former White House staffer. Further-reaching ideas, the officer said, “would have been hard to sell from an economic standpoint, but they would have lent Clinton a lot of credence in the veterans community at large.”
Clinton has come under some criticism in recent weeks for saying in an Oct. 23 interview with MSNBC that some of the problems at the VA are overstated. “You know, I don’t understand why we have such a problem, because there have been a number of surveys of veterans, and overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” Clinton told Rachel Maddow.
Clinton went on later in the interview, however, to say that any wait times were “unacceptable” and that “there’s something not working within the bureaucracy.”
But Republicans quickly fired at her for her remarks. “When it comes to life-and-death problems facing our veterans, Hillary Clinton is simply out to lunch,” Michael Short, a Republican National Committee spokesman, said last month.
In her white paper on vets released Tuesday, Clinton’s campaign appeared to walk back her comments on MSNBC, saying she would address some of the issues at the VA head on.
“Long wait times for health care, crippling claims backlogs, and lack of coordination among agencies represent government at its worst,” according to the plan provided by the Clinton aide. “Secretary Clinton recognizes the gravity of these challenges, and as President will pursue a veteran-centric reform agenda that tackles problems head-on and revitalizes the VA.”
Clinton is not the first to unveil a plan for veterans services. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley over the weekend released a detailed plan that shares some details with Clinton’s including a tech overhaul at the VA and improved treatment for LGBT service members. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders played a major role in passing a bill that included $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and other health care professionals.
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1.14 - MSNBC (Rachel Maddow, Video): GOP on wrong side of veterans with VA privatization plan (10 November, 4M online visitors/mo;New York, NY)
Rachel Maddow reports on the partisan divide over how to improve health care for veterans, with Democrats like Hillary Clinton proposing changes to improve the V.A. and Republican candidates proposing to privatize the V.A. against the wishes of most veterans.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 36 11 November 2015
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1.15 - The Washington Times (Video): Clinton seeks to upgrade VA computer system to help fix wait-list issue (10 November, Anjali Shastry, 3.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Tuesday to modernize the troubled VA’s computer system to try to stop a repeat of the waitlist scandal, and even praised Republicans’ solution to allow veterans to seek private care if they get stuck waiting too long for government care.
In a town hall the day before the Veterans Day holiday, Mrs. Clinton said the Department of Veterans Affairs needs a massive technology upgrade so it can share information within its own boundaries, much less with the Department of Defense and private hospitals.
“More than 35,000 combat veterans have been waiting as long as seven months to get health care because of a computer glitch,” she said as the crowd groaned. “We need to lead the VA system to the 21st century when it comes to technology.”
She also said modernizing the VA means working to eliminate a disparity between health care services for men and women, citing a lack of OB-GYNs in many VA hospitals. Women amputees have also faced challenges because prosthetics are often designed for men and do not fit the women who need a prosthetic limb, she said.
The VA has been struggling to win back confidence after a number of its clinics were caught shunting veterans onto secret waitlists in order to boost production numbers and earn bonuses. Veterans stuck on the waitlists often didn’t get the care they needed.
At the Phoenix facility, which helped spawn the scandal, dozens of veterans died while on the secret lists waiting for care.
Congress last year passed legislation allowing veterans who live far from a VA hospital or who have been waiting for too long for an appointment to seek care at a private clinic, with the government reimbursing the cost. It is known as the Choice Card program.
President Obama signed the bill, but he and VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald have repeatedly tried to siphon money from the program.
Mrs. Clinton on Tuesday praised the Choice Card as a way to get veterans to a doctor quickly, but said it should not be used to privatize veterans’ health care altogether.
“I will fight as long and hard as it takes to prevent Republicans from privatizing it as part of a misguided ideological crusade,” she said.
She also said she would prioritize preventing veteran suicide and homelessness, revamping the post-9/11 GI Bill to allow veterans to get a higher education and supporting military families who pay a “psychological toll” when their loved one goes to war.
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Mrs. Clinton’s plan, as well as her characterizing the VA reform plan as privatization, has received some criticism.
Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, said that Mrs. Clinton was playing “partisan politics with the VA crisis one day before Veterans Day.”
“For her to accuse me and my Republican colleagues of wanting to ‘privatize’ the VA is, of course, inaccurate and offensive,” Mr. McCain said in a statement. “Secretary Clinton should know that the overwhelming majority of veterans not only don’t consider the Choice Card ‘privatization,’ they want this reform and in fact consider it necessary to expand their health care choice.”
Mrs. Clinton’s policy rollout comes as she is battling Republican opponents who have criticized comments she made about the level of abuse and fraud pervasiveness at the VA.
In an October MSNBC interview, Mrs. Clinton said the scandal involving manipulated wait times at the Phoenix VA hospital had been overblown by Republicans who were exploiting the situation for political gain.
“There have been a number of surveys of veterans and, overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” Mrs. Clinton said. “It’s not as widespread as it has been made out to be,” she said of VA employee fraud and abuse.
Republicans said she was downplaying the severity of the problems the department has faced.
Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said that anybody who would claim the VA’s problems aren’t widespread “simply isn’t paying attention.”
“The VA scandal was caused by dishonest bureaucrats who chose to whitewash the department’s problems rather than solve them,” he said. “Those who repeat that same shameful pattern of behavior are only shortchanging veterans while giving failed VA bureaucrats cover for continued malfeasance.”
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1.16 - Washington Examiner (Video): Clinton rolls out VA reform plan (10 November, Sarah Westwood, 2.8M online visitors/mo;Washington, DC)
Hillary Clinton spoke out against problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs Tuesday, soon after suggesting the VA's failures were "not as widespread" as Republicans have made them out to be.
Clinton vowed to fix the "absolutely inexcusable claims that are sitting in backlogs," as well as a number of problems she called "serious, systemic and unacceptable" during a town hall event with veterans in Derry, N.H.
Although she railed against Republicans for launching a "misguided, ideological crusade" to privatize the VA, Clinton proposed expanding veterans' access to care in the private sector — the same idea put forward by Republicans.
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Despite the similarities between her proposal and those of her political opponents, she said Republicans' reform plans amounted to a "betrayal" for veterans.
Clinton also called for a "zero tolerance" policy for agency employees who committed abuses like those that led to the wait time scandal last year, another proposal Republicans have pushed in Congress and on the campaign trail.
"We have to do a much better job in being more timely and being more responsive," Clinton said of the VA, noting the lengthy delays veterans face when attempting to secure treatment or benefits.
The former secretary of state hinted that inadequate funding for the VA is partially to blame for its shortcomings.
"Words are cheap. Where are the resources going to come from to fix the system?" Clinton said.
"This won't be a photo op for me. This will be an everyday mission for me," she added.
Clinton touted her work as first lady with veterans who suffered from "Gulf War syndrome," an unexplained chronic illness that struck many service members returning from the 1991 conflict.
After the dust-up over Clinton's VA comments late last month, Clinton has stepped up efforts to improve her relationship with veterans.
Her focus on fixing failures at the VA came just before Veterans Day, when the embattled agency is sure to come under greater scrutiny.
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1.17 - The Arizona Republic: My Turn: 412,000 ways we're helping veterans, TriWest CEO: A year after the Choice Act passed, we're working hard to get veterans access to timely health care (10 November, David McIntyre, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)
Veterans Day is a time to thank the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
It is also a time to remember our country’s obligation to our nation’s veterans, who have put their lives on the line in defense of freedom. There should be no question that after serving in the military, the health-care needs of veterans will be met.
When investigations at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2014 revealed that the health care needs of veterans were not being met in a timely manner, the wheels were set in motion to make changes that would clear the long lists of veterans waiting to see a doctor and make things right for those who have served our country in uniform.
In August 2014, Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, commonly referred to as the “Choice Act.” The purpose? To provide veterans with the option to
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 39 11 November 2015
see a non-VA doctor if their wait time at VA was to be more than 30 days or if they lived more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility.
Once the Choice Act passed, I can personally attest to the sense of urgency that came with implementing the Veterans Choice Program. Nov. 5 marks the one-year anniversary of the program’s implementation. In the past year, our company, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, has had the privilege of building a network of community health-care providers to support VA medical facilities and veterans across 28 states and the Pacific.
We have engaged nearly 130,000 health care providers thus far who meet VA standards and are ready and willing to serve the health-care needs of our nation’s veterans. Each day, we continue to add between 300 and 500 quality providers to our network, providing them with the training and tools needed to treat each veteran with the compassion and dignity they deserve.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize that progress is being made, and to thank those in the Valley who made it their mission to ensure the health-care needs of our nation’s veterans are met in a timely manner. In fact, TriWest expanded operations in Tempe on July 20 to serve veterans right here and throughout 28 states.
We also expanded operations to six other locations and have increased our workforce by 600 percent since March as we scale to ensure we can help VA meet increasing demand for veterans' health care.
Here in Phoenix, it has been heartening to see how quickly a community can pull together in support of a just cause. We’ve come a long way, yet much remains to be done to get to the desired outcome to ensure our nation’s veterans get the care they’ve earned and deserve.
This work won’t always be easy, but I am confident that with the support of the doctors, nurses, community hospitals and our dedicated employees, many of whom are veterans themselves, we will continue to make progress in effectively supporting VA in ensuring that our nation’s veterans get the care they need.
We are now receiving more than 70,000 care requests per month, which represents huge growth over the 2,000 requests we were receiving in January. Since January 2014, we have scheduled more than 412,000 appointments for our nation’s veterans, helping clear the long list of patients who had been waiting for care right here in Phoenix.
This is progress.
TriWest will continue to do whatever it takes to meet the health-care needs of veterans – by responding to the increasing demand for care, by adapting our processes as needed, and by continuing to provide quality and timely access to health care for our nation’s veterans.
To our nation’s veterans, it is our privilege to serve you as a partner of VA. Happy Veterans Day! Thank you for your dedicated service to our country. We salute you!
David J. McIntyre, Jr., is president and CEO of TriWest Healthcare.
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Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 40 11 November 2015
1.18 - The Arizona Republic: Homebuying strategies for veterans, service members (10 November, David M. Brown, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Phoenix, AZ)
Every day our servicemen and servicewomen keep us safe in our homes. West Valley Realtor Stormy Randolph helps put veterans into them.
In 2014 and 2015, the Surprise resident and member of the Elite Group for HomeSmart in Surprise has worked with at least 15 families who are veterans or active military to find them houses during and after their service to the country.
This Nov. 11, Veterans Day, will be particularly special for her and those she has helped.
One couple, Dave and Deb Gonzales, moved into their Surprise home seven months ago with Randolph’s assistance.
“Stormy had helped us a lot getting us in touch with a ‘Home in 5’ program, which paid for all closing costs and no down payment,” Deb said.
This program provides 6 percent down for a VA loan down payment and/or closing cost assistance to homebuyers who qualify. The funds are a grant and do not need to be repaid later, Stormy said.
Dave was in the Air Force for 17 years and retired in 1992. Since then, he’s been with the United States Postal Service for 20-plus years.
“It was very easy to understand, and we qualified with our income and outgoing bills and spending per month,” she said. “We just had to take a few questions over the phone, and that was pretty much it.”
“They originally contacted me to find a home to rent and had a short time frame before their lease ended,” Randolph said. “We got them pre-approved to buy, found a great home and they moved in –– all in a total of 47 days!”
Here’s the math: The couple purchase their home for $161,000 and received a new VA loan for $163,000. Their buyers’ closing costs were $14,490.57. Their total incentives received from loan program, lender and Randolph: $12,414.06. Of this, the couple paid $92.29 plus the home inspection cost of $300.
Overall out-of-pocket: $392.29.
“And, their mortgage is less than a rental would have been,” Randolph said.
Randolph’s husband, Ryan, served six years in the Air Force as a Crew Chief for the A-10 jet, with tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also stationed in Germany and Korea.
“Ryan’s time of service was during those dangerous years from 2002 through 2008, and he was deployed several times,” she said.
They’ve been married for six years and have a 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 41 11 November 2015
“Our children have been my little real estate helpers many times and are already very good at giving tours of homes," she said. “They may end up being future military or real estate agents.”
“I’m thankful for the sacrifices Ryan made, his courage to serve and protect our country and am so proud of him every day. He is very humble about his status as a veteran, and our family is proud of his accomplishments and the achievements he earned while serving.”
Ryan Randolph is a successful car technician, in part because of the experience and training he received during his military service.
“His experience as a crew chief provided him with leadership skills, a strong work ethic and the ability to work efficiently under pressure,” she said. “These helped him to continue his mechanical expertise in the automotive industry.”
Randolph offers special incentives and discounts or rebates to her military clients, and her preferred loan officers provide lender credits. Much of this is personally offered, not through her company.
“Surprisingly to me, there are so many veterans who don’t realize the opportunities available to them when it comes to purchasing a home,” she said. “Not only are they often unaware of the way the VA loan works but how much it can help by adding special-assistance or grant programs so these deserving families can afford to purchase a home with less initial cost than rental fees and deposits.”
The HERO program she offers with her real estate partners is available to military personnel as well as other everyday heroes.
“Depending on the loan program and credits from sellers, I try to give back to my HERO clients whenever it is needed or possible," she said. "Several of my past clients have received discounted commission or credits toward closing costs as a special way for me to say ‘thank you’ for being a HERO.
“There is so much information and guidance I can provide with my real estate partners from my own experiences with VA loans and what my clients have done. I want more veterans to know what options are out there and get help from an experienced caring agent to make their dreams of home ownership into reality.”
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1.19 - The Washington Times: Honoring veterans by improving health care, The VA should grant nurse practitioners full-practice authority (10 November, Cindy Cooke, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
At this very moment, thousands of U.S. veterans wait for vital, long-delayed health care services.
They are not the only ones.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs’ 4,800 nurse practitioners (NPs) also wait. They wait to be freed of needless regulations that prevent them from best serving veterans in their care.
For 50 years, NPs have been educated and clinically prepared to provide care with what health policy experts call full-practice authority. Despite this, the VA has yet to update its policies to fully utilize its nurse practitioner workforce.
This delay in action has created redundancies and bottlenecks in health care delivery at VA hospitals and facilities, further exacerbating the delays veterans face. At the same time, the United States is extending its military commitments overseas, adding to future veterans needing care.
It would be an injustice to let Veterans Day pass without urging the VA and Congress to grant nurse practitioners across all VA settings full-practice authority, meaning the ability to practice to the full scope of their preparation. Such action would increase access to needed health care for men and women who have bravely served this country in uniform and are tragically not receiving the services they deserve.
Nurse practitioners represent a key segment of a professional group known as advanced practice registered nurses that includes clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives — clinicians who have become an increasingly vital segment of today’s health care workforce.
In particular, nurse practitioners are prepared at a master’s and often doctoral level and are thus expertly equipped to provide a variety of vital health care services. For example, daily practice includes ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests; making diagnoses; initiating and managing treatment; prescribing medications and non-pharmacologic treatments; and counseling patients and their families.
They also represent one of the fastest-growing professions in health care today. The number of nurse practitioners licensed in the United States nearly doubled over the past 10 years, rising from approximately 106,000 in 2004 to 205,000 as of Dec. 31, 2014.
Nurse practitioners practice in every community in this country, both urban and rural, and care for patients from all economic and social backgrounds. In these settings, they provide much- needed primary, acute and specialty care, such as mental health services. In 21 states and the District of Columbia, where nurse practitioners currently have full-practice authority, patients have direct access to expert NP-delivered health care, unencumbered by costly and redundant government regulations.
Some states, like Nebraska and Maryland, have granted nurse practitioners full-practice authority only recently. Others have had such regulation in place for decades. The latter includes many rural states that historically have had challenges recruiting providers, but where nurse practitioners are more likely to practice — a trend that continues to this day.
Early-adopting states have provided vast amounts of data to independent researchers who study nurse practitioners. This has led to an overwhelming number of peer-reviewed analyses that show NPs with full-practice authority provide care that is safe, cost-efficient and effective, with patient outcomes that are equivalent to and sometimes better than those of physicians. Such data-driven evidence has led national policy organizations and government bodies — the Federal Trade Commission, AARP, Institute of Medicine, National Governors Association and
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 43 11 November 2015
National Conference of State Legislatures — to urge greater autonomy for nurse practitioners across the nation.
The VA itself took steps in this direction over the past few years as it worked to modernize its nursing practices. This process now seems to be moving into a regulatory phase.
We need the VA and congressional leaders to push forward and update VA policies to grant all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners, full-practice authority across all VA settings. Not only would this change have an immediate and positive impact on the timeliness and quality of care our veterans receive, it would assist the VA in its ability to recruit and potentially add positions for NPs, who are more likely to work where they can practice to the full scope of their education and clinical training.
As a nurse practitioner who has spent more than a decade delivering primary care services to active duty and retired military personnel, I consider it troubling that our leaders have yet to act. This nation is obligated to provide veterans with high-quality, safe and timely health care services. This cannot be accomplished without full-practice authority for all advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners, in all VA settings.
For the sake of our veterans and the active duty service members who have yet to return home, it’s critical to not let another Veterans Day pass without fully utilizing nurse practitioners to streamline their care. Our veterans cannot wait any longer.
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1.20 - Chicago Sun-Times: Senate approves funding bill to give veterans medical marijuana access (10 November, Emily Gray, 2.1M online visitors/mo; Chicago, IL)
The United States Senate approved an amendment Tuesday that would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to veterans in states where medical cannabis is legal, according to The Drug Policy Alliance.
The Veterans Equal Access Amendment was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee 18-12 as part of the FY2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon co- sponsored the amendment, which now goes to the House to be negotiated as part of an omnibus spending bill.
Per Drug Policy Alliance:
“On this eve of Veterans/Armistice Day where we remember those who served in the military and the treaty agreement to reach peace concluding WWI, we see this victory as a step toward a peace treaty with the government we volunteered to defend with our lives and as a step toward restoring our first amendment rights and dignity as citizens of the United States, ” said TJ Thompson, a disabled Navy veteran.
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Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specifically prohibits its medical providers from completing forms brought by their patients seeking recommendations or opinions regarding participation in a state medical marijuana program.
______
Growing evidence suggests medical marijuana can help veterans cope with PTSD
Approximately 30 percent of all military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a 2012 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A recent New York Times report connects the dots between traumatic combat experience, untreated PTSD and an epidemic rate of veteran suicides.
Per The New York Times:
Beginning in 2005, suicide rates among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans started to climb sharply, and the military and Veterans Affairs created a number of programs to fight the problem. Despite spending hundreds of millions on research, the department and the military still know little about how combat experience affects suicide risk, according to suicide researchers focused on the military.
______
While medical marijuana is largely under-researched on the whole, growing evidence shows that marijuana can affect the brain circuits involved in post-traumatic stress and may help veterans better cope with PTSD, as reported by National Public Radio.
Per NPR:
For decades, researchers have suspected that marijuana might help people with PTSD by quieting an overactive fear system. But they didn’t understand how this might work until 2002, when scientists in Germany published a mouse study showing that the brain uses chemicals called cannabinoids to modulate the fear system, Dr. Kerry Ressler of Emory University says.
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1.21 - The Washington Free Beacon: Whistleblowers: Lawmakers Dismissed Evidence of Veterans Hospital Abuse (10 November, Alana Goodman, 1.9M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Medical workers at an Illinois VA hospital say two prominent lawmakers were aware that veterans were at risk due to rampant medical neglect at the facility, but neglected to seriously address the problems despite multiple requests.
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The employees at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital said they were forced to go to the media with evidence of hospital negligence after they had a string of fruitless meetings with Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D., Ill.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) in 2013 and 2014.
Officials at the Hines VA reportedly kept sick patients waiting months for appointments and maintained yearlong backlogs of unread heart test evaluations, according to Dr. Lisa Nee and Germaine Clarno, two former employees.
The hospital is now at the center of a national scandal over patient mistreatment at the VA, which has prompted a string of internal investigations and an ongoing Senate probe led by Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.). The hospital’s head resigned last year amid a national outcry.
However, the whistleblowers said the lack of response from Duckworth and Durbin was troubling and raises questions about whether political pressure in Illinois has delayed an impartial investigation into the practices at Hines VA.
Clarno, a Democrat and union leader, said she met with Duckworth three times between 2013 and 2014 to report on “secret waiting lists” at the hospital, which hid the fact that patients were going months before seeing a doctor after calling to schedule an appointment.
Nee also provided evidence that heart tests were going unread for months or years. The doctor said that when she began working at the Hines facility she was given boxes full of year-old cardiology tests that had never been examined. After she started reviewing them, she realized many of the patients had already died from heart conditions.
“Looking back, foolishly, I went to my own [Democratic] party thinking that they would do something. It’s not an easy thing for me to say, but it’s reality,” said Clarno, a social worker who has worked at the Hines VA for six years and is also the president of AFGE Local 781.
Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran and double-amputee, served as the head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs before she was elected to Congress in 2012. She is currently running for the Senate seat held by Kirk and has highlighted her work with veterans during the campaign.
According to Clarno and Nee, Duckworth said they would not be able to change the practices because that is “just how it is” at VA hospitals.
“[Duckworth told us,] ‘I know all about how the VA runs, that’s just how it is. You’re never going to change anything there,’” said Nee, who worked as a cardiologist at Hines from 2011 to 2013.
Nee said Duckworth was “quite dismissive, she never followed up with me, and I never tried to reach out to her again.”
Duckworth did not respond to a request for comment.
The whistleblowers also said Durbin took no visible action and never met with them directly— sending aides to the meetings instead—despite numerous requests.
“I’m a Democrat and it’s very disturbing for me and heartbreaking that I went to my own party and they did not help me to help veterans,” said Clarno.
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Durbin’s office said the notion that he has been unresponsive to the issue is “simply not true” and that Durbin helped prompt the VA inspector general to launch an investigation into the claims in 2013.
The Durbin spokesperson said that after aides met with the whistleblowers in February 2013, Durbin “shared information with the Department of Veterans Affairs which spurred the VA [Office of Inspector General] to launch an investigation into the whistleblowers’ allegations.”
Nee and Clarno have criticized that investigation, saying the cardiologist was never interviewed and the files of evidence she compiled were never reviewed during the course of the probe.
The VA Office of the Medical Inspector opened another investigation after the Office of Special Counsel found the initial investigation insufficient.
Durbin’s office said he has been following the status of the investigations. Last week, Durbin and Duckworth sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs asking for a copy of the medical inspector’s report “and any further plans of corrective action.”
“The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has a long history of providing quality care for our nation’s veterans and we appreciate the work of you and your staff in upholding accountability and transparency related to that care,” wrote Durbin and Duckworth. “We urge you to continue to ensure the appropriate implementation of recommendations for the Hines VA hospital.”
Durbin’s office also noted that a staffer met with Nee as recently as two weeks ago regarding this issue. However, Nee said Durbin has yet to meet with them directly, and has instead sent aides who seem unaware of the severity of the problems.
“If you have constituents who have gone to everyone, and begged you to meet with them over these heinous acts … it’s appalling, it’s insulting, it’s condescending,” said Nee.
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1.22 - Washington Free Beacon: Veterans group ad hits Hillary on VA scandal (10 November, Morgan Chalfant, 1.9M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Nearly three weeks after Hillary Clinton minimized troubles with the federal government’s treatment of veterans, the Democratic presidential candidate unveiled her policy proposals to fix “systemic” failures at the VA.
At a campaign event in New Hampshire Tuesday, Clinton discussed her plan to overhaul the VA, which involves having the department contract with private healthcare providers for various services. Clinton, however, also vowed to fight against what she labeled a “misguided, ideological crusade” by Republicans to privatize the VA.
“As we work to improve the VA, I will fight as long and hard as it takes to prevent Republicans from privatizing it as part of a misguided, ideological crusade,” Clinton said at a veterans’ roundtable event in Derry one day before Veterans Day. “I will not put our veterans at the mercy of private insurance companies.”
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 47 11 November 2015
“Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I’m not going to let it happen,” Clinton further stated.
Clinton told the audience that her plan would streamline the agency’s electronic health records system, eliminate the claims backlog, and ensure that the VA better serves women and does more to support military families. The Democratic candidate also promised to defend the Post- 9/11 GI Bill and close the so-called 90-10 loophole.
“Today, as you know better than anyone, we are failing to keep faith with our veterans,” Clinton said. “These problems are serious, systemic, and unacceptable. They need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now.”
She also pledged to boost accountability at the VA but added that she believes Secretary Robert McDonald is “doing a great job” leading the agency.
Prior to Clinton’s remarks, her presidential campaign released a 12-page fact sheet outlining her policy proposals for the VA, acknowledging that the delayed healthcare and claims backlog at the federal agency “represent government at its worst” and insisting that Clinton “recognizes the gravity of these challenges.”
Clinton pledged to roll out her VA policy proposals in November after receiving criticism from GOP lawmakers and veterans’ groups for claiming during an MSNBC interview that Republicans have made issues at the VA appear “more widespread” than they are in reality.
“There have been a number of surveys of veterans and, overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” Clinton told Rachel Maddow on Oct. 23. “Nobody would believe that from the coverage that you see with the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have.”
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) demanded that Clinton apologize to families of veterans who died because of mismanagement and misconduct at the VA, later predicting that veterans will “question” Clinton’s qualifications to be president in the wake of her statements.
More than one year after the 2014 fake wait list scandal, multiple reports have documented mismanagement and delayed or poor care at the VA. A VA-commissioned independent assessment concluded in September that the network of VA hospitals faces “crises in leadership and culture” that warrant “system-wide reworking.”
Rep. Jeff Miller (R., Fla.), who chairs the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said that Clinton’s comments to MSNBC prove that she “isn’t paying attention” to issues at the VA. Both McCain and Miller accused Clinton of politicizing the issue.
In the days after Clinton downplayed issues with VA hospitals, three separate reports from the agency’s inspector general documented shortfalls and mismanagement at VA facilities across the country.
Concerned Veterans for America, one of the veterans groups that criticized Clinton’s dismissal of VA issues last month, described the former secretary of state’s policy plan as devoid of “fresh ideas.”
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“While Mrs. Clinton references the need for ‘reform’ and ‘accountability’ at the VA, when it comes to actual policy, her plan for ‘reforming’ the VA is sorely lacking in bold ideas and meaningful solutions. Instead of putting forth proposals that would challenge the status quo and make the VA more responsive to what veterans want, Mrs. Clinton recycles the same-old tired ideas that have continually been proposed by policymakers and have failed repeatedly to fundamentally change the broken VA healthcare system,” Concerned Veterans for America CEO Pete Hegseth said in a statement Tuesday.
“The lack of fresh ideas and innovative solutions in Mrs. Clinton’s plan, and her doubling down on the system that has failed our veterans, sends the nation a very clear message: if you liked the VA under President Obama, you will love it under President Hillary Clinton.”
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1.23 - KGW-TV (NBC-8, Video): Veterans voices heard in town hall (9 November, 1.4M online visitors/mo; Portland, OR)
This two-minute clip details the outcome of a community hall event held by the Vancouver VA. community leaders and Veterans met with VA representatives to voice their concerns. Veterans approved of the town halls held in a local community center and the VA’s continued outreach. Video Clip
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1.24 - The Kansas City Star (Video): VA foster care program offers a new kind of veterans home (10 November, Donald Bradley, 928k online visitors/mo; Kansas City, MO)
Morning coffee at the kitchen table.
Roque (Rocky) Riojas, 93, sits at one end, Bronze Star cap on his head, World War II shrapnel in his leg, and he’s telling how his son always comes to visit.
At the other end of the table, Theodosia Mobley, 84, who fought in Korea, scoffs: “He doesn’t always come to visit.”
These two are about what you’d expect in a new foster family. A little picking, a little sniping. But it’s early.
They are part of a new Veterans Affairs program that places military veterans in homes of people willing to open a door. Pretty much like the foster kid system. Most of these vets are old and alone. They have health problems and nowhere else to go other than a nursing facility, and they don’t want to go there.
That’s how Riojas, who grew up in midtown Kansas City, and Mobley, an Arkansas farm boy, two Americans who fought for their country and ended up alone after four score, came to share this breakfast table.
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The ranch house on a narrow residential street in southeast Kansas City is their home now, maybe their last. It’s where they watched the World Series together.
“I’m not going to tell you everything is peaches and cream,” said homeowner and caregiver Julius Anderson. “They both have some dementia, and they don’t always see eye to eye.
“But we’re doing OK.”
A polite man who has worked most of his life in residential senior care, Anderson, 48, refers to his new boarders as “Mr. Roque” and “Mr. Theodosia.” Come Thanksgiving, the plan is for Anderson and his lady friend to take the two vets to his family’s holiday gathering in Louisiana.
“I’ve told my brothers and sisters all about them and they’re looking forward to meeting them,” Anderson said. “They are family now, so this trip is important.”
That’s how it’s supposed to work, said Lisa Foodim, manager of home-based primary care for the Kansas City VA.
“Having a spare room is the easy part,” Foodim said. “You have to open your home and your family.”
The Kansas City VA placed its first veteran in a military foster home a year ago. This has been the learning period. They say it works. At last report, the Kansas City VA had placed five veterans in homes around the city.
“This is a whole lot better than when I used to visit my mom in a nursing home,” said Riojas’ son, Roque Jr. “It’s a lot more like home. His memory’s not good, but he seems to be doing so much better and he’s only been here three months.”
The foster program is administered through the VA, but the veteran is responsible for his care, which ranges from $1,600 to 3,000 monthly for the caregiver, depending on level of care needed.
Now comes the push for more hosts for more vets.
“It’s not for everyone,” Foodim acknowledged. “Most of us are private about our homes.
“I don’t have a vet living with me.”
Margie Cox does. Brian LaLone, a Marine back in the 1970s, came to her house in rural Bates City, Mo., in August. They say they found each other.
Cox says her years as a Navy wife were the best of her life. She loved living on base, loved the camaraderie. But that all ended, along with her marriage.
“To be honest, I was lonely,” Cox said. “I’m 73, and a friend who was an Army nurse told me I should volunteer for the foster program. I wanted to do something for somebody who can’t do for themselves.
“That’s how I met Brian. He 59, way overweight, and I’m a vegetarian. We walk every day and do our exercises. I love his mother. I take him to her house every Friday.”
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LaLone suffers sleep apnea, diabetes and heart failure. He had been living in a nursing home. He didn’t know what to think when someone suggested he go to one of the new foster homes.
“It sounded good if it would get me out of the nursing home,” he said in the dining room of Cox’s home. “But foster home sounded kind of weird too — is somebody going to adopt me?”
He chuckled.
Nursing homes would be easier and more convenient than the new foster homes, Foodim agrees.
“But it isn’t human,” she said.
Institutional living simply isn’t how people want to live, she said. Often two to a room and on strict schedules. Seniors tend to fight that arrangement as long as they can. But too often comes that time when they are living alone, begin to fall and stop paying monthly bills.
“And we also know that ‘I’m never leaving’ is an irrational stance,” Foodim said.
So a few years back, VA started developing a model for the Veterans Medical Foster Home Program. Simply put, a homelike setting, warm and caring, where veterans can live out their years.
Here’s how it works: A veteran must be enrolled in VA health care and have needs that can no longer be met at home. The prospective homes are inspected and must be approved by the VA. The home must be able to provide 24/7 medical care, either by the trained caregiver or a backup.
While in the home, the veteran will be monitored by a VA home-based primary care team that includes a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse, social worker, psychologist, occupational therapist, dietitian and pharmacist.
“And it’s a lot more socialized,” said Terry Curry, VA foster home coordinator for Kansas City. “We see vets going to church, shopping — even vacation.”
Cox plans on taking LaLone with her to visit family in Florida.
LaLone likes living in Cox’s farm home. He begins his story of how he got there by telling of the cold, snowy day 42 years ago when as a teenager he put his younger brother out of the car.
“He was being a pain, so I made him get out,” LaLone said.
His mother didn’t take that well. So LaLone, 17 at the time, took off hitchhiking west. It was 1973. He made it to Los Angeles, couldn’t find a job and joined the Marines.
The drawdown in Vietnam had begun so he never left the United States. After he left the service, he sank into substance abuse, mainly pot and beer. His weight climbed to nearly 500 pounds, which eventually led to sickness and full disability.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 51 11 November 2015
“If I hadn’t put my brother out of the car that day, I may not be here,” LaLone said in Cox’s house.
His weight is down to 347 and he exercises regularly with Cox, who also cares for two other seniors in her house.
“I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said.
His mother, Norma Phillips, sees the change since he left the nursing home.
“Margie’s been good to him,” she said. “I think he’s happy there.”
As Anderson fixed breakfast, Riojas and Mobley told about their years in the service. No boasts, just a couple of guys who got drafted and found themselves in a war.
Riojas saw a bunch of it and has the card to prove it. He keeps it in his wallet.
The metal card tells how the 34th Infantry was the first outfit to fight in Europe, captured 40,000 German prisoners and served 611 days in combat, the most of any American unit during World War II.
Those days are a blur to Riojas now. He doesn’t remember exactly how the shrapnel got in his leg. He rubbed it.
“Sometimes at night it wakes me up,” said Riojas, who worked years as a railroad clerk.
Mobley, who grew up in a large family on a farm in Arkansas during the Great Depression, remembers Korea as cold and scary. But he was proud to go.
“I don’t know that I loved it, but I guess it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
Anderson said Mobley, who retired from the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, sometimes thinks they’re related.
“He calls me Willie B.,” Anderson said.
Both men like to ride in the car, and Anderson obliges with weekend drives.
“They don’t remember it later, but they knew it at the time,” Anderson said.
Three days a week, he takes Riojas and Mobley to adult day care. While they are there, Anderson works a part-time job in which he makes home checks on other veterans.
Why does he do this, open up his home?
Both his parents died young — his father of cancer and his mother of a heart attack.
“I didn’t get to take care of them at the end like I would have liked,” he said. “But now I can be there for someone else.
“I enjoy being a blessing to others.”
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His girlfriend, Linda Thompson, who also works in health care, said she knew there was something special about Anderson.
“I’ve known him for six years and we’ve dated for three,” she said. “What he does with these men is his calling. He opened up his house to two strangers and gave them a home.
“I see how he is with them. They like me — but they like him more. I’m happy for all of them.”
Riojas and Mobley seem happy enough. When they lived alone, visits from friends dried up.
“After so long, you fade away,” Mobley said. “Here I can talk some, fix a sandwich, move around.
“I don’t feel no pain. I’m blessed.”
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1.25 - WMUR-TV (ABC-9, Video): Updated: Clinton rolls out vets plan, promises to fight full-fledged privatization of VA, Democrat accuses GOP of 'ideological crusade,' but McCain calls charge 'inaccurate, offensive' (10 November, John DiStaso, 665k online visitors/mo; Manchester, NH)
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday promised to fight “as long and hard as it takes” against any Republican effort to fully privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs but said she would allow the agency to contract with the private sector for some “specialty” surgical services.
The Democratic presidential candidate told a crowd of about 200 veterans and supporters at the Derry Veterans of Foreign Wars post that veterans’ issues would be a priority of her administration.
On the day before Veterans Day, she unveiled a comprehensive plan to revamp the delivery of health care to veterans, make the VA more accountable and improve conditions for active military personnel.
A 12-page outline, obtained by WMUR.com ahead of its release, is entitled “Supporting Our Veterans, Troops and Their Families.” Click here to view the plan.
Clinton’s initiative comes two weeks after she was sharply criticized by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and others for saying that issues facing veterans were “not as widespread” as Republicans have contended. She later walked back the remarks by saying through a spokesman that there are in fact “systemic” problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs that need to be addressed.
Clinton on Tuesday spent more than hour both laying out the veterans services plan and answering questions not only about veterans’ issues, but also about national security, foreign policy and what she called the “judicious” use of military force.
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“As we work to improve the VA, I will fight as long and hard as it takes to prevent Republicans from privatizing it as part of a misguided ideological crusade,” Clinton said. She said privatization “will throw our vets into the private insurance market."
“I believe in giving vets more choice on when and how you receive care, and I think there should be more partnership between the VA and private hospitals and community health care providers.”
“But we cannot and I will not put our vets at the mercy of private insurance companies without any coordination, or leave them to fend for themselves with health care providers who have no expertise in the unique challenges that are facing our veterans,” Clinton said.
“Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I’m not going to let it happen.”
At the same time, Clinton’s plan says the VA should be allowed to “strategically purchase private-sector care when it makes sense to do so, such as for some specialty inpatient or surgical procedures, expanded access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, or when the VA cannot provide timely access to necessary care.”
“Secretary Clinton would present and advocate for legislation that allows the VA to pursue provider agreements to do this in the most effective and efficient manner,” her plan says.
Her dual approach prompted criticism from the pro-Republican super PAC America Rising, whose spokesman called it “perhaps her most blatantly political proposal thus far this campaign.”
“Today, she is proposing the very policy she has been attacking Republicans for,” group spokesman Jeff Bechdel said. “Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself for politicizing the issue of veterans’ care.”
McCain added in a statement that Clinton, after contending that the VA's problems were not as widespread as Republicans had made them out to be, "today reversed course, claiming that there really is a crisis at the VA and attacking Republicans for proposing to provide veterans more choice and flexibility in their health care."
"For her to accuse me and my Republican colleagues of wanting to 'privatize' the VA is, of course, inaccurate and offensive," McCain said. He said the Choice Card provisions of last year's VA reform bill passed the U.S. Senate with 93 votes.
McCain accused Clinton of siding with "the broken VA bureaucracy, which is responsible for this scandal, rather than the veterans who have suffered and died due to its mismanagement and neglect. This is exactly the kind of outdated thinking that got us in this mess in the first place."
Clinton: VA problems 'systemic, unacceptable'
Clinton said that long wait times for health care and paperwork backlogs at the VA are “absolutely inexcusable,” adding that there is a lack of coordination between components of the VA system, between the VA system and the Department of Defense, and between the VA and private providers.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 54 11 November 2015
She called the VA’s inadequacies “serious, systemic and unacceptable. They need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now.” She said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald has been doing a good job, but she said, more needs to be done.
Clinton said the VA needs to be changed from a provider agency to a “truly integrated health care system.”
She noted that New Hampshire is alone among the lower 48 states without a full-service VA hospital and said there is no excuse for denying veterans timely health care regardless of where they reside. She also said that as president, she would insist that all levels of employees at the VA will be required to “meet the highest standards and never forget their mission.”
Calling for a new “culture of accountability” at the VA, Clinton said the secretaries of defense and veterans affairs will be told that “there will be zero tolerance for the kinds of abuses and delays we have seen.”
She also said mental health and substance abuse treatment should be readily available for veterans, calling the frequency of veteran suicide and homelessness rates a “national disgrace.” And, she said, pharmacies that price gouge veterans would be subject to the “full power of the federal government.”
Clinton said she would work to extend the post-9/11 GI Bill and oppose any efforts to roll it back. Clinton also promises to strengthen the all-volunteer force by ensuring “smart reforms” to military compensation and retirement benefits.
She would adopt “modern and inclusive personnel policies,” including zero-tolerance for sexual assault and harassment, and “welcoming women to compete for all military positions.”
She also supports a Department of Defense policy review of the possibility of allowing transgender Americans “to serve openly alongside their comrades in arms in a military where everyone is respected enough to let them serve with dignity.”
Karen Morgan, whose wife, Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan, died in 2013, asked Clinton how she would work to make the military more open to diversity.
“I think we now understand that it’s more important to find out if somebody can do the job,” Clinton said. “Not who they are or what their status might be. (Or) who they love, who they marry. People should be judged on whether or not they can perform the functions that we expect them to.”
Use of military force
Clinton also fielded several questions about the use of U.S. military force.
She said that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were transformative but reiterated her often- stated admission that she erred by later supporting the Iraq War.
“It was a mistake to go into Iraq, and it was a mistake for me to give that vote to President Bush, for a lot of reasons that are now very obvious to us.”
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She backed the use of military force in Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack, but said, “A lot of mistakes were made, a lot of assumptions didn’t pan out in both theaters of conflict. And I believe that we are now having to take a very hard look and make sure that force is only used as a last resort, not a first choice.”
Clinton blamed former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for insisting that the United States leave no military “follow on force” in his country. “And we watched as Maliki basically allowed the Iraqi army to disintegrate, and now we are dealing with the threat of ISIS, which has seized and held Iraqi territory.”
She said that looking forward, “The United States has got to continue to lead, but we have to convince people who are directly affected by these threats that we’re not going to carry their weight.”
The Islamic State must be primarily dealt with by Middle Eastern nations, Clinton said, while endorsing the use of U.S. air support, retraining of the Iraqis and supporting the Kurds.
She said she does not support a declaration of war against the Islamic State.
“If you have a declaration of war, really, you are supposed to put the country on a war footing, and I’m not sure that makes the most sense against a fighting force as diffuse and networked as this threat is,” Clinton said. And, she said, when the nation goes to war, “you’d better have a budget that backs it up.”
She said fighting and dealing with other hot spots internationally require a coordinated effort with other nations.
“If you are going to build the kind of coalitions that we need, as opposed to going it alone, as we’ve done too much of, then you’ve got to have an understanding of how you respond when people ask you for help on something they consider important,” she said. “If we don’t’ build those partnerships, if we don’t support other countries in dealing with the threats they face, then they are not going to be particularly willing to help us.”
“This whole threat posed by ISIS, the continuing conflict, the civil war in Syria, the role that Russia and Iran are playing, what the Turks are doing, what the Iraqis will or won’t do, the pressure on Jordan and Lebanon, the millions of refugees streaming out, that’s far away from us. But you have to watch it carefully because there can develop threats to us.”
“We’ve got to be constantly nurturing those relationships, building those partnerships. If we’re helping others because the threat is not immediate to us, then we have to define our role in a really specific, smart power way.”
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1.26 - WDRB-TV (FOX-41, Video): Louisville's VA Hospital shows WDRB how recent improvements are changing veteran care (6 November, Lindsay Allen, 625k online visitors/mo; Louisville, KY)
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After a tough year for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Louisville VA hospital opened its doors Friday. The staff showed WDRB what's changed to treat patients better and faster, and most importantly, how they're working to regain people's trust.
It's been more than a year since President Obama signed the $16 billion VA healthcare overhaul bill and more than a year since the agency was rocked by scandal -- in which secret lists were uncovered hiding long wait times.
Locally, veterans speak of their frustrations of waiting to get an appointment and the quality of care at the Louisville VA Hospital. But scandals led to change and transparency.
"Veterans and taxpayers have the right to know what we have going on in our medical centers," VA Medical Center Director Martin Traxler said.
WDRB was invited to get inside.
Over the past year, the Louisville VA Hosptial says its been able to schedule more than 10,000 appointments than it did last year. Numbers from September show 90 percent of patients were seen within seven days of scheduling an appointment.
Since August of last year, the VA Hospital has added 90 members to its staff. Patients tell us they notice improvements.
"I see it improving a lot," veteran Art Gerber said. "They're so punctual now. Before, I used to wait a little bit here. They're right on the ball now."
"I've seen improvements," veteran Brandon Higgs said. "They've got a veterans choice program going on -- if they can't schedule to see you within 30 days, someone will call you up and schedule an appointment on the outside."
But we viewers on Facebook about people's experience there, and some responses said the one major problem remaining in Louisville is parking. That should be addressed when the new VA Hospital is built off Brownsboro Road, but that's still years away.
The director said his most important remaining issue is coordination.
"One of the challenges in a system that offers as many services as we do is moving a veteran from a primary care visit specialty care to any kind of follow up and making sure they're completely aware what's happening," Traxler said.
Dealing with the problems is an opportunity to improve.
"This will be an opportunity for the greatest improvement that the VA has ever seen," Traxler said. "We all believe that's true, and we're experiencing that now. That's our attitude."
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1.27 - Journal Star: Peoria County agency helps veterans navigate VA red tape for benefits and medical care (10 November, Andy Kravetz, 530k online visitors/mo; Peoria, IL)
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Those who have served in the military know about red tape and about the “hurry up and wait” mentality that often occurs.
Just ask Kalab Woods, a 32-year-old Peoria man who was seriously injured in 2004 while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near him. A machine-gun team leader, he returned to duty 48 hours later and over the next several months, was near several other IED blasts and was even struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. All that, he says, left him with a 90-percent disability rating but for years he wasn’t able to get a dime from the government.
“I was two days away from being homeless. I had no idea what I was entitled to and basically couldn’t get any help from the VA themselves. They like to give you the runaround,” he said this week from a job in Broken Bow, Neb., where he helps out his brother-in-law who is a general contractor.
Related content Area offers a broad range of services for veteransMoving ceremony atop Springdale Cemetery's Soldiers Hill begins series of Veterans Day ...Luciano: Battle of Ia Drang took the lives of two Peoria soldiers, and took the U.S. by...Peoria Public Library initiative honors veteransHonoring Veterans: Greater Peoria Honor Flight Sept. 29, 2015Listing of Peoria-area activities focused on Veterans DayEnter the Peoria County Veterans Assistance Commission, which has worked for thousands of area vets to help eliminate much of that red tape. The goal: allow those men and women to get what’s coming to them with regards to benefits, back pay and or medical care.
The Veterans Assistance Commission provides emergency and interim assistance to eligible veterans of Peoria County and their families for the basic necessities of shelter, utilities, hygiene and food, says the man who runs the group, Michael Brooks, himself a Navy veteran.
The employees are trained to understand what benefits veterans should have access to and are accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Their budget is less than $300,000, but last year they brought $1.6 million into Peoria County in terms of back pay and other benefits for about 1,571 clients and their family members. But Brooks says he doesn’t want to just talk about money.
“We are here to help the veterans see through the red tape of the VA and all the benefits, not just hand them blank forms for them to fill out,” he said. “We fill out all the VA forms for them with their assistance.
“The VAC is saving veterans from foreclosure, eviction and shut-off notices. This money that they receive is also spent back into the local community,” Brooks said.
Woods can relate to the veterans he serves. He says he suffers from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, arthritis, degenerative spine disease and possibly epilepsy as a result of his service in the Army. And yet, for years, he got nothing from the VA.
“I had been going for my disability for five years and was told by one doctor, ‘yes,’ and another doctor, ‘no,’ and then the next one, ‘yes’,” said Woods. “I lost multiple jobs because I was taking time off to go to Danville (to the VA hospital) and well, I had a bit of an anger management issue.
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“So I was upset, crying and what not when I called Mike. But he went through all the paperwork, pulled out the forms that I needed and which I didn’t even know about and got it through,” he said.
Brooks remembers working with Woods.
“He was on the verge of being homeless and struggling with very little income to take care of his family so he applied for financial assistance here at the office,” Brooks remembered. “During an (interview), we also discussed his VA claim which was dead in the water so we came up with a detailed plan to fix it.
“We take the time to go through a veteran’s medical records, previous rating decisions thoroughly so we can ensure they are taken care of,” Brooks added.
Brooks was able to find Woods a new place to live, help him with his appointments and navigate a system that has become burdensome to all but those who specialize in paperwork. And as a four-year vet, Brooks says there are some perks to the job.
“Some of these VA claims can take four years and there’s no better job than to call a veteran to tell them that they are getting more than $100,000 in back pay for their VA claim,” he said.
Woods says the battle for his benefits isn’t over. When he comes back to Peoria next month, he hopes to meet again with Brooks to finish up the process.
County Administrator Scott Sorrel has frequently praised the office, saying they have done a great service for the county’s veterans. That Peoria County even has a VAC is a step in the right direction. Not every county has one and the county board has repeatedly tried to help the commission.
“The return on investment for Peoria County is phenomenal. For around $270,000, the VAC staff brings back millions of dollars in benefits to Peoria County veterans and their dependents,” said Allen Mayer, who sits on the county board. “We have one of the absolute best Veterans’ Assistance Commissions in the state.”
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1.28 - Amarillo Globe-News: Kiefer: Quality health care is a way to honor heroes (9 November, Michael Kiefer, 493k online visitors/mo; Amarillo, TX)
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918 — the guns of World War I were silenced.
Today — almost 100 years and many conflicts later — we continue the tradition of paying tribute to American veterans who wore the uniforms of our armed forces.
Recently, I was honored to participate in a “Welcome Home” tribute. The Thomas E. Creek VA staff was honored to host hundreds of American heroes at the 9th Annual “Welcome Home” Celebration.
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Each year we do our best to express our thankfulness, respect and awe of the fine men and women and their families who proudly served our country. The Amarillo community was out in full force cooking, playing, educating and informing along with us.
I am pleased to now be able to call Amarillo my home, having joined the staff of the Amarillo VA Health Care System on Nov. 1 as the new Medical Center Director. In this role I hope to be able to continue the proud traditions of honoring America’s veterans. In addition to recruiting the best staff to provide health services in all our locations, and a modern emergency room, we will embark on improvements to primary care areas and other spaces to add quality, safety and value to the patient care processes.
To improve care for veterans for years to come, we must continue transforming — our transformation is called MyVA, and it’s about working as a department to achieve our five main focuses:
Improving the veteran experience. Improving the employee experience to better serve veterans. Improving our internal support services. Establishing a culture of continuous improvement. Enhancing strategic partnerships across the federal government, across state and local government, and with both non-profit and for-profit organizations.
If we keep in mind the noble service of every generation of veterans who have gone before us, we will succeed in our mission.
We are a blessed nation to have so many citizens willing to put themselves in harm’s way — not only to defend America’s interests but to protect others, in foreign lands, who are oppressed. And it is my greatest honor to be able to pay back, in whatever small part, this debt through the health care of these American veterans.
Michael Kiefer is the new director of the Amarillo VA Health Care System and a U.S. Army veteran.
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1.29 - Military Times: Poll: Veterans oppose plans to 'privatize' VA (10 November, Leo Shane III, 450k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Veterans like choice.
But they don't like privatization.
That’s the bottom line from a new poll out Tuesday from the Vet Voice Foundation, designed to counter recent proposals that left-leaning advocates say would move Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals to an outsourced, privatization model.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 60 11 November 2015
The poll of 800 veterans, conducted jointly by a Republican-backed firm and a Democratic- backed one, found that almost two-thirds of survey respondents oppose plans to replace VA health care with a voucher system, an idea backed by some Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates.
“Veterans overwhelmingly feel that health care was a promise made for their service and oppose vouchers that may not cover all costs,” group officials said in their report. “Veterans worry that private insurance companies care too much about profit and would make decisions for the care of veterans based on money.”
The results push back poll numbers released by Concerned Veterans for America last month that found nearly 90 percent of veterans surveyed believe officials need to increase health care choices for VA patients, including expanded access to private care physicians.
They also point to a larger fight between Republicans and Democrats over VA reform efforts, and how each side is labeling moves to expand health care offerings for veterans in the private sector, but still at government expense.
“This poll confirms what nearly every veterans service organization has always said — privatization and voucherization of the VA is a nonstarter for veterans,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, managing director of the Vet Voice Foundation.
“There is a lot of debate about ‘choice’ in veterans care, but when presented with the details of what ‘choice’ means, veterans reject it," Eaton said. "They overwhelmingly believe that the private system will not give them the quality of care they and veterans like them deserve.”
The new Vet Voice poll also hints that the issue could be a factor in the 2016 elections, with 57 percent of those surveyed stating they would be less likely to vote for candidates who support "privatizing the VA health care system.”
Only one in four said that stance would strengthen their support for a candidate.
Major veterans advocates have long opposed proposals for privatization, but have been more cautious in their use of the term in recent years, as lawmakers have backed initiatives to increase private care access, like the Choice Card program.
Full details of the poll are available on the foundation’s website.
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1.30 - Military Times: Clinton unveils plan for veterans, military personnel (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday unveiled what will be her priorities on veterans and military personnel issues if elected, focusing on reforms to existing programs rather than the extensive overhauls and eliminations favored by her Republican rivals.
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The move comes just hours before Veterans Day and just weeks after Clinton took heavy criticism from Republican candidates who portrayed her as downplaying problems in the Veterans Affairs Department.
In her policy platform, Clinton laments the “systemic failures” within VA and said recent scandals in the department “represent government at its worst.”
But the former secretary of state’s plan refutes Republican proposals to outsource much of VA’s operations, labeling such a move as “privatization” of the department that could leave veterans “vulnerable to a health care market poorly suited to their needs.”
Instead, Clinton proposes revamping the Veterans Health Administration, offering better coordination with military health care, private physicians and other existing resources while still leaving VA in the lead role.
“VA must maintain the ultimate responsibility of coordinating and ensuring comprehensive and quality health care for every veteran and the specialized services that they deserve — critical functions that would disappear if the VA were privatized,” the plan states.
Clinton also vows to place stronger oversight on VA operations, to include regular meetings in the Oval Office with the department secretary, and promises a fully interoperable health records system between VA and the Defense Department.
That promise was also made by President Obama, but has proven elusive over the past seven years.
On the issue of veterans suicide, Clinton promises increased funding for VA mental health staffing and training, expansion of department counseling programs and promotion of “better prescriber and treatment practices” that offer more alternatives than medication.
Clinton says she also will create a standing President’s Council on Veterans to coordinate services across government agencies, convene a White House summit inviting key service organizations and state leaders, and continue work with Obama’s Joining Forces initiative.
She pledged to close the 90/10 loophole that excludes GI Bill benefits from schools’ calculations of federal funds, a complaint from veterans groups who say for-profit colleges are victimizing veterans who use the popular education benefit.
On military personnel policies, Clinton — who would be the first female president if elected — says she will support “welcoming women to compete for all military positions provided they meet the requisite standards,” continuing current defense trends toward gender-neutral job requirements.
She also promises a review on service by transgender individuals, “anticipating that transgender people will soon be allowed to serve openly.”
Her plan endorses reform of the military health system, moving on changes to Tricare recommended by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission and expanding access to “nontraditional treatments” like online medical services.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 62 11 November 2015
She pledges to modernize the military commissary system and expand child care offerings on installations.
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1.31 - Montgomery Advertiser: Agent Orange: A killer among veterans (10 November, Rebecca Burylo and Josh Moon, 275k online visitors/mo; Montgomery, AL)
As the nation pauses this Veterans Day to remember its war heroes, inaction from Congress threatens to leave many veterans suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical used during the Vietnam War, without medical treatment.
Last month, House and Senate veterans affairs committees allowed a provision of the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to expire. That Act compelled the Veterans Affairs secretary to add ailments linked by the IOM to Agent Orange to a list making them eligible for VA treatment.
The expiration of that act coincides with a new report due in March from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences that will link hypertension and stroke to Agent Orange exposure. While Congress claims the failure to extend the Act is because the VA secretary already possesses the authority to add ailments to the list, the linking of just hypertension – an ailment affecting one-third of Americans – could potentially expand the VA’s rolls by hundreds of thousands and by millions of dollars.
The list of diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure already includes dozens of diseases and has consistently grown larger as the chemical’s effects caused increasing damage to those who were exposed.
Agent Orange was originally purposed to kill trees, grass and foliage during the Vietnam War to remove concealment for the enemy and clear a way for U.S. bases, but it’s damaging effects on the millions of American soldiers like local Charles Manikas and David Payne, who served there, has been linked to diseases ranging from certain cancers and Type 2 Diabetes to Parkinsons Disease and heart disease.
“We’re waist deep in the stuff and that’s why we have skin issues with a large majority of our vets ... and wondering why our hands were falling off or the bottom of our feet,” said Payne, who returned home from Vietnam in 1969 and a month later began experiencing pain all over his body. He suffers today from rashes, hard spots, skin cancer and breathing difficulties.
Payne, 65, who lives in Wetumpka, was only 18 when he was sent to Vietnam to carry, handle, mix Agent Orange and wash the chemical off of jeeps. He is one of the 2.6 million military personnel who served in Vietnam who were potentially exposed to the deadly chemical.
Although, the herbicide compound had many different color designations, the commonly known name of Agent Orange comes from a combination of its code name, Herbicide Orange and Agent LNX, one of the mixing agents.
“It was a herbicide, at least that’s what we were told. It killed elephant grass, monkey grass, living grass,” Payne said. “People – chemists, they called them – would come and tell us to mix
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 63 11 November 2015
two ounces of this, four ounces of that, five gallons of this and fill the rest of it up with diesel fuel.”
Payne served in the construction battalion as a combat engineer. He said 55-gallon drums would arrive with yellow, green or purple colored bands around them and other soldiers would mix those agents together to kill the vegetation that needed to be killed. It was called Operation Ranch Hand.
C-123 aircraft and UH-47 helicopters, with an 8-foot hole in their centers, would carry the mixture over the jungles in 800-1,000-gallon rubber bladders and spray over hundreds of acres. Veterans call that the “yellow rain.” It would kill all plant life in a few hours, and Payne was directly exposed to the chemicals on a daily basis.
“We had on shorts, cut-off fatigues, combat boots, no shirts, no respirators, no chemical suits, and were sloshing and we’re washing and we’re spraying and it’s wet and it eats the bottom of our boots. It destroyed cloth. It would just disintegrate in your hands,” Payne said.
Between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed nearly 20 million gallons of the herbicide over Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia. Records show there were 6,542 spraying missions over 5 million acres of South Vietnam.
Vehicles riding through the jungle would come back to base covered in the Agent Orange droplets and Payne would have to clean off the jeeps in concrete wash pits.
Years later, 13 diseases among Vietnam veterans have been found to have direct ties to Agent Orange.
Studies have shown that veterans have increased rates of cancer, nerve, digestive, skin and respiratory disorders, in particular, higher rates of leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, throat cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, Ischemic heart disease, soft tissue sarcoma and liver cancer.
Payne returned home in 1969 and a month later, began experiencing pain all over his body and continues to suffer from rashes, hard spots on his skin and difficult breathing.
Vietnam veteran Charles Manikas, of Montgomery, was sent to Vietnam around the same time Payne was. He served there in 1966 as a “water man” for the Air Force spraying Agent Orange.
“We were the first ones in. When we built the base, we had to spray first so we loaded up the C- 130s and sprayed all around to kill the foliage before we put the base in,” Manikas explained. “All I ever wore were shorts, boots a hat and my M-16.”
Manikas, who said he helped dump millions of gallons of Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam, has suffered from heart attacks and has had staples put in his heart, effects contributed to working with the chemical.
“The hills would be brown because we killed everything. It worked in 24 hours. Everything was brown,” said Manikas, who received the Meritorious Service Medal for his service with Agent Orange.
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The ailments of Manikas and Payne were eventually added to an ever-increasing list of diseases attributed to Agent Orange exposure. The same can’t be said for Navy veterans who never worked on land where the chemicals were sprayed.
Several of those vets have long contended – and the VA agreed for roughly a decade – that crewmen aboard Navy vessels near the areas where Agent Orange was used suffered exposure through contaminated water.
That has been a 15-year fight between the veterans and the U.S. government, which has essentially boiled down to whether the phrase “served in the Republic of Vietnam” applies to the servicemen who were aboard ships in the waters around the country and who never set foot on land. For more than a decade, the VA said the phrase did. But in 2001, it challenged that definition and a federal appeals court ruled that the Navy vets weren’t covered.
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Act in the House, and an accompanying version in the Senate, would circumvent the court’s decision and make the Navy veterans eligible. But the bills have remained in committees since March, despite 289 House members and 34 Senators signing on as co-sponsors. They are unlikely to pass.
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1.32 - KVIA-TV (ABC-7, Video): VA announces pilot program for El Paso, Proposal to improve health care access, facilities for El Paso veterans (10 November, 202k online visitors/mo; El Paso, TX)
Update: Congressman Beto O'Rourke introduced a new Veterans Affairs pilot program today.
It is expected to ensure veterans in need of medical care here are seen quickly by the best available provider in the region
Here's how it will work:
The VA will prioritize service or combat-connected conditions like post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries within the VA, allowing them to concentrate on those conditions.
Common conditions like diabetes or the flu will be prioritized to community referral for care.
"Private doctors in a community that is already stressed in terms of level of service are gonna step up, take on more patients, more veterans at a lower reimbursement rate because this community believes in its service members and it believes in its veterans and its putting its money where its mouth is literally," O'Rourke said. "That's really great for El Paso and a great story for us to tell nationally."
Those providers have all agreed to provide care at the prevailing VA reimbursement rate which is lower than Medicare.
And VA navigators for veterans will be the key in all this, developing a patient management and navigation system to make it work.
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"The big concession on the part of the providers in the community is they will accept the prevailing VA reimbursement rate, which is really low," O'Rourke said. "It's less than medicare in many cases. The VA is giving a little, the providers are giving a little and out of that comes a big win for veterans in El Paso."
Today's news conference featured several dignitaries, including the VA's chief medical officer Wendell Jones, who pointed out the VA needs to partner with communities to deliver services to veterans.
"I think it's great that they keep the issues of the veterans in the VA, because that's where it should be, because other people don't understand veteran's concerns," said veteran Olga Kalpakgian.
Original Story: Congressman Beto O'Rourke is expected to announce a plan that could improve access to health care for veterans in El Paso.
Details about the Veteran Affairs Pilot Program will be given at a news conference Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the El Paso VA Health Care System, located at 5001 N. Piedras St.
O'Rourke released a proposal over the summer in which he stated was created by the community and is supported by local politicians, business leaders, health care professionals and veterans' organizations.
ABC-7 got a hold of the 50-page proposal released earlier this year.
In the proposal O'Rourke lays out the goals of the pilot program:
- Ensure that area veterans are seen quickly by the best available provider in the region.
- Develop deeper competencies at the VA for the highest demand injuries, conditions and disabilities unique to veterans.
- Leverage community providers and facilities to fully complement VA providers and facilities.
- Improve access to care immediately and bring improved facilities and focus to veterans within 24 months.
- Provide the VA with a working model that can be successfully implemented in other parts of the country - saving money, improving access and, most importantly, ensuring better outcomes for the veterans we serve.
The proposal reiterated how difficult it is for veterans to access health care, especially when it comes to mental health.
O'Rourke said the wait times veterans face in El Paso is a "crisis."
His proposal stated the El Paso VA, as of June 1, 2015, is the second worse in the country for access to health care.
ABC-7 will live stream the news conference, log on to kvia.com to watch it in its entirety.
Veterans Affairs Media Summary and News Clips 66 11 November 2015
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1.33 - WCHS-TV (ABC-8, Video): VA Medical Center In Huntington Hosting Early Veterans Day Activities (10 November, Jeffery A. Morris, 190k online visitors/mo; Charleston, WV)
Although Veterans Day is officially observed Wednesday, the VA Medical Center in Huntington is celebrating early.
All day Tuesday, the center is hosting several activities to honor veterans. The day kicked off with an early morning yoga session, followed by a musical tribute. Students across the Tri-State also have written cards and letters thanking those for their service.
"I think its critically important,” director Brian Nimmo said. “I think it’s important for us to do that as a nation in my opinion, but it’s also important for us as the VA as the federal agency that is tasked with serving veterans I think it’s most important for us."
On Tuesday afternoon, the center will recognize some of their employees who are also veterans.
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1.34 - Kaiser Health News: It’s On The Test: New Questions Require Doctors To Learn About Military Medicine (10 November, Julie Rovner, 187k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Veterans Day is when America stops to thank those who have sacrificed to keep the country safe and free. This year, gratitude for their service includes a significant step to help keep them healthier.
Most former servicemen and women (and their families) get their health care at civilian facilities, where only rarely do health professionals ask patients if they or close relatives have a military background. But not only do veterans suffer from a disproportionate share of ailments like post- traumatic stress disorder and brain injury, many who were in combat zones may also have been exposed to hazards such as the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam, or huge burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan that produced toxic fumes.
Recognizing the potential for missing important health issues, a small group of medical professionals banded together to ensure that in the future doctors will at least be aware of the possible medical problems of former military members, who now number about 14 million. Going forward, the exam every medical student and new physician must take to get a license will include questions about military medicine. That, in turn will force medical schools to teach it.
Brian Baird, a former Democratic member of Congress from Washington and a licensed clinical psychologist, has helped spearhead the change, which is being publicized as the country prepares for Veterans Day this Wednesday. He said he was inspired by some of his own patients who returned from duty in need of help.
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“We don’t even ask, ‘Have you or a loved one been deployed overseas,’” he said in an interview. “And I thought, what a terrible oversight.”
This KHN story also ran in USA Today. It can be republished for free (details). Baird set out to talk to every medical organization he could find. Several responded, or were working on a similar project at the same time, including the White House’s “Joining Forces” initiative.
Baird found an eager partner in Steven Haist, a physician and vice president at the National Board of Medical Examiners, which develops and runs the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam.
Haist has spent nearly four years organizing the effort and bringing in specialists from the Department of Veterans Affairs and every branch of the military to develop and write the questions. Military medicine will be included in all three of the exam’s “steps,” which students take at different points in medical school and after they complete the early phases of post- graduate training.
“In some respects, I think it could have been done a lot sooner,” said Haist, given many of the well-recognized issues affecting returning troops from Vietnam and the first Gulf War. But he said he hopes that ensuring that physicians know about potential problems “will improve the health care that is received by returning deployed servicemen and women and their families.”
Dr. Karen Sanders, who helps oversee academic training for the VA, and who got the project funded, says she’s confident the change will make things happen. “If you change the exams, schools and curricula will follow,” she said. “We hope this will drive schools to offer courses” in medical conditions experienced by members of the military. A survey conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that as of 2012, only about half the schools had such courses.
Other medical organizations have also acted to better integrate the health problems stemming from military duty into non-military health care. Both the American Medical Association and American Academy of Nursing are actively encouraging providers to ask patients about their or a family member’s military service.
But encouraging is not enough, say Howard and Jean Somers. Their son, Daniel, committed suicide in 2013 after being unable to receive treatment for mental health issues upon returning from Iraq. They have been working to improve the care at the VA and bring more attention to returning troops’ health problems ever since.
“How do you make it a requirement without making it part of the licensing or re-licensing,” said Howard Somers, a retired urologist.
They called putting questions on the licensing exam “fantastic,” but stressed that something similar needs to be done to educate doctors who have completed their training and initial licensing.
In order to maintain his medical license, said Howard Somers, “I had to take an online course in pain management. That would be another way to address this, to get medical societies to make this a requirement.”
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Former Rep. Baird agrees. “I’ve asked a lot of physicians about it, and many of them said, ‘You know I’ve had courses in things I will never see in my practice. But there’s a pretty darn good chance I’m going to see somebody who’s been deployed.’”
But getting military service training to be a required part of continuing education for doctors is a daunting task. “You’d have to deal (separately) with every state medical board,” says the VA’s Sanders.
There is also a parallel effort to put questions about military service not just on intake forms that patients fill out but also in the electronic medical records that are filled in by health care providers.
Erika Koch, a spokeswoman for Epic, the dominant software developer in the market, said that the company’s standard record does include questions about military service, but they don’t show up unless the customer — a hospital or doctor’s office – requests that. “Pediatrics, for example, will not turn it on,” she said.
But Baird insists that the question should be included on every single electronic medical record, including those for children: “The classic case would be a child struggling in school, who can’t sleep.” A doctor might prescribe medication, he said, “but never stops to ask if anybody in the (child’s) family has been deployed.”
Baird recognizes that while the adoption of the test questions marks a milestone, there is still a long way to go. “My goal is nothing less than making this a permanent aspect of our medical education and our health care system,” he said. “It’s rather shocking that it hasn’t been done actually.”
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1.35 - New Hampshire Public Radio (Audio): Recreation Therapy Program for Veterans Offers Relief from PTSD, TBI (10 November, Pete Biello, 182k online visitors/mo; Concord, NH)
Thirty-five year old Navy veteran Zech Anderson shifts gears on a mountain bike and glides down a leaf-littered path. He’s riding through the woods near UNH with a fellow veteran, Lou Fladger. Anderson’s been down this trail before.
"When I first started doing this biking stuff, I would be huffing and puffing by now," he says.
This summer he biked once or twice a week, but since classes started, he’s had to cut back to once or twice a month. An organization based on campus called Northeast Passage sets up the rides. The group offers recreation therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury.
Anderson has both. Rides like this give him time to focus on the moment and talk to other veterans. Northeast Passage provides the bikes and the helmets—all a veteran has to do is ask.
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Anderson and Fladger served in the military years apart, but they’re both fighting similar battles with their own minds. While serving as a prison guard in Iraq, Anderson kept watch over 150 terrorists. Death threats were routine. Once he was assaulted by a prisoner. Every day was life or death. He couldn’t kick that feeling when he came home.
"My ex-wife would ask me to get a gallon of milk from the store, and I would flip out because I didn’t see a reason why we had to get a gallon of milk right then and there," Anderson says. He’d think: Two miles to the store, two miles back. What if the road is rigged with bombs? What if someone tries to kill me?
After his marriage fell apart, his friend invited him to move to New Hampshire. So he did. Then the VA Hospital in Manchester referred him to Northeast Passage. He’s been biking ever since.
"It’s effective for me because it gets me out," he says. "Instead of sitting in my apartment all day long, watching TV and playing video games, I’m outside moving around."
All that moving around has helped him get off medication to treat his depression. He’s also socializing more.
Jill Gravink started the program and is its executive director. The program began in 1990 with a focus on helping anybody with a disability. "You just want to be sure that when our veterans return from combat, that they’re able to feel home here. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish for them," she says.
In 2006, Northeast Passage received a grant to work with veterans of the post 9/11 wars with physical disabilities. Eventually the program received a $300,000 grant from the VA to serve veterans from any war for any ailment, mental or physical.
"We had a woman who said—her husband was in Vietnam—There’s a whole generation of veterans who are gathering dust in a closet because they haven’t been able to get past some of the post-traumatic stress from Vietnam," says Gravink.
The VA renewed that $300,000 grant last year, and last year the program served 271 different veterans from New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. Northeast Passage also sends recreational therapists to veterans’ homes to help them become more active outside.
"We had a veteran that was talking about it was the first time in 50 years he’s been able to feel safe on a golf course," Gravink says.
It’s unclear whether that $300,000 grant will be renewed next year. But VA officials say they’re confident that some funding—if not this grant—will come through for Northeast Passage.
For Anderson, as the weather cools, he's thinking of taking up a new kind of recreation therapy: yoga.
“If somebody told me five years ago that I’d be doing yoga, I would have told them they were probably crazy. I never would have seen myself doing it.”
Zech Anderson says he’ll keep coming to Northeast Passage—and studying at UNH, where he plans to become a recreational therapist who specializes in helping veterans.
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1.36 - WCAV-TV (CBS-19): Legislation to Improve Staffing, Care at Veterans Affairs Health Facilities (10 November, 159k online visitors/mo; Charlottesville, VA)
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Mark Warner, has introduced legislation to change staffing policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs and improve veteran care at VA health care facilities.
According to a release, veterans face wait times of weeks or months for an appointment at VA health centers across the United States, causing roadblocks to timely and quality health care for veterans that stems partially from a shortfall of medical staff.
"Not long ago, the VA medical center in Hampton had one of the longest wait times in the nation for veterans attempting to access the care they have earned," said Warner. "In my repeated visits to that hospital and other VA facilities in my state, I've heard from local VA leadership again and again about their staffing challenges."
The legislation would make it easier for the VA to boost staffing by allowing servicemembers who have served in medical roles to transfer directly into the VA system.
It would also make it easier for VA facilities to transfer or share medical staff and services, and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physicians Assistants would be able to provide a greater range of care to patients.
The bill has the support of several organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Nurses Association.
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1.37 - Federal Computer Week: VA's troubled IT is a campaign trail topic (10 November, Adam Mazmanian, 150k online visitors/mo; Vienna, VA)
The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs have struggled for years to share health data with each other and with the private sector. The problem is an issue of perennial concern on Capitol Hill. Unlike many government IT issues, which are largely inward facing, problems in the systems that support veterans' care have a visible impact on the ability of the government to deliver services.
Understanding many of VA's IT issues -- which include electronic health records that aren't interoperable, an obsolete medical appointment scheduling system and a buggy intake system that doesn't flag combat veterans for the special benefits to which they are entitled -- involves getting down into the details of software delivery. But several Democratic presidential campaigns are digging into the specifics and have policy recommendations timed for Veterans Day.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to "personally convene the secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense" to get them to work on an effort that "integrates their health care operations." That includes making EHR systems fully interoperable between the VA and DOD, as well as ironing out interoperability issues within the different instances of the VA's VistA system.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley set a goal of promoting the "seamless transfer of health information from the Pentagon to the VA when service members are discharged" and improving the connections between the VA's system and the state-based health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. O'Malley also wants to grant the VA's inspector general new authority and resources, and improve the way whistleblower information is shared with senior executives.
Although Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is a former chairman and currently a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, he has not released any specific policy proposals about VA technology. However, he was an architect of the bipartisan Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, which passed just a few days after the confirmation of VA Secretary Robert McDonald. That bill established a technology task force to review the VA's scheduling system and required a top-down look at whether VistA should be retained for the long term.
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1.38 - Kennebec Journal: Togus director announces more staff, expansions of veterans’ care, Togus Director Ryan Lilly said some of the new hires for mental health services come in response to a federal watchdog report that linked the hospital to 'nationwide systematic problems' of delayed appointments or other problems (10 November, Keith Edwards, 146k online visitors/mo; Augusta, ME)
VA Maine Healthcare System has added 110 staff members over the last year, mostly at Togus, and plans to add space to its medical care facilities and replace its outdated long-term care facilities for veterans, officials announced Tuesday.
Of those 110 new workers, 19 work in mental health services. They were hired partly to address what a federal watchdog’s report earlier this year called “nationwide systematic problems” that were also linked to Togus, resulting in incomplete records of whether veterans received mental health services or waited long periods of time to receive those services.
Togus Director Ryan Lilly said Tuesday that 98 percent of veterans seeking assistance now get an appointment within 30 days, and they are working to increase that figure to 100 percent.
Lilly said since the start of the year, the VA Maine Healthcare System has increased staffing from 1,350 to 1,460 people, most of whom work at Togus. He said the majority of those new hires were unrelated to the report issued by the Office of the Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in June, which cited low staffing and scheduling issues at some veterans’ facilities across the country. The agency’s report linked Togus to problems similar to those at veterans’ hospitals nationwide that sparked a scandal last year.
Lilly said while 19 of the new hires are in mental health, most were added as part of an overall effort to improve veterans’ access to health care at Togus and eight smaller facilities across the
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state, not specifically in response to the Office of Inspector General report. That report concluded problems made it difficult to track whether patients had “unmet needs” and could have left veterans “slipping through the cracks” of the system.
“We won’t rest until every single veteran has timely, high-quality care,” Lilly said Tuesday. “Our goal is to be a leader both in the VA and across the state in improving access so we don’t have a wait list to access patient care. It’s a commitment we’re making to veterans on the medical side and the benefits side. They’ve earned that.”
But some patients wait more than 30 days for services, a fact that Lilly said officials are working to address.
Gary Laweryson, of Waldoboro, chairman of the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee, a group of veterans service organizations, said the staff hires in mental health services are key, and he’s pleased with what he’s seen.
“It’s good for the veterans, a good picture all around,” Laweryson said. “Togus, it’s an old hospital, but it’s a historical site, so they’re only allowed to do certain things there. I’d like to see them redo the hospital, which they have been doing internally. In the long run it’s a good thing, and the veterans, the majority will be happy.”
Under the plans announced Tuesday, the main hospital building at Togus will get an addition of 15,000 square feet for specialty services to improve access to medical care with design taking place this year and construction next year. Lilly said the addition will provide more space for doctors and other health care providers to see patients. The current setup at the hospital, he said, doesn’t provide enough examination rooms other than doctors’ offices.
Officials plan to build four 24-bed long-term care units to replace with more modern facilities the 100-bed long-term care building built in 1937 at Togus.
“The model has changed for long-term care,” Lilly said. “It will be more like being in a home than being in a hospital.”
System officials also plan to add 65,000 square feet in an as-yet-undetermined location to increase the size of its medical care clinic in Portland in a partnership with Maine Medical Center.
The Portland facility, which would take the place of a roughly 10,000-square-foot building there now, will be a multi-specialty clinic offering outpatient primary care, mental health, cardiology, some surgeries and other services, so veterans in that part of Maine won’t have to travel to Togus for those services.
Laweryson said he has some concerns about the Portland expansion if it draws services away from Togus.
“I understand why. It’ll make a teaching unit tie-in with Maine Medical Center, and that’s a good thing, as long as it doesn’t detract from Togus,” Laweryson said. “It’s going to be (a) bigger unit than in Lewiston and Bangor. We’ll watch it closely to make sure it doesn’t detract from Togus.”
Lilly said Togus has been fortunate in being able to find qualified professionals for the new positions, though positions in some specialties, such as dermatology, have been hard to fill
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because of a lack of people in those fields here. He said the VA still is hiring but is starting to reach the number of employees it has the funds to hire. He does not anticipate hiring another 110 new employees in the coming year, as was the case this past year.
Meanwhile, a new networking group, Putting Maine Veterans First, is in the process of forming with a goal of better sharing information about veterans’ benefits and how to access them with veterans across the state, according to Julie Carie, acting director of the Togus Regional Office of the Veterans Benefits Administration.
The group formed as part of the national effort to establish “MyVA” community groups open to veterans, stakeholders, advocates and anyone involved in existing, community-based efforts to help veterans.
Carie said the goal is to create networks to help veterans understand what benefits they are eligible for and how to get access to those benefits.
“They’ll come together with other groups and share information and enhance the veterans’ experience,” said Denise Benson, staff assistant in the Togus Regional Office. “They’ll help cut through the red tape so services are more readily available.”
Veterans and others interested in participating in the Putting Maine Veterans First networking group may contact Peter Ogden at [email protected]. The group has met once so far. Participants include representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Maine Veterans Services, the Maine Military and Community Network, the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Easter Seals, Volunteers of America, Team Red White and Blue, the American Red Cross, the Wounded Heroes Program, the Travis Mills Foundation and Veterans Inc.
“It’s an effort to take all the stakeholders and get them together in one place to leverage everybody’s efforts and make sure we’re not duplicating efforts,” said Chris Burke, change management agent for the Togus Regional Office. “The state, nonprofits, the VA … we’ll all be getting together and making sure everyone knows what benefits we provide. In the end it will give a much better level of customer service to veterans.”
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1.39 - Task & Purpose: How VA Privatization Can Improve Veterans’ Health Care (10 November, Darisse Smith, 102k online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Privatizing the Veterans Health Administration would give vets the same options in health care as every insured American.
The 2014 scandal involving the Phoenix Veterans Health Administration infuriated the nation, but produced at least one positive effect. As more details emerge about the systemic ways waiting times were manipulated for big executive bonuses, Americans agree that radical reform is needed throughout the VHA. According to a Gallup poll conducted in June 2014, 87% of Americans thought that reform of veteran’s health care was extremely or very important. Of course, how to reform the VHA remains up for extensive debate. Following the resignation Of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Bob McDonald took the helm and implemented
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several changes. After replacing Shinseki, McDonald immediately increased pay for VA physicians, put 1,000 employees on administrative leave for cheating the system, and hired thousands of new health-care workers into the VHA. The 2014 Veterans Access Choice and Accountability Act was also passed in order to temporarily alleviate waiting times for some eligible veterans.
Many question whether enough has been done. Veterans advocacy group, Concerned Veterans for America, released a comprehensive plan in February 2015 to partially privatize the VHA, arguing that privatization would resolve many of the issues currently plaguing the VA by striking a better balance between government oversight and veteran choice.
Whether a country’s health care system is considered government-run, such as Britain’s National Health Service, or more privately run like the United States, each system has a mix of both government and private funds and interaction. For example even in our mostly privately run health care system, the government provides subsidies and standards through Medicare and Medicaid. Most of the presidential candidates’ plans to privatize the VHA call for the government to subsidize private insurance for veterans. President Obama has already made a move to privatize the veteran health-care experience in the aftermath of the Phoenix VA scandal. The 2014 Veteran’s Choice Access and Accountability Act provided a $10 billion government subsidy that allowed veterans on waiting lists for more than 30 days or those living over 40 miles from a VA hospital access to non-VA providers. The 2010 Affordable Care Act is another example of how government subsidies are used. In the case of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the government subsidies were intended to bring costs down so that all Americans had access to health care. Though these two acts were executed with substantial hiccups, the theory behind each law demonstrates a government effort to wed public funds with existing medical centers within the private sector.
Privatizing veterans health care offers substantial benefits to veterans; the greatest benefit that veterans would have greater choice between medical providers. A typical insured American can choose from dozens of practitioners for their health needs. Though some VA hospitals are excellent, others barely meet minimum quality standards, creating an uneven balance of quality care for veterans living throughout the country. Some have long waiting lists while others are overstaffed and empty. For example, the VA hospital in Boston is considered one of the best hospitals in the VA system because of its low infection rates and mortality percentages. VA hospitals in Phoenix, Atlanta, and Houston, on the other hand, have higher than average rates of both infection and mortality, according to a 2014 Wall Street Journal report. The government should focus on subsidizing veterans’ private health insurance like it does for Medicare, Medicaid, and even as it is attempting to do with the Affordable Care Act.
Concerned Veterans for America and The Tarrance Group conducted a national survey of 1,005 veterans asking about their experience with the Veterans Health Administration. Eighty percent of respondents believe that they should have a choice where they receive health care in the future. Privatizing the VHA would give veterans more control and choice in determining their medical care, allowing those with substandard VA hospitals near them to receive better treatment.
Many veterans service organizations are against any form of privatization because they believe civilian practitioners do not understand the specific needs of veterans, especially in the cases of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. While certainly the VHA has helped make advancements toward traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, veterans are not the only group affected by either disorder. The Perelman School of Medicine’s Center
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for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania and the Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Texas are two superb examples of civilian hospitals that provide extraordinary care for injuries many veterans experience. Without any form of private health care affordable to veterans, veterans are relegated to what is available in their local area and local VA hospital. Why shouldn’t veterans have the same amount of choice in health care that is available to every insured American?
A second advantage of privatization involves measuring overall efficacy. Currently, the VHA is not required to release data on quality, safety, patients’ experience, cost-effectiveness, or timeliness. In 2014, the Government Accountability Office released a report stating that it was impossible to compare health care costs because the VHA does not release these kinds of numbers. Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE are all government run and subsidized and each program must release specific data on the above mentioned factors. How can we know if the VHA is providing overall quality treatment to veterans when it is not required to prove it? The lack of transparency is a factor in how scandals involving misuse of public funds can occur without much notice. By making the VHA operate as a private organization, it will have to provide statistics that demonstrate its quality by commonly accepted benchmarks.
The VHA is unlike any health system in the world in that it is completely run from within. Though it is responsible for some remarkable advances in medicine, the more enduring qualities are long periods of waiting between appointments, scandals, and abuse of government funds, and uneven quality between hospitals. A health-care system of this immense size that does not use any private resources is unsustainable and unrealistic. Even health-care systems that are largely public such as those in Scandinavia, Germany, and Britain rely on privately run facilities to supplement their existing public systems.
Scandinavian countries outsource long-term elderly care to private facilities. Privately owned hospitals in France are able to operate for much less than public ones, so the French government often shows a preference for patients to use them over the national hospitals. These countries have discovered a balance between private and public health care that provide excellent care to its citizens, yet the VHA is run dependent only on its own internal resources. Any level of privatization would benefit the overall care each veteran receives.
Health care is a hot topic for most Americans especially as health care costs increase, making equal access much more difficult. As civilian citizens determine what health-care system is best for everyone, veterans are relegated to a highly bureaucratic, wasteful, and obtuse system that can not even answer how effective it is in standard treatments. Veterans have served our country and made sacrifices in their health yet the care available to them lacks choice and reliability. Privatizing the VHA would give veterans the same options in health care as every insured American. Certainly veterans have earned that advantage.
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1.40 - Santa Clarita Valley Signal: Jane M. McNamara: Are VA benefits available to the veteran in your life? (10 November, Jane M. McNamara, 89k online visitors/mo; Santa Clarita, CA)
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During this time of year we honor those who served our country. As an accredited attorney with the Veterans Administration, I want to make sure our veterans understand and obtain the benefits available to them.
Many people are aware of veterans benefits that assist with the cost of education or training.
Another well-known benefit involves monthly compensation benefits, which are available based on a service-connected injury, such as hearing loss or tinnitus.
However, there is also an important benefit that helps veterans financially as they age and require care. This benefit is referred to as Non-Service Connected Pension plus Aid and Attendance, which is designed to assist with the high cost of long-term care for veterans and their surviving spouses.
World War II and Korean War veterans are the most likely recipients of this benefit, as they are typically aging adults who need care and assistance.
If the veteran actively served in the U.S. military for a minimum of 90 consecutive days, including at least one day during a qualified war period, and the veteran or spouse is paying for care, this benefit may be available. This VA Aid and Attendance benefit provides a monthly tax- free income to veterans or their surviving spouses to help offset assisted-living or other care facility costs.
It can also be beneficial if a veteran is privately paying for care in the home, or even paying a family member to help them. The benefits can pay up to $1,788 for single veterans, $2,120 for a married veteran ($2,838 if both are veterans) and $1,149 for surviving spouses of veterans.
General qualifications to obtain these benefits include a discharge other than a “dishonorable,” high care costs versus income, and limited assets.
The Veterans Administration considers qualified wartime periods as World War I (Apr. 6, 1917- Nov. 11, 1918), World War II (Dec. 7, 1941-Dec. 31, 1946), the Korean War (June 27, 1950- Jan. 31, 1955), the Vietnam War (Aug. 5, 1964-May 7, 1975, or Feb. 28, 1961-May 7, 1975, in Vietnam) and the Gulf War (Aug. 2, 1990 through date to be set by law by presidential proclamation).
World War II era veterans and Korean War veterans are aging and experiencing a multitude of illnesses due to advancing age: strokes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, etc.
As a result, their care needs have increased as well as their care costs. As many veterans are on fixed and/or limited incomes, this benefit can allow the veteran or spouse to obtain the needed care either in the home or in a care facility, which can make a real difference in their quality of life.
The VA uses a formula that is based on life expectancy, income, assets and unreimbursed medical expenses.
If VA calculations indicate that a veteran’s assets will last their lifetime with their current care costs and income, eligibility will be denied.
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However, a VA-accredited attorney can assist veterans to qualify for these important benefits or to plan for future eligibility.
Great care must be taken to ensure the veteran or surviving spouse do not run afoul of the California Medi-Cal laws when planning for VA benefit eligibility. Medi-Cal is very important if skilled nursing care is required, as skilled care costs commonly exceed $8,000 per month in California, and the eligibility rules are very stringent.
Medi-Cal has different qualification rules than the Veterans Administration. If assets are not structured properly, a senior may hurt his or her ability to get Medi-Cal and or VA benefits.
A long-term view and approach to Medi-Cal and VA benefit planning is critical. The cost savings can literally exceed $100,000 per year and prevent an estate recovery against the family home for the Medi-Cal benefits provided.
Although veterans can apply directly for VA benefits by filing an application with a Veterans Service Organization (VSO), it is important to understand that a VSO can only submit an application.
It cannot give legal advice regarding eligibility for VA Aid and Attendance benefits, or for long- term Medi-Cal benefits.
Attorney Jane McNamara will host a seminar titled “VA Benefits to Help Pay for Long Term Care and Assisted Living Costs” at Summerhill Villa, 24331 Lyons Avenue, Valencia, on Nov. 17, 2015, at 6 p.m. Veterans and their families are invited to attend. RSVPs are encouraged at 661- 254-9933, as space is limited.
Jane M. McNamara is a Valencia based VA accredited elder law attorney.
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1.41 - Kearney Hub: Serving nation’s veterans, keeping our promises (9 November, Jason Rodgers, 81k online visitors/mo; Kearney, NE)
Many Americans are aware of the health care services provided to military veterans through Veterans Administration, but there’s another aspect to VA that is not as familiar to many people — VA Regional Benefits Offices. During my time as the acting director of the Lincoln Regional Benefits Office, I have seen first-hand the hard work my employees do in serving our Nebraska veterans. As we approach Veterans Day, I pause to reflect on the achievements of our office during the past year in serving our Nebraska veterans.
The Lincoln Regional Benefits Office serves more than 130,000 veterans in Nebraska and employs more than 300 employees — more than half of whom are veterans themselves.
During any given year, more than 40,000 Nebraska veterans receive some type of disability compensation or pension benefit administrated by my office. Last year my, office paid out more than $400 million in benefits. In the last 12 months the employees of the Lincoln Regional Office completed over 20,000 claims from veterans in Nebraska and 26 other states, an increase of 18 percent over last year. While we have completed more claims than ever, we have still
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maintained a high level of quality. We had a 98-percent accuracy rate on veterans’ claims for October 2014 to September 2015, the highest accuracy rate of the country’s 56 regional benefits offices.
Because our office has a long history of success, we were given the opportunity to become one of the six new fiduciary hubs in the nation. Starting in August 2011, we began consolidating fiduciary units from the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Currently, we oversee the financial affairs of more than 20,000 veterans who have been deemed unable to manage their own funds. These are some of our most vulnerable veterans, and my employees take great pride ensuring that the daily needs of these veterans and their beneficiaries are provided for by their fiduciary. During fiscal 2015, the Lincoln Fiduciary Hub completed over 10,000 field visits to veterans and their fiduciaries. In addition the fiduciary hub completed over 3,000 accountings and released over $16 million in retroactive benefits once the fiduciary was appointed. Our Phone Team also provided much needed customer service by answering over 35,000 calls to address questions or concerns by our veterans, their family members and fiduciaries. We completed the year with a 95-percent accuracy rate, which is highest of all the fiduciary hubs.
As our office has grown to serve more veterans, our Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment division has expanded outside of the office. We now have Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Offices in Omaha, Lincoln and Sidney. These offices assist veterans by providing services to help with job training, employment accommodations, resume development and coaching in job seeking skills. Other services may be provided to assist veterans in starting their own businesses or in providing independent living services for those who are severely disabled and unable to work in traditional employment. Along with these offices, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment division recently partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Bellevue University to establish the Vet Success on Campus program. This program places a VA Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor at each of these campuses to assist veterans in making the transition from Military life to college life.
If you are a veteran and have not checked to see what benefits you are entitled to, I strongly encourage you to stop into our office in Lincoln at 3800 Village Drive or visit one of Nebraska’s many county veterans service officers.
Jason Rogers is acting director of the VA’s Lincoln Regional Office.
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1.42 - Augusta Free Press: Poll: Americans blame Congress, VA for poor care of veterans (10 November, 77k online visitors/mo; Waynesboro, VA)
Republicans and Democrats rarely agree on anything these days, but as the nation prepares to celebrate its bravest, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that the vast majority of all Americans believe the United States is shortchanging its veterans.
In a nationwide survey of adults, PublicMind finds that almost half (48%) believe the US is doing a poor job in caring for its veterans, with an additional third (32%) who believe their treatment can best be described as fair. Just three percent believe care for our veterans is excellent and
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15 percent say it is good. Together, a full 80 percent believe the United States’ care of veterans is less than “good.”
Partisans of both stripes are of like minds on this question, with 78 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans giving the US a less than stellar grade regarding veteran care.
“On this day devoted to honoring military service, when we are faced with the prospect of increased military action abroad, it is especially important to take stock of whether the nation is providing the proper care for its veterans,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind. “These new poll findings indicate the public thinks the government is merely paying lip service to its solemn vow to care for those who put themselves in harm’s way.”
This poor view of the government’s care for veterans was consistent across categories, including veterans and non-veterans – and it shows little variation whether or not respondents live in a household with a veteran. “Apparently you don’t need to experience the unsatisfactory nature of veteran care up close and personal in order to appreciate how disappointing it can be,” said Jenkins.
Congress is seen as most to blame for letting veterans down. When asked who is to blame for not giving veterans their due, a plurality (42%) points the finger at Congress, with around a third (29%) who identifies the Department of Veterans Affairs(VA). Eleven percent blame President Obama. This question elicited similar responses among both Democrats and Republicans, with blame apportioned nearly identically between veteran and non-veteran households.
“The Veterans that I speak with on a daily basis are disillusioned by the inconsistency of the federal government. This new poll confirms that many Americans feel the same way,” said Paul Anderson, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Director of Veteran Services, and a 30+ year Marine Corps and State Department veteran.
Opinion is more divided on the question of where help is needed the most. Americans were given a choice of the following areas: Physical care, mental health, job training and employment assistance, and housing for homeless vets. A little more than a third (37%) believe veterans today are mostly in need of additional mental health services, with more than a fifth (22%) expressing the most concern for the homeless vet population.
“All of these areas are of vital importance to veterans. The public seems keenly aware of the breadth and depth of the current problems,” said Jenkins.
Given the problems that have lately plagued the VA, Americans were also asked whether government or the private sector is best positioned to tend to the needs of veterans. A majority believe the responsibility should remain with government (56%), with 35 percent who believe the private sector would do a better job.
Democrats and Republicans part ways on the question of government versus private sector support. More than two thirds (69%) of Democrats trust government to do the right thing, with over half of Republicans (55%) preferring the job of caring for veterans be outsourced to private companies.
Methodology – The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone October 1-5, 2015 among a random national sample of 1026 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of +/-3.7 percentage points, including the design effect.
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1.43 - California Healthline: VA Secretary Says Wait Times Are Growing Despite Increase in Staff (10 November, 71k online visitors/mo; United States)
The number of appointments that are not completed within 30 days at Department of Veterans Affairs health care centers continues to grow despite the department's efforts to increase clinic and hospital staffing and see more patients, AP/Modern Healthcare reports.
VA Secretary Robert McDonald on Friday said in the last fiscal year VA:
Completed millions more appointments than it did in the preceding year; and Hired thousands of new providers.
The number of appointments that are not completed within 30 days has increased from 300,000 to 500,000.
McDonald noted that veterans who have other sources of coverage are increasingly seeking VA care because of its:
Affordability; Convenience; and Effectiveness. For example, he noted that treatment for hearing loss can be cost $4,000 less for veterans if they go through VA instead of other coverage.
McDonald noted, "Access to care has improved. But here's the inevitability: Improved access means more demand." Still, McDonald did not endorse proposals to provide veterans with vouchers to obtain care from private health care providers. He said that while analyzing such proposals, he "discovered" that "VA is not only essential for veterans, the VA is essential for American medicine because we're on the cutting edge of so many treatments" (AP/Modern Healthcare, 11/6).
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1.44 - Augusta Chronicle: Local veteran defends VA care at Veterans Day celebration (10 November, Wesley Brown, 45,265 online visitors/mo, Augusta, GA)
A retired Army major who served in Afghanistan as a Special Forces medic defended the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, saying that the agency’s Augusta hospital saved his life and is committed to its more than 45,000 patients regionwide.
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“Roughly one in three VA employees are veterans. That’s huge,” said Maj. Peter Way during Augusta’s Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center’s Veterans’ Day ceremony. “As a veteran, it’s comforting to come to a place where I am surrounded by veterans who understand my struggles. It’s a unique experience.”
Speaking before a crowd of 200 people, almost all of them veterans and active-duty service members, Way said his message of VA praise comes after reading that Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson suggested folding the federal health care system into the U.S. Department of Defense.
Instead of receiving care at government-run hospitals, Carson campaigned in late August that veterans should have health-savings accounts that pay for treatment at private medical facilities. He said VA clinics could then be used for specialized treatment of traumatic brain injuries and limb replacements — problems that particularly afflict veterans.
The neurosurgeon’s comments follow two years of revelations of negligent VA care, including in Augusta, where administrators allegedly falsified medical records to close 50 unresolved consultations for outside treatment and delayed 4,580 endoscopy procedures that as a result, led to three cancer-related deaths in 2011.
Way said “nothing can be further from what needs to happen” than Carson’s proposal. “The VA has received a lot of criticism, but I cannot attest to any of that in my personal experience,” said Way, who receives physical and occupational therapy at the Augusta VA. “This is unique care that we get here, different from anywhere else we can go.”
Way completed University of Georgia’s ROTC program in 1989 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. After returning to UGA to complete a Master’s Degree in Nursing, he joined the medical corps and in 2002 was deployed to Afghanistan to serve as a Special Forces medic.
He was injured in 2003 twice, once by a grenade and again while removing a soldier from a vehicle, and was medically retired in December 2013 as a result of his injuries and complications after 24 years of service.
In August 2014, his injured right leg became re-infected and was amputated above the knee this past February. The Augusta VA has streamlined his recovery, which includes use of a prosthetic leg and the assistance of a service dog to help with his balance.
Today, the Martinez resident volunteers as a board member for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind and serves as advocate, handler and trainer for VetDogs, an organization that places service animals with veterans.
“VA health care and benefits were not even a factor when I joined the Army,” Way said. “It didn’t cross my mind that I would need it or want it. Turns out, I need it. I want it. It saved my life many times over. This is a special place.”
In honor of Veterans Day, which traces its origin to the 11th hour of Nov. 11, 1918, when the guns of World War I were silenced, Maria Andrews, director of the Augusta VA, offered support for Way’s message.
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She said more than 50 million men and women have served to protect American freedom and that nearly 1.5 million troops have been wounded and almost 1.2 million have died in that fight. “Our nation owes veterans a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid,” she said. “It’s our duty, not just on Veterans Day, but every day, to remember the sacrifices they’ve made and to make certain that our commitments to them and their families are honored.”
Thomas Gregg, 44, attended the Veterans Day celebration with his post-traumatic stress disorder support group at the Augusta VA.
Gregg, who served in the Navy from 1990 to 1998 and was deployed during the Gulf War, said he found Way’s message “heartwarming” and “sincere.”
“It makes you feel good as a veteran that you have the support of people like that,” he said.
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1.45 - Healthcare DIVE: Despite more staff at VA, veterans still waiting for care (10 November, Nina Flanagan, 40k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Dive Brief:
Robert McDonald, Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, said despite hiring more staff, veterans' wait time for medical care continues to grow. Although the VA completed 3.1 million more appointments in the past fiscal year versus the previous one, the number of appointments not completed in 30 days increased from 300,000 to 500,000. McDonald said more veterans are going to the VA versus other facilities because it is more convenient, effective and cheaper, as reported in Yahoo News. "Access to care has improved, but here's the inevitability: Improved access means more demand," McDonald explained.
Dive Insight:
McDonald said the VA plans to hold a nation-wide event at all its hospitals on Nov. 14, so teams of clinical leaders, administrators, and volunteers can contact veterans with acute needs to ensure their healthcare needs are being addressed.
A VA scandal broke last year, which cost the public $16 billion, with several senior employees, resulting in former VA Secretary, Eric Shinseki and Allison Hickey, former Under Secretary for Benefits, resigning. Healthcare Dive reported last month about a CNN investigation which found evidence wait times were significantly increasing and the VA had publicly confirmed a change in its wait-time calculations. The VA calculates wait times by measuring the time the date a patient prefers to be seen and the date the appointment is completed.
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1.46 - KTSA-FM (FM-99.9): Update: Growing Concerns Over Wait Times at San Antonio V.A. (10 November, John D. Taylor, 27k online visitors/mo; Rapid City, SD)
You can hear the concern and frustration growing as another Veteran’s Day approaches.
Wait times have been on the rise at Veteran’s Affairs facilities in San Antonio, and a number of others around the country.
“I asked that very question to the Director at Audie Murphy about wait times” said the American Legion’s National Commander Dale Barnett. He told KTSA News his group understands there is a fine line between providing the services so many veterans need–and making sure the V.A. is being good stewards of American tax dollars.
Top brass at Veterans Affairs admit cash has been a big challenge, as more and more vets come forward, looking for care from the V.A.
“To bring on board the staff, add the additional space, to be able to refer veterans for care in the community where it’s needed–that’s the big challenge for us” said Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson, adding they continue to work with the House ands Senate on that.
“We’re working very closely with Congress–with, really all of our Congressional Committees on both the authorizing and appropriation side” Gibson said.
As for those increasing wait times, Gibson told KTSA News that’s a source of growing frustration for him personally.
“I will tell you that’s not acceptable–not acceptable to me. Where they are not getting the care they need–timely–they need to raise their hand and make sure we’re aware of that–make sure we know” Gibson said.
All in all, Barnett said the American Legion supports the V.A.
“We want to be sure we empower them to hold their employees–their senior leadership– accountable to the veteran, and to the American Taxpayer” Barnett said, frustrated himself that the accountability all too often seems to be lacking.
“We’re still seeing cases where people are not being held accountable for their actions” Barnett said.
On Tuesday, an amendment pressed by Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to the Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations bill would require the V.A. Secretary to provide Congress with a plan to address long wait times at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.
The pair had earlier written the V.A. Secretary to express their frustration over growing wait times and demand action be taken.
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1.47 - Rapid City Journal: Update on the Hot Springs VA issue, meeting dates set (10 November, John D. Taylor, 23k online visitors/mo; Rapid City, SD)
Several developments have occured in the effort to prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Black Hills Health Care System, from moving forward with what many perceive are its plans to move the current domiciliary from Hot Springs to Rapid City and eventually close the Hot Springs VA facility.
Preferred choice
While the recently released Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) made no official recommendation of the six alternatives examined, the VA’s “preferred” choice with the Hot Springs VA – spelled out in Option A of the EIS – would be to:
•Begin purchasing healthcare for veterans from “community providers,” like Fall River Health Services.
•Construct a multi-specialty outpatient clinic and 100-bed residential rehabilitation treatment program facility in Rapid City.
•Construct a community-based outpatient clinic in Hot Springs.
•Discontinue services at the Hot Springs campus—which includes the Battle Mountain Sanitarium, a National Historic Landmark—then identify and approve “appropriate re-use” of the Hot Springs facility.
The draft EIS is available on the VA BHHCS website www.blackhills.va.gov/vablackhillsfuture/ and at the Hot Springs, Rapid City (downtown), Sturgis, Chadron, Alliance, Scottsbluff and Pierre (Rawlins Municipal) public libraries; as well as in Pine Ridge at the Oglala Lakota College Pine Ridge Center library at the high school. The city of Hot Springs and the Fall River County commissioners also have a copy of the EIS.
For more information, contact Teresa Forbes, Public Affairs Officer, VA Black Hills Health Care System at (605) 720-7451, or [email protected], or http://www.blackhills.va.gov/ and https://www.facebook.com/VABlackHills.
Save the VA committee
Bob Nelson, co-chair of the committee, shared several activities of Hot Springs’s own Save the VA committee during the last week.
Save the VA has officially requested that the VA extend the comment period on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from 60 days to 90 days. Save the VA asked this because November and December are very busy periods for most people, due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. “We believe an additional 30 days to provide public comments is appropriate under these circumstances,” Save the VA’s request notes.
Save the VA also requested five documents from the VA pertaining to the EIS and its decision to relocate under the Freedom Of Information Act. The group is asking to see the Black Hills Health Care System VA’s Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, report from the College of American Pathologists, the report from the Commission on Accreditation for
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Rehabilitation Facilities, the Facility Condition Assessment, the Inspector General reports and the Annual Workplace Assessment.
Save the VA’s contention has, for some time, been that the VA is using bogus numbers and outdated, incorrect information upon which to base its decisions. These reports should reveal much.
Daniel P. Gadomski, VA Black Hills HCS, Privacy and Freedom of Information Act Officer, acknowledged receipt of the group’s request
VA’s Black Hills Heatlh Care System
Meanwhile, the VA has announced the dates and times of the six public meetings to be held regarding the draft EIS. The meetings are designed to “provide information and accept comments” on the draft EIS, and the public is invited to attend.
Verbal and written comments will be accepted at these meetings. Those planning on speaking should sign up on the speakers list after arriving.
Also written comments can also be submitted until Jan. 5, 2016 on-line at www.blackhillseis.com, by email to [email protected], or by regular mail to Staff Assistant to the Director, VA BHHCS, 113 Comanche Road, Fort Meade, SD 57741.
The meeting dates, locations and times include:
•Rapid City – Monday, Nov. 30, Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center, Lincoln Room, North LaCrosse Street. Doors open at 5 p.m., the meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
•Hot Springs – Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Red Rock River Resort, 603 N River St. Doors open 5:00 p.m., the meeting is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
•Pine Ridge – Wednesday, Dec. 2, Pine Ridge School cafeteria, located at 101 Thorpe Circle. Doors open 1 p.m., the meeting will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
•Chadron – Wednesday, Dec. 2, Chadron State College, Student Center ballroom, 1000 Main St. Doors open 6 p.m., the meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
•Alliance – Thursday, Dec. 3, Newberry’s, 502 Box Butte Ave. Doors open at 12:30 p.m., meeting will be held 1 to 3 p.m.
•Scottsbluff – Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Gering Civic Center, Oregon Trail Room, 1050 M Street. Doors open 6 p.m., the meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
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2. Ending Veterans’ Homelessness
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2.1 - NJ.com: Trenton on track to end veterans homelessness by year end (10 November, Cristina Rojas, 6.7M online visitors/mo; Iselin, NJ)
Clinton Geddis' descent into homelessness began when he returned home from war and was unable to cope with the day-to-day stress.
"When it's all over, when you lay down your weapons and you're not under orders anymore, what becomes of you?" said Geddis, 65, a Marine who served two tours in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. "You still have to live, you still have to maintain ... so I had to learn how to do that. We're not taught how to do that."
He turned to drinking and crack cocaine, which eventually landed him on the streets.
"Being homeless, walking on the streets of Trenton, it's not a very nice place to be," he said. "I'm very prideful, but to tell someone that I needed help, I had to learn how to do that and today I'm getting the help that I deserve and need."
Geddis, who spent two years on the streets, has now been a home of his own for the past four years.
"I love going home at the end of the day and putting my key in," he said. "It just feels good. I'm part of society again."
Geddis' story is not uncommon.
There were 79 homeless veterans in Mercer County at the start of this year, but on Tuesday, city and county officials announced they were confident in their plan to reduce that number to "functional zero" by December.
PLUS: 12,000-flag display at Rider University honors veterans
Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes officially accepted first lady Michelle Obama's Mayors Challenge to End Veterans Homelessness, joining hundreds of other elected officials who have committed to try and end the problem of homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015.
"Our commitment to veterans needs to be more than a one-day observance," Jackson said. "This is a moral imperative. Veterans have served us and it is only right that we provide them with permanent housing and the support services that they need for a brighter future that begins with a place to call home."
The city and county first began tackling the issue in January through a collaborative effort with the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, veteran groups and nonprofit homeless agencies.
The partners worked together to identify all homeless veterans — many of whom came through the Rescue Mission of Trenton — and create an electronic master list.
"Everyone's on the same page with every single person," said Jim Brownlee, the city's director of Health and Human Services.
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Of the 79 veterans, 23 percent were chronically homeless, 48 percent had a disabling condition and at least half were older than 55. The oldest veteran was 88 years old and the youngest, just 29.
"There are real-life human beings behind every one of those numbers, human beings that are not so different than you and I," said Frank Cirillo, executive director of the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness. "When the parades stop, the flags go away and the marching stops and all the fanfare goes away, there are real-life people who need help and we're here to do that."
Through a coordinated screening process and partnerships with Soldier On, Community Hope and other housing providers, the veterans are quickly linked to the housing and supportive services they need.
For example, Solider On, which has helped 210 county veterans and their families since 2013, has extended its outreach to the Rescue Mission and the Trenton train station.
Over the last 10 months, 64 homeless veterans have been placed into housing and officials vowed the remaining 15 will be housed by the end of the year.
Hughes said it's important that the partners work toward ending homelessness, not simply managing it.
"We have to make sure that we do it quickly and get them into a place that's respectable, honest and fair where we can wrap around services and we can make sure that everything that they need is provided to them," he said.
Cirillo said there will always be homeless veterans, but the city and county now have the resources and coordinated system to screen, prioritize and house them within 30 days.
"If they're homeless in the county, we'll eventually get to them because they'll end up somewhere to either be ID'd or to ask for services or anything else, so that's how we will see them," Brownlee said. "We follow these individuals from the first day they present themselves here."
Much of the success has been the result of the Coordinated Entry and Assessment Services Center, a one-stop center that opened in April on Perry Street.
Jackson announced that the city will be awarded the 2015 Innovation in Governance Award by the state League of Municipalities and Department of Community Affairs next week for its CEAS center.
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2.2 - The Birmingham News: We must do more to help our homeless veterans (10 November, J. Pepper Bryars, 4.5M online visitors/mo; Birmingham, AL)
There is a simple seven-word line in the Soldier's Creed that always strikes a chord in my heart whenever I hear it uttered: "I will never leave a fallen comrade."
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It's both a task and a promise, and it's something that soldiers, and all members of our armed forces, take very seriously. Many men and women have risked their lives, and some have died, living up to those words.
But what about our brothers and sisters in arms who have fallen on another type of battlefield, far from the sounds of rifles and mortars but still within an environment that can certainly take their lives, if not already their health, well-being and dignity?
This week, only hours after Veterans Day parades have wound their way through our nation's cities, and after the speeches and patriotic slogans have faded from our minds, nearly 50,000 veterans will be sleeping in the streets, in their cars, or in homeless shelters. Prior year estimates have shown that there were more than 500 homeless veterans in Alabama alone.
This is a great shame, and an indelible stain on our nation's honor.
We've heard about the problem before, of course. I remember as a little boy listening to stories on the evening news about homeless Vietnam veterans sleeping in the park across from the White House. The fact that a former soldier was homeless saddened me when I was a kid, and it burns me up now that I'm an adult.
Many folks feel the same way, but I know there are others who look at homeless veterans and assume that they've brought on their own problems: they became addicted to drugs and alcohol, some may think, and simply refused to straighten up. Others may believe that in this age of a massive welfare state, veterans must be homeless by some sort of inexplicable choice, and that if they really wanted help they could easily get it from a variety of government and private sources.
These homeless veterans stuck their necks out for their country and didn't ask for much in return. Part of that might be true for some homeless veterans, but might not be true for others. I'm not hero-worshipping here. I know some of them are no angels and some may indeed be partly to blame for their condition ... but so what?
Before raising their right hands and agreeing to protect our nation, did these veterans first ask if the people they might die to protect were worthy of such a sacrifice? No, they didn't. They signed-up to fight, and if need be, die, to protect the freedoms of every American, whether those they fought for were decent folks or not, and to protect the interests of the United States, whether those interests were sensible or not.
Besides, many homeless veterans are battling serious obstacles that would knock most people flat. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, "a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, which are compounded by a lack of family and social support networks."
It may seem impossible with the amount of tax dollars thrown at this problem, but at-risk veterans can, and do, slip between the cracks. Big government, even when armed with the noblest of intent, is still a clumsy, inefficient and impersonal mess.
So what's to be done? Some experts say that while the Department of Veterans Affairs certainly has the resources, the best way to tackle the problem is through local groups that are operated by fellow veterans.
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"The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, 'veterans helping veterans' groups," according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. "Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves."
So contact your mayor's office and ask what groups are active in your community. Call them today and pledge your time or your money, or both.
These homeless veterans stuck their necks out for their country and didn't ask for much in return. Offering them a helping hand is the least we can do, because we should never leave a fallen comrade, regardless of the battlefield.
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2.3 - WISH-TV (CW-8, Video): Program gives homeless veterans a place of their own (10 November, Evan Johnson, 1.3M online visitors/mo; Indianapolis, IN)
Matt Igleski enjoys spending time at home watching television and reading when he’s not volunteering in the community. His studio apartment is only 324 square feet, but it means a lot to the Navy veteran who was once homeless.
“It feels more like a home than any place I’ve been since ’03,” he said.
Igleski joined the U.S. Navy in 1985, just before his 18th birthday. Serving in the Armed Forces was a tradition in his family.
“My dad was in the Navy. My mom was in the Navy. I had an uncle in the Navy — three uncles in the Navy, two that were in Toyoko Bay at the surrender of Japan,” Igleski said. “When I was a kid I wore my dad’s jumper, you know, the navy blues and all that stuff.”
After his service stint, Igleski taught English as a second language for 8 and a half years in Korea and Thailand. He returned to the United States in 2011 and said he learned about the impact the economic recession had on those he knew and the rest of the country.
“I was gone so long I didn’t have property here,” he said. “Nobody was in any position to help anybody when I came back, so I went to a shelter for two weeks.”
The veteran, who has a degree in general studies from Indiana University Northwest, said he lived in per diem housing before he was told about the HUD-VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) Program.
Lorrie Trowbridge with the Bloomington Housing Authority oversees the VASH Program. She said it’s a responsibility she holds close to her heart.
“My husband, Seth, was stationed at Fort Bragg,” Trowbridge explained. “He retired as a staff sergeant. The Army gave so much to my family.”
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Inside Trowbridge’s office is a board hanging on the wall with several military patches.
“It’s always something we talk about. They come in and they look and they say, ‘Wait a minute! You’re a veteran?’ and I have to explain, ‘No, I’m not a veteran. My husband is,'” Trowbridge said. “I think that makes them relax. They become a little bit more comfortable with me and they feel like I can identify with them better.”
Trowbridge said the Bloomington Housing Authority was initially given 25 VASH vouchers in 2009 by HUD. Now, the department has 80 vouchers they are able to give to area veterans. Seventy eight of the vouchers are already filled, and the remaining two are expected to be filled by December 2015.
Trowbridge explained, “A homeless veteran needs to first contact the VA and they have social workers that are assigned to the VASH Program, and they will help determine whether or not they qualify for VASH. In order to qualify for HUD-VASH, you must meet the VA’s definition of veteran, which means you’re eligible for VA health benefits. So once that is done then the VASH social worker helps them complete the application, obtaining the necessary verifications and identifications, then they turn then into the Bloomington Housing Authority. We process the application, bring the client in, we do a briefing, issue them their voucher; they go out and they find where they would like to live in the community, then we conduct and inspection, move the veteran in, and we start housing assistance payments at that time.”
Trowbridge said there’s no time limit for the veteran to be off of the income-based housing program.
She said, “The voucher is funded through HUD. So as long as HUD continues to fund the voucher they can keep the voucher as long as necessary. I think we have two or three gentlemen that have remained on the program for six years.”
The Army wife said she’s seen firsthand how the VASH Program can change a veteran’s life.
“I have one veteran who just recently graduated from Ivy Tech with a degree in HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning). He came from homeless, living in a vehicle, to having a degree and is out seeking a job at this time. That is huge! That is a huge reward, not just on his behalf but for the housing authority to know we changed their situation that much.”
Igleski said he’s grateful for how the program has changed his situation, and volunteering is how he shows his gratitude.
Click here for more information about the HUD-VASH Program.
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2.4 - WDBJ-TV (CBS-7, Video): Roanoke's efforts growing to help homeless veterans, Zero 2016 aims to end chronic homelessness by the end of the year (10 November, Kimberly McBroom, 750k online visitors/mo; Roanoke, VA)
Homelessness is a problem for our nation's veterans, including those in our area.
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But there are local efforts to provide housing for our vets, including Roanoke Continuum of Care's role in Zero 2016.
That's a rigorous national change effort designed to help a committed group of communities end chronic and veteran homelessness by December, 2015.
There is a lot happening locally to support that effort.
Trust House has received federal support through HUD Continuum of Care grant, specifically to house chronically homeless veterans.
The Roanoke Continuum of Care initiative began in October, 2014.
Since then, it's housed 123 homeless veterans.
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2.5 - The Spokesman-Review: VA rule could leave some homeless veterans out in the cold (10 November, Patty Murray, 574k online visitors/mo; Spokane, WA)
Some homeless veterans could soon be turned away from a program that provides them with temporary shelter.
The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to decide this month whether to start denying temporary housing to veterans who received a less than honorable discharge or served fewer than two continuous years in the military.
Nearly 15 percent of veterans now living in units for the Spokane VA transitional housing program would not meet those criteria, said Lily Haken, coordinator of the Health Care for Homeless Veterans program. Of the 164 veterans provided housing by the Spokane program in the latest fiscal year, about 25 would have been ineligible under the new policy.
This policy change would have a “devastating impact,” Haken said.
The VA funnels federal money to three Spokane housing providers that serve veterans while helping them secure a permanent home.
The VA told those organizations in February 2014 to turn away veterans who didn’t meet the new requirements, based on a memo that said the agency was misinterpreting eligibility standards set by Congress. Because these veterans with less than two years of service or an honorable discharge are ineligible for VA health care, they are ineligible for its housing, the agency’s lawyers determined.
The policy was enforced for about a month, though nobody already in the housing program was forced out, said Jeffery Quarles, national director of the VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.
VA officials retracted the new policy after coming under criticism from veterans advocacy groups and some members of Congress, and vowed further legal review. “The memo was rescinded,
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and we went back to what we had been doing,” Quarles said. No records are available of how many were turned away, he added.
The Spokane VA program never turned a veteran away because of the policy change, Haken said. “Sometimes it takes a couple weeks to have an opening,” she said.
A final decision on veteran eligibility for housing is expected by the end of this month, an agency report said. A law might be necessary to change eligibility rules, officials said.
To prevent any change in eligibility, this month the Senate passed a bill written by Washington Sen. Patty Murray making veterans with less than honorable discharges or who served less than two years eligible for homeless benefits. It’s awaiting action in the House.
Lawmakers should pass the bill before a new VA policy takes effect, Murray told colleagues in calling for the vote on her bill. It is unacceptable to deny help to veterans, no matter the details of their service, she added.
“Even one veteran sleeping on the streets in the United States is one too many,” she said. “My bill makes it clear that our country takes care of those who have served.”
More than 23,000 veterans entered VA temporary housing last fiscal year, Quarles said. Advocacy groups, such as the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, say this policy would force the VA to stop serving 15 percent of the homeless veteran population or thousands nationwide.
There are open spots in these temporary shelters nationwide. But the Spokane VA program, which began in 2006 and has grown to 69 beds, is consistently full, Haken said. Participants stay for as little as a few weeks but sometimes up to about two years.
“We have had veterans on a regular basis who are ineligible for our other housing programs,” she said. “If we didn’t have those options for them, we would have to refer them out into the community where there are very limited resources.”
There are about 10 veterans currently in the Spokane program who wouldn’t meet the stiffer requirements, but even if the policy is adopted, they wouldn’t be kicked out, she said.
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2.6 - The News Journal: Getting homeless vets off the street (10 November, Jenna Pizzi, 491k online visitors/mo; New Castle, DE)
Tyrone Furrowh calls out in a deep, friendly voice into the darkness.
“Good morning,” he says, making a quick pass with his flashlight, exposing people sleeping in makeshift tents or on mattresses beneath railroad bridges, overpasses and in parks.
For three days this week, Furrowh and other volunteers are scouring anywhere homeless people are known to gather, searching specifically for homeless veterans who are not connected to services that can help them.
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The Veterans Count Outreach, which spans Veterans Day, is one part of a state initiative to end veteran homelessness and find permanent housing for the estimated 280 homeless veterans in Delaware. Coupled with transitional housing, support services and expanding the number of landlords willing to rent to once-homeless veterans, Gov. Jack Markell said the state is working to end homelessness among veterans.
“Given our obligations to our Veterans, nothing should disturb us more than the continued high rate of homelessness among former service members," Markell said in a statement. "With focused effort, along with collaboration between federal, state and local partners and the community, Delaware can and will be a state where no veteran is homeless.”
It is not much past 5 a.m. on Tuesday, but Furrowh knows that those who live in these encampments will soon be gone, leaving under the cover of darkness so that police or others won't find their beds. He rarely gets a response to his cheerful wake-up call, but when he does, he offers a pamphlet with information about shelter, and mental health and substance abuse intervention.
“Stop in sometime,” Furrowh says as he places a piece of paper or business card at the foot of a mattress where one soft-spoken man has propped himself up in his bed, still wrapped in blankets to shield him from the rain this November morning. “It works. You don’t want to be out here when it gets cold.”
Rachel Beatty, director of community engagement and planning for the Homeless Planning Council of Delaware, an independent statewide nonprofit that works to strengthen support for the homeless, said making contact and collecting data on these individuals will help the council help them.
As of January, the planning council identified 236 homeless veterans, of which 140 were placed in permanent housing.
Four years ago, Army Veteran Lamar Dobbs was just beginning his battle with cancer, and found himself on the streets of Wilmington because he could no longer afford his rent. Dobbs, 59, was living in homeless shelters in the city, not sure what to do next.
“You don’t know what is going to happen from day to day,” said Dobbs. “Where your next meal is going to come from or are you going to get to sleep in a warm shelter.”
But one day while staying at a shelter he was told he was eligible for a housing voucher program because he was a veteran. It took a while, but several months later he was placed in emergency housing and then eventually in his own apartment near Stanton.
“It was a huge, huge lift for me because I was still in recovery from my cancer at the time and I finally got back on my feet a little bit,” said Dobbs, who has now been in that apartment for three years.
Most people encountered by volunteers on Tuesday morning did not want to participate in a survey or give personal information. Some were quiet, waiting for the group of eight surveyors to pass through, while others asked them to leave. A few seemed glad to have an option and said they would come in to find out how to get help.
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The team of volunteers was more successful finding those willing to participate in the survey at the Friendship House Men’s Day Center at Third and Walnut streets. One of the men interviewed there, who declined to give his name to The News Journal, said he was a Marine Corps veteran who stays at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, under a bridge or in the Wilmington train station, depending on the day.
The man said he came to Wilmington several years ago because this is where his daughter lives, but he doesn’t want her to see him homeless and in need.
Furrowh tried to encourage him to get help so he can feel good enough about himself to go his daughter and her children.
“We just guide them back into all the resources that they need,” said Furrowh. “Some of them might not know the resources yet, so we’ve got to plug them in.”
Teams of volunteers will continue the work to find new homeless veterans in New Castle County and throughout the state through Thursday.
There is no one reason why these veterans lose their homes or a permanent place to live, said Jessica Finan, executive director for Home of the Brave, a Milford program that offers homeless shelters and transitional housing for all military vets.
“Everyone has a different story,” said Finan. “It could be they lost a job, it could be domestic violence, substance abuse. You have to factor in many different issues.”
Throughout the state there have been working groups formed over the last year to focus on homeless veterans in each of the three counties.
In Kent County, Dover Mayor Robin Christensen took the 2015 Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness earlier this year by creating a working group to evaluate each veteran individually to determine his or her needs.
“We bring in cases of vets that have been identified and need help and we work on knocking down the bureaucratic red tape,” said Bill Farley, a commissioner with the state Veterans Affairs Commission.
With a goal of finding permanent housing for 50 homeless veterans and their families, the group has been successful with 39, including 21 who were identified as chronically homeless, meaning they had sought services more than twice in the last year.
Many have been placed in housing through a voucher program funded through the Veterans Administration.
The Dover program model is now being duplicated in New Castle and Sussex counties.
Carrie Casey, manager of the Division of Community Development and Housing for New Castle County said the county’s working group has a similar goal of finding permanent housing for 84 veterans by the end of the year. At the end of October, homes were found for 62.
The biggest barrier for the 51 other veterans who are looking for housing, Casey said, is recruiting landlords.
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“We are working with landlords that are willing to waive applications fees, to possibly look past a judgement or financial challenges or criminal history,” Casey said. “We want them to give that veteran a chance.”
The county is also slated to make a presentation to the Delaware Apartment Association Tuesday, hoping to get more landlords open to the idea of housing vets.
In Dover, Christensen said while the working groups have reached out to many of the homeless in the area, there are some that have refused assistance.
“A number of people, they want nothing to do with the help,” he said.
The goal is to continue to find resources for those in need and accepting, while also trying to prevent homelessness for those veterans who may be on the brink, Farley said.
“The number of homeless is a moving target because you never know who could be on the street tomorrow,” Farley said.
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2.7 - WAJR-AM (AM-1440): Clarksburg Mission to Open Five New Beds for Homeless Vets (10 November, Aaron Payne, 89k online visitors/mo; Morgantown, WV)
The Clarksburg Mission will host an open house Wednesday to showcase their new additions in the fight against veteran homelessness.
Clarksburg Mission Director Chris Mullet said some office spaces, including his own, were converted into additional bedroom space–allowing for five additional beds for homeless veterans.
“The goal is that in six months, somebody will be in recovery–if that’s what they need–working, or independently housed,” he said.
There are now 16 beds available at the Clarksburg Mission for veterans.
Mullet said he and others at the Mission took up the federal government’s call for “zero by 2016,” which is an initiative to eliminate veteran homelessness.
“Our federal government wants to see chronic homelessness among U.S. veterans eradicated by the year 2016,” Mullet said.
There are around 50,000 homeless veterans in the United States. Recent estimates showed more than 300 homeless veterans living in West Virginia.
“The five beds that we’re opening tomorrow will fill very quickly,” Mullet said.
Mullet said monthly contributors are what help keep the Mission alive, and he hopes those who support veterans will get behind the project and donate.
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“We have, in faith, furnished the place, but it would be great if someone would come alongside behind this work and help us to pay for what we’ve already spent,” Mullet said.
The Mission took out a 10-year forgivable loan from the West Virginia Housing Development Fund in part to pay for the new space.
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2.8 - The Jefferson Post: Don’t forget our distressed veterans (10 November, Ken Lynn, 58k online visitors/mo; West Jefferson, NC)
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, a day set aside each year to honor all individuals who’ve honorably served in the U.S. Armed Forces; either in wartime or peacetime. For many of America’s 23 million living veterans it’s a special day where folks in the community honor their service with parades, business discounts and other forms of recognition.
North Carolina is home to nearly 800,000 veterans with about 2,500 of them living in Ashe County. For some vets the day unfortunately isn’t so special and represents just another in their struggle to reintegrate into society. According to the North Carolina-based Veterans Leadership Council-CARES (VLC-CARES), a non-profit corporation founded by veterans for veterans, 9,859 homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless vets contacted them or were referred to them by the Veterans Administration (VA) in FY 2014.
VLC-CARES estimates that 20 percent of all homeless individuals in the state are veterans. But homelessness isn’t these vets’ only challenge. Unemployment rates for veterans in the 18 – 26 age group is much higher than their non-veteran peers. Furthermore, approximately 22 American veterans commit suicide every day, which extrapolates to one a day in North Carolina.
Long a military-friendly state, North Carolina hosts the largest contingent of active duty troops on the East Coast. Still, the state is woefully short of resources to help veterans, many of them combat vets, struggling with the transition back to civilian life. The problem is most acute for homeless veterans. VLC-CARES and the VA estimate there are fewer than 1,000 transitional bed spaces available statewide.
Regrettably the problem is likely much worse than statistics suggest. The VA has reported that fewer than 50 percent of returning veterans register with the department, so it’s hard to know their true status. All indications are that veteran homelessness is continuing to rise at an unacceptable rate.
AS VLC-CARES points out, homelessness and high unemployment rates among our returning combat troops only puts additional pressure on federal, state and local government budgets. Consequently, the organization is fully focused on improving the lives of North Carolina veterans who are experiencing reintegration problems.
As the VLC-CARES website highlights, “In 2010, VLC-CARES began developing a public/private partnership with supporting agencies and resource providers to employ evidence- based, best practices solution sets in a therapeutic residential environment for homeless and at- risk veterans.” These capabilities will reside in a facility known as the Veterans Life Center.
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VLC-CARES’ website further explains that the project “enjoys bipartisan support from leaders of the state of North Carolina. In 2011, the NC Council of State approved the lease of eight buildings on the John Umstead Hospital Complex in Butner to VLC-CARES for the purpose of providing emergency and transitional housing for homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. On Memorial Day, 2014, Governor Pat McCrory announced a $4.2 million grant to refurbish the first and largest of the buildings, and the architectural/design process got underway.”
The ambitious project, which is being carried out in two phases, will result in 400 additional bed spaces when complete and will also offer a wide range of therapeutic, educational, life-skills and job placement programs to help transitioning veterans. If you’d like to make a charitable donation and help some of the state’s distressed veterans, please visit VLC-CARES’ website: http://vlcnc-cares.org/.
When you see a veteran tomorrow, please thank him or her for their service since they’ve contributed to helping maintain the freedoms and security we enjoy in this country. But don’t forget those veterans who are also struggling as they need our gratitude and support even more so.
Ken Lynn is a retired USAF colonel. He’s an adjunct online instructor with the USAF Air University.
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4. Veteran Opportunities for Education/GI Bill
4.1 - The New York Times (Reuters): White House Announces In-State Tuition for U.S. Veterans, Families (11 November, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
All recent U.S. military veterans and their families will now be offered in-state tuition rates to public colleges and universities throughout the country, the White House said on Wednesday.
Announced in honor of the U.S. federal holiday Veterans Day, which fell on Wednesday, the change is part of President Barack Obama's "steadfast commitment" to military families and aims to make sure veterans can both access and get the most out of higher education, administration officials said.
Officials also announced the launch of a revamped comparison tool to offer veteran-specific admissions statistics, which aims to help applicants better evaluate programs, and a new effort to curb deceptive enrollment tactics used by schools aiming to recruit veterans.
Cecilia Munoz, a top domestic policy adviser to the president, said while Obama is pressing his administration to push these changes forward quickly, he is also calling on Congress to move forward on three pieces of legislation to help improve veterans' education.
"These pieces of legislation will really ensure that veterans have the opportunities and assistance to ... realize the American dream," Munoz told reporters on a conference call.
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One bill would heighten standards for schools receiving G.I. Bill funds, while another would help protect G.I. Bill benefits for veterans whose schools close mid-term. A third, just introduced on Tuesday, would increase regulation of for-profit colleges, many of which target veterans.
"What we think this does is ramp up the accountability" of those schools, Munoz said, adding that it ensures "we are requiring a high-quality education for veterans that have served us well."
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4.2 - The Washington Post (Grade Point): White House urges Congress to protect U.S. troops from aggressive for-profit colleges (11 November, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Greg Jaffe, 20.3M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
The White House is urging Congress on Veterans Day to pass a series of bills that would protect U.S. troops from colleges taking advantage of their military benefits without delivering a quality education.
Men and women who serve in the military receive $57 billion in federal education funding that has become a stable source of revenue for many schools. Because the money is exempt from a key federal rule that governs the way for-profit colleges are funded, critics say those schools aggressively recruit members of the military and too often fail to prepare them for the workforce.
White House officials are pressing lawmakers to take up legislation introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to reinstate a rule that banned for-profit colleges from getting more than 85 percent of their operating revenue from any federal student loans and grants.
“This ramps up the accountability for schools that are marketing to veterans and other students who come with federal dollars, and to make sure that we are providing a high quality education for the veterans who have served us so well,” said Cecilia Muñoz, the White House’s domestic policy director, on a call with reporters Tuesday.
Congress first capped the amount of taxpayer dollars for-profit colleges could receive at 85 percent in 1992, to crack down on fly-by-night schools making money from student aid programs. The government figured a for-profit school with quality programs should have no trouble deriving at least 15 percent of its revenue from students willing to put up their own money. The for-profit industry fought against the rule, which was relaxed six years later as the cap was raised to 90 percent, and military education benefits were exempted.
“This high threshold allows far too much federal money to funnel to an industry that often provides a greater return on taxpayer investment to its administrators and investors than it does to its students,” Durbin said. “We can’t let this invitation to exploit our veterans continue.”
Several veterans groups have championed the changes to the rules governing student aid revenue percentages in recent years, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the largest group representing post-9/11 veterans.
Forcing colleges to collect at least 15 percent of their revenue from non-federal sources would be “huge,” said Phil Carter, who oversees veterans issues at the Center for a New American
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Security, a foreign policy think tank. “It will do a lot to reduce the financial incentives for for-profit schools to target veterans,” Carter said.
In the past five years, about 40 percent of G.I. Bill tuition benefits have gone to for-profit schools. Corinthian Colleges, the for-profit giant that filed for bankruptcy in May amid allegations of predatory lending and lying to the government about its programs, received $186 million in military tuition funding.
The collapse of Corinthian has led the White House to back legislation reinstating G.I. Bill benefits for students who use the money to attend schools that close midterm, like Corinthian did. The administration also i supporting a bill that would prevent military education funds from being used at unaccredited schools.
Obama’s legislative wish list arrives a month after the Defense Department suspended tuition payments to the University of Phoenix, a for-profit chain. The Pentagon took action amid allegations that the university sponsored recruiting events in violation of an executive order preventing for-profit colleges from gaining preferential access to the military, charges the school denies.
Getting Republicans on board with tougher for-profit college regulation will be difficult. GOP lawmakers and some Democrats have long supported the industry’s efforts to sidestep stringent rules, including one that limits how much debt students can amass in career-training programs.
Still, the White House is taking some actions that do not require congressional approval, including redesigning the G.I. Bill Comparison Tool, which for the first time will provide graduation and retention rates. The administration also has struck an agreement between Veterans Affairs and the Federal Trade Commission to team up to go after schools that engage in deceptive advertising, sales or enrollment practices.
On Tuesday’s call, White House officials pointed to other recent improvements on behalf of veterans since a scandal over forged records to cover up long waiting times forced the resignation of President Obama’s VA Secretary.
Since then, the VA has increased staffing, adding more than 14,000 workers, including 1,400 doctors. The agency has completed more than 7 million appointments during the past 12 months than in the same period before the crisis.
The backlog of veterans waiting for their disability claims to be processed has fallen by nearly 90 percent. Today, veterans wait an average of 94 days for a disability claims decision, down from a peak of 282 in 2013, the White House said.
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5. Women Veterans
5.1 - The Washington Post (Post Politics): Clinton promises better health care, other services, for female veterans (10 November, Anne Gearan, 20.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
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Contraception and other reproductive health-care would be guaranteed to female military veterans under changes to the troubled federal veteran health and services programs that were proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday.
The Democratic front-runner would go beyond reform efforts instituted by President Obama to address the backlog in veterans’ health care that threatened lives and embarrassed the White House.
Clinton’s extensive policy plan includes several initiatives aimed at aiding female veterans, including better access to health services and child-care options. The program released on the eve of the Veterans Day also gives new prominence to services for gay, lesbian and transgender veterans.
Women are the fastest growing population served by the Department of Veterans Affairs and should be “fully and equally supported after serving our nation,” a policy program released by Clinton’s campaign said.
The candidate will expand on her veteran program during campaign events Tuesday in New Hampshire.
She is proposing new federal funding “to ensure women equal and respectful access to health care, going beyond simply modifying facilities and increasing the number of OB-GYNs employed by the VHA.”
That includes a requirement that the Veterans Health Administration, which oversees the VA's hospitals and clinics, provide “reproductive services” across its system, Clinton’s plan says. Current reproductive health services available to women veterans include regular screenings, including for infertility, treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases and tubal ligation surgery to prevent pregnancy. The quality of those services varies across the system and services are not universally available to women veterans depending on where they live.
Clinton’s plan does not mention abortion specifically, and federal funds are currently barred for abortions in the VA system. Federal funding is also prohibited for in-vitro fertilization.
Clinton would mandate “the provision of reproductive services across the VHA to ensure women have access to the full spectrum of medical services they need.” She also promises to widen access to childcare at VA medical facilities “so that parents, particularly single mothers, don’t have to choose between taking care of their child and taking care of their health.”
The policy paper lists expanded training for health-care providers to serve women veterans and assurances of “culturally competent VHA staff and policies.” It also addresses some aspects of active-duty military service for women, gays and transgender people.
Clinton supports “welcoming women to compete for all military positions provided they meet the requisite standards, in line with the ongoing DoD policy review,” of women’s service, the paper said. “From piloting fighter jets to serving on submarines to earning respect as an Army Ranger, merit and performance should determine who serves in the military’s combat specialties and units, not gender.”
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She also backs the current Pentagon policy review on transgender service, “anticipating that transgender people will soon be allowed to serve openly alongside their comrades in arms in a military where everyone is respected enough to let them serve with dignity.”
Democratic rival Martin O’Malley released his own detailed veterans’ agenda Monday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has not yet released a full program, but he includes several proposals on his campaign Web site.
Clinton said she wants to make it easier to “review and upgrade other-than-honorable discharge categorizations for service members who were improperly separated from service due to service-connected mental health and cognitive issues,” including traumatic brain injury and addiction.
Clinton has previously said she supports legislation to streamline the process to retroactively upgrade the military service records of veterans forced out of uniform because they were gay.
Her campaign said Clinton would support legislation to require VA medical facilities to meet the health-care needs of women veterans.
Clinton’s plan continues the current model of blending some private-sector health-care services with the standalone VA system, to address gaps and shortcomings in certain regions or for certain services. She firmly rejects Republican proposals to privatize VA health care.
The plan says she would “strategically purchase” private-sector care and would “present and advocate for legislation that allows the VA to pursue provider agreements to do this in the most effective and efficient manner.”
Clinton and other candidates regularly hear complaints at campaign events about the VA medical and benefits systems, particularly the long wait times for services at some VA facilities. At recent Clinton meet-the-voters events in New Hampshire and Iowa, both men and women veterans have quizzed her about what she would do to streamline and improve care.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said last week that the government’s second- largest agency is serving millions more veterans faster, but still struggling to keep up.
“The more veterans come to us for care, the harder to balance supply and demand — without additional resources,” McDonald said Friday in a speech at the National Press Club in advance of Veterans Day this week. “That kind of imbalance predicts failure in any business, public or private.”
He said VA medical staff have completed 3.1 million more appointments and hired thousands of doctors and nurses in the year since investigators found that chronic delays for medical care were being papered over by staff who manipulated patient wait times.
The scandal forced the resignation of former VA secretary Eric Shinseki and stepped up Congress’ scrutiny of the system as problems with patient care were uncovered at medical centers across the country.
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5.2 - Inc.: Why Women Veterans Are the Fastest-Growing Group of Entrepreneurs, The number of companies owned by female veterans has nearly quadrupled in the past five years (10 November, Kimberly Weisul, 3.7M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
We already know that women business owners are driving the growth in small business, and that within that group, it's women of color who are making the most progress.
But if slice the data slightly differently, and you'll find an unexpected trend: The group of business owners that really putting stakes in the ground are women veterans. That's right -- women who have served in the armed forces, and now are returning to civilian life to build businesses and jobs.
Between 2007 and 2012, according to preliminary data from the Survey of Business Owners, the number of businesses owned by women veterans increased by an astonishing 296 percent, to reach a total of 384,548 businesses, up from about 130,000. "The growth of veteran women entrepreneurship has been higher than any other segment of the entrepreneurship economy," says Carla Harris, the Chair of the National Women's Business Council.
During that same time period, by comparison, the number of businesses owned by male veterans actually decreased by seven percent. And the total number of businesses, nationwide, grew by about two percent.
Part of the rise is no doubt due to the fact that the number of female veterans has increased dramatically in the past few years: In 2013 there were an estimated 2.2 million female veterans, compared to 1.5 million in 2009. Male and female veterans have also faced different challenges in finding civilian work. Changes in government contracting guidelines, and an awareness of those changes, has made it more attractive for women to own businesses; and there have been an increasing number of resources available to women and veterans who want to become entrepreneurs.
There's also a caveat: Although the number of women veteran-owned businesses has obviously boomed, the total revenues garnered by those businesses is up just 26 percent during that same time frame. Yes, many of these businesses are young, but the relatively small increase in total receipts suggests that only a fraction of these companies are being built to grow. "We have to shift the focus to scaling these businesses," says Amanda Brown, executive director of the National Women's Business Council. "Even if you are in a lifestyle business, there are ways to grow and scale that."
Entrepreneurship by necessity
Perhaps the biggest factor encouraging women veterans to start their own companies has been their unusually high unemployment rates. While unemployment rates among veterans have generally been lower than those of the general population, this has not been the case among young women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. According to data from Syracuse University, the overall female veteran unemployment rate from 2008 to 2012 was 11.1 percent, compared to 7.1 percent for other women. Among young female veterans, the numbers were way worse: In 2011, female veterans who were 20 to 24 years old had an unemployment rate of 35.4 percent.
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Female veterans are more likely to have children to take care of than male veterans, says James Schmeling, co-founder of Syracuse's Institute for Veterans and Military Families, making it harder for them to find and hold down a job. Brown says female veterans may find it harder to translate their military experience to the civilian world.
Beth Graeme, the owner of Mechanicsville, Maryland-based Grambo Creative, didn't initially have to worry too much about translating her military experience to the private sector: She found a job with a contractor, supporting the same type of ships she'd supported in the Navy. At the time her husband was still in Afghanistan, also working as a contractor. But being an employee, and a de facto single parent, was tough on Grame: "With a full household of kids, it was hard to be the only person here and manage everything and have a full-time job," she says. "Being a female in an all-male shop, I kind of got these eyes on me when I had to take time off for childcare purposes."
Graeme didn't think a part-time job would be much of an improvement, since she could hardly predict when her kids would need her. In 2012, she launched Grambo Creative, offering web design and photography services. Now, she says, "Whenever I need to make money, I make it." The company has been a one-woman-show until recently, when Graeme hired two people part- time. She wants the business to grow - when her family is good and ready. Entrepreneurship has already provided an important benefit, says Graeme: "I needed to get out of a place where I felt like being a girl wasn't accepted."
The advantages of being woman-owned
While the number of women-owned veteran businesses has jumped, there's one category of businesses that has taken a dive: Those that are veteran-owned, and also owned equally by men and women. In 2007, there were about 1.2 million veteran businesses that were equally owned, but by 2012 there were only about half that: 600,000, according to Schmeling. Where did the other 600,000 businesses go? Schmeling thinks that many of them changed their ownership structures, so that they became woman-owned rather than equally-owned. "One of the things we know about 50/50 owned firms is that 80 percent of them are husband-and-wife," says Schmeling. "I think what we're seeing is that as there are some advantages in contracting, and a rise in awareness of women-owned certifications from WBENC [Women's Business Enterprise National Council] and a couple of others, some firms are changing from 50/50 to women-owned."
Tabatha Turman, the owner and founder of government contractor IFAS, started her business by herself, and it remains 100 percent woman-owned. She has a wait-and-see attitude toward becoming certified as a woman-owned business, though, because she's not sure what the advantages would be. Her veteran-owned status, she says, is quite helpful as a government contractor. So she encourages other woman veterans to consider government contracting, and to build their firms for growth. When she first became an entrepreneur, she was serving accounting clients from her kitchen table, working part-time. Then she went to a workshop on doing business with the government, and the person that sat next to her gave Turman her first subcontact as a consultant. That was in 2007; Turman's IFAS, which provides accounting and finance services to the government, now has about 100 employees and about $10 million in revenues.
Turman says she often meets other women veterans who want to start businesses. When she asks them what they did in the military, she says, "They had these huge jobs." But she finds that the businesses they often want to start are less ambitious, which infuriates Turman. If it’s not
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ambitious, or if it's just for fun, she says, it's a hobby. The alternative is quite different: "You are on the cusp of something brilliant if you just go that extra mile."
Helping women veterans succeed
There's also been an surge in initiatives designed to encourage both women and veterans to become entrepreneurs. Syracuse's bootcamp for veteran entrepreneurs with disabilities is expanding to other campuses, and BunkerLabs, an incubator for veteran-owned businesses, now has seven locations. TechStars runs a program for veterans. WEBNC has an annual conference specific to women veterans; Count Me In runs the Women Veterans Entrepreneurs Corp; there's also Women as Veteran Entrepreneurs (WAVE). Programs such as the U.S. Small Business Administration's Patriot Express helped veterans fund their businesses, and also raised awareness about entrepreneurship among veterans who didn’t necessarily seek funding.
Christina Guerrero says it was just one of those programs, Syracuse's V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship), that provided crucial funding for her company TurboPup, which makes high-energy meal replacement bars for dogs. She won a $25,000 grant from V-WISE, then went on to win a $100,000 investment from Damond John in a January episode of Shark Tank. She says being on Shark Tank changed her life, and not just because of the money: "The producers are really demonstrating how veterans have something really unique to bring to the entrepreneurial table, and I love that they're highlighting that." She says Turbopup will launch in a major retailer, with 700 outlets, early in 2015.
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5.3 - The Baltimore Sun: For women who served, getting them to see themselves as veterans is a battle (10 November, Ian Duncan, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Baltimore, MD)
Tiffany Rogers watched the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, unfold from the gym at Fort Lewis, Wash. The installation was quickly locked down, tanks began rumbling through the streets and Rogers' career in the Army changed dramatically.
She deployed to Germany as a medic, helping treat troops wounded in Afghanistan and then Iraq.
"At first it was exciting," she said. "It seemed to be what I wanted."
She had joined the Army as a carefree teenager out of high school in Anne Arundel County, but as the conflicts wore on, Rogers said, a depression settled over her, and she left the military in late 2003.
Rogers, now 34, said she's still processing her military experience. But it wasn't until this year that she started working with the VA to get help.
Her experience is typical of women leaving the military, advocates say: They often don't think of themselves as veterans — they're not men, they might not have served in combat, they might not have completed their 20 years and retired. As a result, many overlook the services due to them — sometimes for years.
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Maryland is home to about 58,000 female veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. They make up about 13 percent of the total veteran population in the state — for now.
The VA expects the number to grow in coming years while the number of male veterans declines. By the end of the decade, Maryland is forecast to have the highest proportion of female veterans of any state.
With the Defense Department set to open almost all military jobs to women next year, veterans service organizations expect the health care needs of future female veterans to change. They're trying to prepare now.
The American Legion is planning a survey to better understand the attitudes of female veterans. LaRanda Holt, the organization's assistant director for women and minorities, said she hopes the results will reveal why women often don't identify themselves as veterans.
"We would like to see where the disconnect is," she said.
For years, Rogers said, pride — and a sense that others needed help more — stopped her from reaching out.
"I figured, 'Save the resource for another veteran who isn't as able as I am,'" Rogers said. After she left the Army, she worked a succession of jobs, including a stretch managing a Radio Shack in Washington state.
Her life changed this year when she was charged with domestic assault in Tennessee. A judge ordered her home to Maryland, and she was on the brink of homelessness.
"Now it's sink or swim," Rogers said. "I need those resources now."
Rogers got help from New Vision House of Hope, a Baltimore organization that works with veterans and others who need housing. She's now renting a home in West Baltimore and beginning a process of introspection and counseling to try to come to terms with some of her experiences in the military.
"I have the internal resources to maintain a stable life," she said. "It's just very hard to get past the emotional aspects of things."
With women reluctant to come forward, the VA and other organizations try to advertise their services — with mixed results.
An expo for female veterans at the Baltimore War Memorial last week attracted recruiters from several employers, but at noon there appeared to be few women browsing the stalls.
Officials at the Maryland VA's women's health care program said they're working to encourage female veterans to come to the hospital.
Dr. Catherine Staropoli has seen the services for women grow in the past two decades. When she started in 1995 the VA had a part-time women's clinic with about 200 patients. Today that's up to about 4,200, but she wants to see the figure continue to grow.
"One of our biggest goals is to get women veterans to come in," Staropoli said.
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Some of those who seek help on leaving the military find it smooths their transition back to civilian life.
Inita Nesmith left the Army as a sergeant in 2000. She didn't know what she wanted to do next in her life, but almost immediately began hunting for veterans' resources.
"When you get out of the military there's nobody standing there waiting," she said. "I had to maneuver myself in the system and find out what different services work for me."
But once she was plugged into the VA system, she secured money to study for an associate's degree in computer information systems. When she was pregnant three years ago, she had all her maternity care at Baltimore's VA medical center.
"That for me is going to stick with me for the rest of my life," said Nesmith, 42. Without the aid she's been able to tap into, she said, she'd be lost.
Veronica Young never really found her footing after a seven-year stint in the Army in the late 1980s. She quickly ran through a severance payout and struggled to find steady work. She moved to Baltimore and started using drugs.
The VA suggested she consider enrolling at the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training, a program in East Baltimore with housing for women. Young was unsure, but decided last Veterans Day to stop by — half hoping, she said, that it would be closed and she could at least tell people she had tried.
"It was not until I went to MCVET that I felt like, 'I am a veteran,'" she said. "There are people just like me who went through some of the same stuff."
Young moved into an apartment in July. She's still getting support from MCVET. At 51, she feels ready to move on with her life.
"I got a foundation," she said. "I feel optimistic about being able to accomplish more."
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5.4 - Midland Daily News: Celebration of Sisterhood: Saginaw VA reaching out to female vets (10 November, Jessica Haynes, 74k online visitors/mo; Midland, MI)
A day to honor veterans is Wednesday, but one group experienced a special day of celebration a bit early at the Aleda E. Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw on Saturday.
About 30 female veterans from across the Great Lakes Bay Region gathered together in the facility’s auditorium during Celebration of Sisterhood for two sessions of relaxation, meditation and education hosted by VA staff and volunteers.
Coy Landrum envisioned a female-focused celebration after attending a similar event in Chicago. She has served as the federal women veteran’s program manager for the past two years and is a part of the Saginaw VA’s Equal Employment Opportunity program.
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Landrum is also an 18-year veteran of the Navy, and thinks the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can do more to raise awareness of a sometimes-forgotten population it serves, prompting Saturday’s event. In the last year, the Saginaw VA and the nine community-based outreach clinics provided care to 1,675 female veterans.
CELEBRATION OF SISTERHOOD
A fraction of those female veterans were reached during the first Celebration of Sisterhood event, where VA staff and volunteers set up a day of pampering for them. Activities included mindfulness exercises, massages, nail appointments and plenty of information about the Saginaw VA.
Cherryl Biggins, manager of the Equal Employment Opportunity program and a 7-year veteran of the Army, introduced a special guest to get participants fired up to kick off the day.
That guest was Denise Berry, director of Military Student Affairs at Saginaw Valley State University. She is in charge of assisting over 375 students with their military concerns, and told those gathered for Celebration of Sisterhood that the “first step to anything is to show up.”
Seeing the women before her, who have all served their country, is “phenomenal,” Berry said, as “there’s not that many of us.”
“We need, as women, to rely on each other,” Berry said to the crowd.
Her hope was that all participants would leave the Celebration of Sisterhood and know they are not alone.
“I really hope you come out with a friend, someone to lean on,” Berry said. “Transition is hard.”
She shared her experience when researching behaviors and attitudes on medical care in military service members, and said men and women are treated differently and react differently. Some women refuse to go to sick bay, so as not to look weak in front of their male counterparts.
Others have a hard time adapting because of pressure to act like a caregiver, Berry said.
“We’ve got to look out for ourselves, and also look out for each other,” Berry said.
Afterward, Landrum encouraged participants to try and meet new people by talking to one another and sharing their experiences.
“We can make a connection to help each other,” Landrum said.
One of those participants was Betty Jennings, from Saginaw. She heard about Celebration of Sisterhood through email and said she thought she would visit and “have an adventure.” She spent two and a half years in the Army during the early 70s, as a clerk and typist.
“I met my husband, so that was quite an adventure,” Jennings said with a laugh when asked about her experience in the military.
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Jennings joined a group of women to try a mindfulness exercise, by Lina Boudiab, focusing on higher thinking to ease anxiety and stress that can come from living under a flight-or-fight response in the military.
SDLqGive yourself that grace, and be mindful, and non-judgmental,” Boudiab told the group as they did stretches and learned medication techniques.
In a different part of the facility, volunteers were painting the nails of female veterans like Sandy St. Onge from Millington. Bear, her service dog, rested at her feet as she got her nails painted purple.
St. Onge served with both the Marine Corps and the Army, as an office administrator and field medic, and receives health care services through the Saginaw VA. She thinks the VA needs to change on a basic level, and not treat male and female veterans differently.
“Treat people like people, forget about the gender,” St. Onge said.
When asked if she would attend Celebration of Sisterhood again, she replied with a quick yes.
SDLqThis is my escape, vacation, my getaway kind of thing,” St. Onge said. “It makes you feel wanted and cared for.”
Michelle McInnis, a LPN at the Saginaw VA echoed that statement. She volunteered to help with Celebration of Sisterhood about a month ago.
“It just sounded like a really good opportunity for our vets, to make them feel feminine and special,” McInnis said.
That was what Landrum had in mind when she first proposed the event months ago, and though she had hoped for a better turn-out, she said she was happy the VA is working to create events like Celebration of Sisterhood for female veterans.
REACHING FEMALE VETERANS
Some of the difficulty in reaching female veterans is that the group doesn’t often identify as veterans or realize they could be qualified to receive a variety of medical services through the VA.
“We continue to enhance our women veteran program and try to offer more women-centric events during non-traditional hours and days because we recognized many of our female veterans are likely to be employed and raising families,” said Peggy Kearns, director of the Saginaw VA facility.
Part of the program updates include a breast care registry to allow easy tracking of medical care, expanding telemedicine options so patients do not have to drive as far, as well as hosting events for female veterans to come together and network and connect.
Sara Schroeder says some of those events are baby showers for new or expecting mothers who receive services through the Saginaw VA. She is a registered nurse and has served as the manager of the women’s veteran program for the past two years.
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Schroeder is an Army veteran, and served during Operation Desert Storm, or the first Gulf War. She says her own military background helps her connect with the women she connects with on a daily basis.
“I do think we are seeing more and more women looking for the opportunity to connect with each other,” Schroeder said, which is why she started hosting baby showers for the veterans she helps with maternity care.
Saginaw VA staff partner with the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, who Schroeder says provide “a lot of wonderful supplies” and of course, cuddle all of the newborns.
“We had a great presence from the VFW (Ladies) Auxiliary which was fantastic,” Schroeder said. “They love it, they get to play the grandma role and hold all the babies.”
It also lends Schroeder the chance to see the faces of the women she has usually only talked to over the phone, she said. Another opportunity was a Women’s Health fair in February that brought 250 people to the Saginaw VA’s auditorium for workouts and health education classes.
It is sometimes the first occasion the women have to visit the Saginaw VA, as many receive services through its nine community-based outreach clinics.
“We’re so spread out, so we try to do things in a geographically-central location,” Schroeder said. “There’s a lot of distance between our clinics up north.”
While at Celebration of Sisterhood, Berry said she spoke with many of the female veterans and one in particular shared her experience with transitioning to civilian life and the medical services she has received to help her back on the road to health.
“The Saginaw VA provides her that care and that outlet to remain as independent as possible” Berry said.
Through her work at Saginaw Valley State University, Berry is able to reach a large student- veteran population. She often asks them what community resources for veterans they are aware of, and said she tells them they are lucky to live in Saginaw.
“It really is a great place for our veterans to settle,” Berry said, citing the proximity of the Saginaw VA for primary care and VA facilities in Ann Arbor and by Detroit for specialized services. “I really try to engage with different groups in the community to get the word out, so they know there is help available.”
Berry described Celebration of Sisterhood as a “much-needed” event, and said being a woman in the military comes with its own unique struggles and challenges. She encouraged female veterans to reach out and become educated on what kind of services they can receive, and to talk about their experiences in the military to increase awareness.
“If they start tooting their own horn, and saying ‘I’m proud of it,’ and saying ‘This is my contribution,’ it would go a long way to opening that conversation,” Berry said.
Female veterans can learn how to enroll for care at the Saginaw VA facility by calling 800-406- 5143, ext. 13120 or 13121 or visit www.ebenefits.va.go. Learn more about the Saginaw VA facility and its community-based outreach clinics by visiting www.saginaw.va.gov.
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5.5 - Kokomo Tribune: Military Appreciation Days says 'thank You,' women veterans (10 November, Carson Gerber, 58k online visitors/mo; Kokomo, IN)
When Anna Schulte joined the Air Force in 1980 to work in aircraft maintenance, she was stepping into a man’s world.
At the time, she was one of just a handful of women across the entire military serving in a unit that fixed and maintained airplanes.
Shulte said it wasn’t easy being the only female, but she stuck with it.
“It was tough at the start,” she said. “People had the perception that women went into teaching and nursing, not aircraft maintenance. But I proved them wrong.”
Indeed, she has.
Shulte is now the commander of the 434th Maintenance Group at Grissom Air Reserve Base. That makes her responsible for every aspect of aircraft maintenance of the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command.
Women like Shulte face unique challenges in the military that go unnoticed by many in the community, said Ross Waltemath, director of the Howard County Veterans Service Office.
That’s why this year’s Military Appreciation Days is focusing on raising awareness about the service of female veterans, he said.
The annual event had its official opening ceremony on Monday at Kokomo City Hall, where a crowd gathered to hear Mayor Greg Goodnight and Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman declared Nov. 7-16 Military Appreciation Days.
Throughout the week, around 100 area businesses including restaurants, banks and auto repair shops are offering a slew of discounted and free services to any veteran who has a military ID.
For a list of participating businesses, click here.
J.R. Dennis, this year’s president of the Military Foundation, which organizes and sponsors the event, said this year saw the most businesses signup to participate since it was founded in 2012.
“The only thing that makes me sad is we only do this for one week,” he said during Monday’s ceremony.
The celebration is 10-day "thank you" to every veteran who lives in Howard County and the surrounding area, but women veterans are getting an especially big one this year, Waltemath said.
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“We felt it was time the community had a greater awareness of what women in the military are doing,” he said. “As much as this community does for veterans, we also want them to know what our military women are doing for us.”
It’s about more than just raising awareness, though.
Waltemath said his office is using this week to make a serious push to pinpoint and address the needs of the up to 1,500 women veterans who live and work in Howard County.
“What does our community not have to support our women veterans?” he said. “Many times women veteran’s issues are different than men’s. We want to use this to jump start our community resources to focus more on what we can do in our community for our women veterans.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Brenda Simmons, who serves in the Indiana National Guard 38th Sustainment Brigade, and who started traveling to Kokomo for her job in March, said it’s rare to see a city specifically honor its female military personnel.
In fact, she said, she’s never seen it happen before.
“There are a lot of women who go unnoticed who have spent a lifetime in the military,” Simmons said to the crowd gathered for the opening ceremony. “This is an honor for you to take the time to recognize us.”
“I can tell when I go out into the community how much Kokomo appreciates its veterans, whether they’re male or female,” she said. “I like coming up here, and I want to say thank you.”
According to the Department of Defense, around 203,000 women were active duty in 2011. That’s about 14.5 percent of the active-duty force of nearly 1.4 million in the U.S.
Back when Shulte joined the Air Force, those numbers were even lower. But things are changing, she said, and she’s working to encourage even more women to join the military.
“I believe that there isn’t any job in the Air Force that women can’t do,” she said. “I’m very proud to be part of that, and to sponsor and mentor young ladies and tell them they have a future in the military. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. You all have a place.”
That was proven during Monday’s ceremony, where three out of the five members of the 38th Sustainment Brigade, who presented and retired the American flag for the event, were women.
Jerry Fivecoate, the commander of the local chapter of Disabled American Veterans, said in the end, the male-or-female distinction doesn’t matter. A veteran is a veteran, and they all deserve the kind of respect that Military Appreciation Days is all about.
And in the end, we all need to do what we can to honor them, he said, and help them when they need it.
“I would ask everyone to keep our men and woman in their hearts, and to remember every day the serious emotional and sometimes physical challenges veterans face when they return home,” Fivecoate said.
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6. Other
6.1 - The New York Times (First Draft): Hillary Clinton to Release Plan to Address Veterans Affairs Scandal (10 November, Amy Chozick, 80.4M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
On Monday, just after she officially registered as a Democratic candidate in New Hampshire, Hillary Rodham Clinton declared, “This election is about our veterans.”
It’s a line she will most likely repeat on Tuesday when she rolls out her proposals to help veterans and to improve the treatment they receive at the Department of Veterans Affairs while also criticizing Republicans for their proposals to privatize the department.
The policy rollout will take place in Derry at a town-hall-style event with men and women who served in the military, and it comes as Mrs. Clinton is fielding Republican attacks on her previous comments about the problems that have plagued the department.
In an interview with MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” last month, Mrs. Clinton said the scandal over manipulated wait times at department hospitals had been overblown by Republicans for political gain.
“There have been a number of surveys of veterans, and over all, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” Mrs. Clinton said when asked how she would fix the department. “It’s not been as widespread as it has been made out to be,” she said of the problems Republicans often talk about.
The Republican National Committee quickly seized on the remarks. “More than 300,000 veterans may have died waiting for care at V.A. facilities across the country in recent years,” said Michael Short, a committee spokesman. “When it comes to life-and-death problems facing our veterans, Hillary Clinton is simply out to lunch.”
At a town hall-style event in Coralville, Iowa, last week, Mrs. Clinton said the country had a “mess” in dealing with veterans applying for disability, and she called for a “top to bottom” review of the Veterans Affairs Department. But, she added, “I am, however, concerned about Republican plans to privatize.”
On Monday, at a town-hall-style event at a high school here, Mrs. Clinton reiterated that message, vowing to “work hard to fix the V.A., but I will defend it against those who wish to privatize it.”
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6.2 - The Wall Street Journal: Hillary Clinton Vows to Fight VA Privatization (10 November, Laura Meckler and Ben Kesling, 39.2 online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton offered her vision for veterans’ health care Tuesday, promising to fight full-fledged privatization while allowing the government to contract with private providers for a range of health services.
In her proposal, Mrs. Clinton struck a balance between support for traditional government-run veterans health programs while acknowledging that many veterans want to access care from private providers as well, given the system’s failings.
The former secretary of state also promised a continued push for changes in the management of the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been excoriated for long waiting times, inconsistent care, and a bloated bureaucracy.
After appearing to play down problems in a recent television interview, Mrs. Clinton is now describing the agency’s troubles as deep-rooted.
“These problems are serious, systemic and unacceptable,” Mrs. Clinton said at a discussion with veterans in Derry, N.H., a day before the nation marks Veterans Day on Wednesday. “They need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now.”
In a 12-page fact sheet, her campaign called the long waits for care and backlog of benefits claims “government at its worst.”
Her campaign’s prescription for the VA builds on legislation co-authored by her rival for the nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, that combines traditional government-run health care and private services. Mr. Sanders has said that he didn’t like the privatization piece of the legislation but went along in order to get changes he wanted, including new money to fix problems in the traditional system.
On Tuesday, the Clinton campaign suggested a new balance between private and public care.
Mrs. Clinton proposed that government doctors coordinate health care and provide care for conditions related to military service, such as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder or prosthetics. But she said the government should contract with the private sector for other services, such as surgery, mental health care and substance abuse treatment, and for times when the VA is unable to offer timely care.
At the same time, she emphasized her opposition to outright privatization, as some Republicans have proposed.
“Privatization is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I’m not going to let it happen,” she said.
That line-walking came under fire from Republicans. Jeff Bechdel, a spokesman for the pro- Republican America Rising PAC, called the proposal “blatantly political” and said Mrs. Clinton was criticizing Republicans who favor privatization while “proposing the very policy she has been attacking Republicans for.”
A third Democratic candidate for president, Martin O’Malley, put out his own veterans plan this week. He said he would implement nationally a system that he used as governor of Maryland to better track and analyze data, called VetStat. He proposes easing state restrictions on licensing
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so that veterans and military family members who are certified for particular jobs in one state are able to work in another. He also wants a memorial for post-9/11 veterans.
In her plan, Mrs. Clinton touched on a wide range of complaints from veterans and their advocates. She called for the backlog of disability claims to be cleared, a process that has run behind schedule but is now on track for completion by early 2016.
She said the VA needed to employ more gynecologists, a recognition that the agency has long been understaffed in that area of care. And her plan seeks to make it easier to fire employees who aren’t performing well and to bolster whistleblower protections for people who question the agency’s practices from inside.
The Department of Veterans Affairs came under intense scrutiny last year after reports that veterans faced excessive wait times and that the agency concealed the delays from the public. Congress passed a more-than $16 billion emergency spending measure in large part to hire new health care providers and to allow veterans to get appointments through private providers.
The scandal also led to the resignation of a number of top officials, including then-Secretary Eric Shinseki . Over the past year, the new secretary, Robert McDonald, has worked to overhaul the department, including pushing out underperforming employees. But while he has forced a number of resignations, only a handful of employees have actually been fired. That has angered members of Congress, including Rep. Jeff Miller (R., Fla.), the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, who have said the secretary needs to act more swiftly to punish bad actors.
Mrs. Clinton’s comments on the VA are in some measure an effort to clean up a self-made controversy over the issue. Asked in October about GOP efforts to privatize the VA, Mrs. Clinton emphasized the agency’s successes.
“You know, I don’t understand why we have such a problem, because there have been a number of surveys of veterans, and overall, veterans who do get treated are satisfied with their treatment,” she said. “Now, nobody would believe that from the coverage that you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans, in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have.”
Republicans pounced, saying Mrs. Clinton was out of touch with the reality on the ground.
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) called on her to apologize.
“Hillary Clinton’s remarks downplaying the significance of the scandal in which veterans died awaiting care at VA hospitals in Phoenix and across our nation while corrupt bureaucrats collected bonuses are disgraceful, and show a total lack of appreciation for the crisis facing veterans’ health care today,” he said.
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6.3 - ABC News (AP): The Latest: GOP Presidential Candidates Meet for 4th Debate (10 November, 22.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
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Excerpt of full transcript:
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7:10 p.m.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says someone needs to go to prison over scandals at Veterans Affairs hospitals.
He cited problems at the VA when asked during Tuesday's undercard Republican presidential debate how to restore a sense of pride in the military. He says all veterans should get the health care they want, no matter what hospital they want to go to.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says the United States has broken its promises to veterans and "they'd sure appreciate a better paycheck."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says the best way to reconnect the American people with those in the military is to "give them a commander-in-chief who respects the military and everyone who wears the uniform."
And former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says President Barack Obama hasn't stood behind the troops. Santorum says Obama gets in and out of military conflicts "based on what the polls are saying."
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6.4 - The Washington Post: Hillary Clinton: U.S. is ‘failing to keep faith with our veterans’ (10 November, Anne Gearan, 20.3M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the United States has failed its military veterans with broken promises and uneven services but that Republican proposals to privatize veterans’ services would be a sellout.
Releasing a wide-ranging set of proposals to improve veterans’ services, on the eve of Veterans Day, Clinton praised the Obama administration’s efforts to address serious shortfalls and long delays in health-care services but said they do not go far enough.
“Today we are failing to keep faith with our veterans,” Clinton said in New Hampshire, pledging “zero tolerance for the kinds of abuses and delays we have seen.”
Her program would go beyond efforts instituted by President Obama to address backlogs at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, a problem that threatened lives and embarrassed the White House.
Her promise of commitment to veterans’ concerns followed strong Republican criticism of Clinton’s remark last month that numerous studies show most veterans are satisfied with their care.
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“Nobody would believe that from the coverage that you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans, in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have,” Clinton had told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. She also said problems “weren’t as widespread” as reported.
The remarks left her vulnerable to Republican charges that she misunderstood or ignored the breadth of problems in veterans’ services. She soon followed up with calls to revamp Veterans Affairs, particularly in health care.
A survey released Tuesday by Disabled American Veterans found that a majority of veterans said care and support was inadequate after they left the military.
Clinton’s plan continues the current model of blending some private-sector health-care services with the stand-alone VA system, to address gaps and shortcomings in certain regions or for certain services.
But complete privatization “is a betrayal, plain and simple, and I am not going to let it happen,” Clinton said Tuesday.
Her administration would “strategically purchase” private-sector care and would “present and advocate for legislation that allows the VA to pursue provider agreements to do this in the most effective and efficient manner,” according to the campaign’s plan.
Clinton and other candidates regularly hear complaints at campaign events about VA medical and benefits systems, particularly the long wait times for services at some VA facilities. At recent Clinton meet-the-voters events in New Hampshire and Iowa, male and female veterans quizzed her about what she would do to streamline and improve care.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley released a comprehensive veterans policy Monday that seeks to address health care, unemployment, homelessness and other challenges retired military personnel face.
O’Malley’s plan would also provide “clean” service records for troops previously discharged solely because of their sexual orientation and alter the system to prevent “less than honorable” discharges of service members with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a former chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, has also pledged to make veterans issues a priority. On his Web site, the Democratic presidential hopeful promises to expand Veterans Affairs, improve the process of claims for compensation, expand mental health services and make comprehensive dental care available to all veterans through VA.
Clinton’s extensive policy plan includes several initiatives aimed at female veterans, including better access to health services and child-care options. The program would also give new prominence to services for gay and transgender veterans.
Contraception and other reproductive health care would be guaranteed to female military veterans, and Clinton proposes unspecified new federal funding “to ensure women equal and respectful access to health care, going beyond simply modifying facilities and increasing the number of OB-GYNs employed” by the Veterans Health Administration.
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Female veterans are the fastest-growing population served by VA and should be “fully and equally supported after serving our nation,” the policy program released by Clinton’s campaign said.
That includes a requirement to provide “reproductive services” across the VA system, Clinton’s plan says. Current reproductive health services available to female veterans include regular screenings, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and tubal ligation surgery to prevent pregnancy. The quality of those services varies across the system, and services are not universally available to female veterans, depending on where they live.
Clinton’s plan does not mention abortion specifically, and federal funds are barred for abortions in the VA system. Federal funding is also prohibited for in vitro fertilization.
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6.5 - U.S. News & World Report (AP): Senate passes $80B measure boosting spending for veterans, military base construction (10 November, Andrew Taylor, 17.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
The Senate passed its first spending bill of the year on Tuesday, a popular $80 billion measure for veterans' programs and construction projects on military bases long delayed by infighting over the broader budget.
The 93-0 vote sends the measure into House-Senate negotiations, where it is likely to serve as a vehicle for a $1.1 trillion catchall measure that would include 11 other spending bills comprising the approximately one-third of the budget that passes each year at lawmakers' discretion.
The bill exceeds President Barack Obama's request by $1 billion after getting a $2 billion influx of money from the recently-enacted bipartisan budget agreement between Obama and Capitol Hill leaders of both parties. All told, programs covered by the measure would get $8 billion more than current levels.
The measure, passed on the eve of the Veteran's Day holiday, brings the Veterans Administration's budget for medical services to $51 billion, to cover the treatment and care of almost 7 million veterans.
"Veterans who fought on the front lines shouldn't have to stand in line for care and benefits they've earned and deserve," said top Appropriations Committee Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
It comes as the VA is still struggling to provide timely care to many veterans and implement legislation that passed last year to permit veterans to seek care outside of the VA system. The measure contains funding to hire 770 additional VA claims processors to ease the claims backlog.
"This bipartisan bill funds veterans' care at record levels — $1.1 billion above what the president requested. With this bill it is my hope that we can confront the systemic retaliation against the
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medical personnel who try to protect veterans," said Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., lead author of the measure.
The annual veterans and military construction bill is invariably the most popular of the 12 annual appropriations bills, but this year's measure was delayed as Democrats bottled up the annual appropriations process to force Republicans controlling Congress to negotiate on lifting tight budget caps on both the Pentagon and domestic agencies.
Negotiators face a Dec. 11 deadline to work out the broader omnibus spending bill, which is likely to easily top 1,000 pages. Negotiations over funding levels will be eased by a big infusion of money by the budget agreement but difficult hurdles remain over policy "riders" sought by Republicans.
Obama has succeeded in prior negotiations in keeping omnibus spending measures from being packed with too many such riders, but Republicans hope for gains on policy matters since they took over the Senate this year.
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6.6 - USA Today: Obama using Veterans Day to prod Congress (11 November, Leo Shane III, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA)
President Obama will use his Veterans Day platform to push Congress for a broad slate of new legislation and reforms, including plans to squeeze for-profit colleges' ability to accept GI Bill benefits.
The commander in chief is also touting progress and reforms at the Department of Veterans Affairs at a time when public confidence in the agency is still shaky, and lawmakers’ criticism of operations continues to rise.
But White House officials said progress on a number of veterans priorities has been steady and laudable, including a dramatic reduction in the benefits claims backlog in recent years and improved aid for homeless veterans.
On Wednesday, Virginia officials will announce they will be the first state to end veterans homelessness, just a few weeks after Connecticut became the first state to end chronic homelessness within its borders.
In addition, mayors from the cities of Las Vegas, New York’s Syracuse and New York’s Schenectady will announced they have effectively ended homelessness in their municipalities, joining a growing list that already includes Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
Obama in 2009 pledged to end homelessness among veterans nationwide by the start of 2016. From 2010 to 2014, the number of homeless veterans nationwide dropped more than one-third to fewer than 50,000 individuals.
Cecilia Muñoz, the White House Domestic Policy Council director, said the homelessness numbers, like many other VA initiatives, “show a lot of progress has been made, but we also have a lot more to do.”
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Many of those veterans goals will require help from Congress. Obama is pushing for lawmakers to approve a plan to consolidate VA’s outside care programs, extend education benefits for student veterans whose schools close unexpectedly, and make sure those benefits pay for credentialing programs that meet state rules.
But the most controversial legislation Obama is backing is a bill introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., this week, which would reinstate the 85/15 rule for for-profit colleges.
Under the proposal, the schools would not be allowed to collect more than 85 percent of their revenue from federal sources. Currently, that figure is 90 percent, and GI Bill funds do not count against that cap.
Critics want to eliminate that exemption, saying it gives schools incentives to over recruit veterans. Obama is backing that idea, one that has proved unpopular with for-profit officials and Republicans in Congress.
The president is also calling for lawmakers to help reform the veterans benefits appeals process, which has come under extra scrutiny as the first-time claims backlog has dropped in recent years.
That backlog — cases which took more than four months to process — peaked around 612,000 claims in spring 2013, but dropped to around 75,000 this month. However, the appeals caseload has risen steadily by almost 75,000 claims over the same stretch.
Veterans groups have lamented that the average wait time for those cases to be settled is more than three years, with reports of much longer waits common.
Obama is scheduled to make remarks at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday morning as part of his Veterans Day schedule.
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6.7 - USA Today: Hunger-striking veteran deserves attention (11 November, Deborah Sainz, 14.2M online visitors/mo; McLean, VA)
For the last few days there has been a young man on the steps of the Capitol. He is on a hunger strike about how the Department of Veterans Affairs has treated him and thousands of other veterans.
This Army Ranger’s name is Adam Brewer and he comes from a very strong military family (his great-uncle was one of the Merrill’s Marauders) and with great pride I will tell you I am his aunt. But this is about so much more than one vet.
I am sad to say no one seems very interested in his message. In fact, when I went to support him, people appeared to be more interested in my chiweenie dog (and I will admit my dog is very cute). But come on people — this young man is sitting in the cold starving himself!
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This is a problem that will affect not only my family, but all families, past, present and future. Someone needs to listen to this young man’s story.
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6.8 - CBS News: Republican debate transcript: Undercard debate on economy (10 November, 4.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Excerpt from full transcript:
REGAN: Tomorrow is Veterans Day. We honor and recognize all those who have fought for, and served this great nation, Senator. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, which provides patient care, and federal benefits to those veterans, as well as their families, is beset by scandal.
What new ideas do you have to fix the broken V.A. healthcare system?
SANTORUM: That's very personal to me. I grew up on a V.A. grounds. I lived in apartments on V.A. grounds my entire childhood. Both my Mom and Dad, after World War II, marry -- met at a V.A., married, and that's where I lived. Kitchen table discussion was, particularly when I was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's, was the decline of the V.A.
When they joined in the early 1950's, the V.A. was the top. They were the best, they were the best and brightest coming in after the war. And, we believed in the cause that we fought, and we invested in our hospitals to make sure that our veterans who left World War II were taken care of. But, after Vietnam, and during Vietnam, that began to change, and it really hasn't recovered since.
The bottom line is the V.A. is antiquated. There's no need for a V.A. healthcare system as it existed after World War -- why? Because we have the best private healthcare system in the world, we didn't need -- we needed it in 1950's, hospitals were not particularly advanced, so, we built the best. We didn't maintain the best. Government didn't keep its promises to its veterans.
So, what we need to do is two things. Number one, we need to allow veterans to go to private sector hospitals for their routine and ordinary care to get the best care in their community possible.
(APPLAUSE)
And, there is a place for the Veterans Administration. There are injuries, and there are -- things like PTSD, or prosthetics that are uniquely problems within the veterans community where we can develop centers of excellence within -- and replace the V.A. with a group of...
(BELL RINGING)
...centers of excellence that can help our folks to come back...
SMITH: Senator Santorum, thank you.
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(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: I have a question for all of you. Americans connection to the military has been increasingly fading. As a society, how do we restore that sense of duty, that sense of pride, that was the hallmark of the greatest generation. Again, I'd like to ask each of you, 30 seconds each, beginning with Governor Jindal.
JINDAL: Well, a couple things, first, I want to echo what others have said and thank those veterans that run towards danger, not away from it, so we can live in the greatest country in the history of the world.
I think every veteran should get that card, and they should be allowed to get that health care wherever they want in the private sector. But, I also think -- or the public sector, I also think we need to fire some of the V.A. bureaucrats. Somebody should go to jail over these scandals, and it is a crime that it has not happened.
(APPLAUSE)
When it comes -- when it comes to uniting the American people, one of the things we've done to honor our veterans in Louisiana, we've given thousands -- and I've hand delivered these, to veterans -- medals to veterans to thank them for their service. I'll just give you one quick example, I know my time is out, but, we've had Vietnam war veterans with tears in their eyes saying nobody has ever thanked them before. We've had World War II veterans, children, who said they never heard the stories of their parents heroic sacrifice. Whatever conflict, whenever they served, one of the things we can do is to teach our children we do live in the greatest country in the history of the world.
We got a president who doesn't believe in American exceptionalism, but we still do, and it's because of those men and women in uniform. We should thank them everyday, not just veterans day.
(APPLAUSE)
SMITH: Governor Huckabee.
HUCKABEE: Well, I think thanking our veterans is a wonderful thing to do, but, they sure appreciate a better paycheck. They'd appreciate the fact that we kept our promises to them. The men and women in uniform put on the uniform of our nation, they went halfway around the world, they face dangers on our behalf, and we promised them if they did that, when they came home we'd take care of their medical care, we'd make is possible for their kids to go to college, and they'd be able to bind to a home.
They kept their promises to us. We have not kept our promises to them, and today, less than one percent of Americans go to the military for service. We're fighting wars with other people's kids in large measure because we've not taken seriously the moral, not the monetary, the moral obligation to take care of the veterans and to keep America's promise to the ones who kept their promise to America.
(APPLAUSE)
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6.9 - CBS News: Hillary Clinton to roll out plans for veterans and families (10 November, 4.9M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
Hillary Clinton will roll out her plan for veterans' health care, benefits and services Tuesday at an event hosted by the Truman National Security Project, according to a Clinton campaign aide.
On Veterans Day, Wednesday, Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark will campaign at several Iowa stops in support of Clinton's proposal. He'll meet with veterans and supporters in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Marshalltown and Des Moines.
Last week, Clinton was attacked in an ad by a veterans' group associated with the Koch brothers' donor network. The ad showed a recent television interview with Clinton, who had said of problems at the Veterans Affairs Department, "It's not been widespread as it has been made out to be."
"Not widespread?" text in the ad says. "Our veterans deserve better."
In that same interview with MSNBC, Clinton said that reforms put in place last year "should be given a chance to work," adding, "If there is a waiting period that is just unacceptable, you should be able to, in a sense, get the opportunity to go out, have a private physician take care of you, but at the cost of the V.A."
She had also suggested that she wanted to put in place a kind of SWAT team that could go into V.A. hospitals to ensure that the highest standard of care is being delivered.
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6.10 - Washington Examiner: Fiorina slams Clinton on VA comments (10 November, Sarah Westwood, 2.8M online visitors/mo;Washington, DC)
Carly Fiorina slammed Hillary Clinton for her comments about the Department of Veterans Affairs Tuesday during the fourth GOP debate.
"Imagine a Clinton presidency. Our military will continue to deteriorate, our veterans will not be cared for, and no, Mrs. Clinton, that situation is not exaggerated," Fiorina said in her closing statement.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO was referring to controversial statements Clinton made late last month in which she suggested Republicans had exaggerated problems at the VA for political purposes.
"We need a commander in chief that will rebuild our military and restore respect to our veterans by revamping and fixing a broken Veterans Administration," Bush said.
The economic-focused debate, which came on the eve of Veterans Day, provided few other opportunities for candidates to discuss veterans' issues.
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Earlier in the event, Trump suggested giving "big chunks of oil" to veterans in a lengthy answer to a question about the Islamic State.
Candidates in the undercard debate were also asked a question about the VA, allowing them to seize on a perceived failure of the Obama administration to reform a failing agency.
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6.11 - Government Executive: Clinton: Hold VA Employees Accountable, But Respect Due Process (10 November, Kellie Lunney, 2.6M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
On the eve of Veterans Day, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pledged to hold employees at the Veterans Affairs Department accountable for their performance and conduct without sacrificing due process, if she becomes commander-in-chief.
Clinton on Tuesday rolled out her plan to reform the VA and expand services and benefits to military families, in conjunction with an appearance at a veterans’ forum in New Hampshire sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The 12-page “fact sheet” outlined the candidate’s ideas including “reorganizing and streamlining” the Veterans Health Administration, ending the disability compensation backlog, increasing jobs for vets, and revamping the department’s employee performance evaluation system.
The plan did not offer any specifics on how exactly the candidate would “create a culture of accountability, service and excellence” at the VA. The fact sheet, while praising VA Secretary Bob McDonald for refocusing the department’s core mission on vets, said more work was needed to reform the department’s personnel management. The plan said Clinton supports legislation that holds employees accountable for their performance and conduct, but did not specify any particular legislation. “From the top leadership to mid-level managers to entry-level employees, everyone at the VA must embody the highest workplace standards,” the platform stated. “Supervisors must be empowered to suspend or remove underperforming employees in accordance with due process not only for the good of the organization, but in service of our nation’s veterans.”
The 2014 Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, which President Obama signed into law last summer and many Democrats supported, makes it easier to discipline and fire senior executives. The 2015 VA Accountability Act, which the House passed in July, would apply those provisions making it easier to demote and remove top career officials to all department employees. Several Democrats, including Obama, oppose the 2015 bill.
Critics of loosening the restrictions related to firing career government employees at the VA, or elsewhere, argue that it’s constitutionally questionable, infringing on due process, and that it could have a chilling effect on whistleblowers. Some fear it also could be abused, leading to employees being fired as a result of political retribution. But House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the bill’s sponsor, has said instilling greater accountability is the fastest way to change the dysfunctional workforce culture at the VA.
The Hill on Tuesday published an op-ed from Miller that criticized VA’s “indefensible civil service rules that put the job security of failing VA bureaucrats ahead of the safety of the veterans they
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are charged with serving are prolonging the agency’s problems indefinitely.” Acting Undersecretary for Benefits at VA Danny Pummill recently testified before the committee that the firing process in the federal government is “very, very hard” and “impossible” to navigate.
A conservative veterans group criticized Clinton’s proposed VA reform plan. “Her lack of specificity on improving accountability at the VA is also highly troubling,” said Pete Hegseth, chief executive officer of Concerned Veterans for America, in a statement. “While seeming to agree that VA employees should be held accountable for their performance, she provides no details on what measures she would support that would give VA leaders the ability to ensure such accountability, despite the fact that a bipartisan solution – the VA Accountability Act – is already moving through Congress.” CVA has launched ads in Florida and South Carolina slamming Clinton for appearing to downplay the wait times and data manipulation scandal at the VA.
Clinton’s lengthy fact sheet on her plan to “support our veterans, troops, and their families” seemed to rebut those criticisms. “Long wait times for health care, crippling claims backlogs, and lack of coordination among agencies represent government at its worst,” the fact sheet said. “Secretary Clinton recognizes the gravity of these challenges, and as president will pursue a veteran-centric reform agenda that tackles problems head-on and revitalizes the VA. She will end the excuses and ensure our veterans receive the timely health care they deserve.” The fact sheet also said Clinton opposes wholesale privatization of the VA system – a point the candidate emphasized on Tuesday during her New Hampshire appearance.
A new poll released on Tuesday showed strong opposition among veterans to proposals related to privatizing VA health care and hospitals. The poll, commissioned by the non-partisan Vet Voice Foundation and conducted by Democratic polling firm Lake Research Partners and Republican polling group Chesapeake Beach Consulting, showed that 56 percent of all respondents said they opposed privatization of VA hospitals and health care systems (68 percent of Democrats; 57 percent of Independents; and 48 percent of Republicans). “This is a voting issue,” concluded the poll, which included 800 vets, with 35 percent of respondents identifying as Republican; 25 percent identifying as Democratic; and 34 percent calling themselves Independent. “Regardless of age, party identification, or region, veterans are less likely to vote for a candidate for high-level elected office if they supported privatizing the VA.”
The idea of privatizing some or all of veterans’ health care is not new; in fact, the Choice Act expands vets' access to private health care rather than waiting too long for a VA appointment, and the department has a long history of working with the private sector on providing certain services to vets.
Clinton’s rival for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, also released his vision for improving the VA and service to vets this week before Veterans Day. O’Malley in his plan said that the department’s problem in delivering timely and quality health care to vets “goes beyond reforming an unwieldy bureaucracy.”
Among other things, O’Malley proposed deploying “VetStat,” a program he developed as Maryland governor to track the needs of vets in his state, to “pinpoint and ameliorate problems at the VA before they spiral into widespread crises,” adding that the data system “would improve senior policymakers’ visibility into service delivery on the frontlines and help them allocate resources optimally.” The former Baltimore mayor used a similar approach to crime-fighting in that city. The O’Malley plan also calls for new hiring preferences for vets applying to VA jobs. “One specific program of relevance would to train and employ recently separated veterans as
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mental health professionals, streamlining them into the VA to serve their peers,” according to the platform.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, has served as the head of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and is a current member of the panel. Last year, he helped shepherd the 2014 Choice Act into law. As president, Sanders said he would “substantially improve” the compensation claims process for vets and expand the department’s caregivers programs, according to his campaign website.
Vets’ issues are likely to surface during Tuesday night’s Republican debate and Saturday’s Democratic debate, given the events’ proximity to Veterans Day.
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6.12 - The Washington Times: Obama promises fall flat as VA continues to fail veterans (10 November, Dave Boyer, 2.5M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
On Veterans Day President Obama will lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and talk about his administration’s progress in caring for vets, but critics of the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs point to fresh scandals and persistent mismanagement as proof that little has changed.
White House officials said Tuesday that Mr. Obama will highlight progress in five areas for veterans, including cutting the backlog of benefits claims, increasing access to health care services and reducing homelessness among veterans. In conjunction with Mr. Obama’s announcements, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is set to declare Wednesday that his state is the first one to eliminate veterans’ homelessness statewide.
But problems within the VA continue unabated. An internal VA audit has found that the secret waitlists occurred not only in Phoenix but at 110 VA facilities.
VA officials still haven’t corrected a computer system error that led to tens of thousands of combat vets being denied VA health care enrollment, although the problem was brought to light in August.
The administration has tried under VA Secretary Robert McDonald to get beyond the crisis that erupted in Phoenix in April 2014 over delayed health care for veterans and phony waitlists, which led to the resignation of former Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. The agency said it has handled about 7 million more health care appointments for veterans in the past 12 months than in the previous year.
“Because of many of the reforms that Secretary McDonald has put into place, we have seen important progress made at the VA when it comes to ensuring that our veterans have access to the health care and benefits that they deserve,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
Nearly 18 months after the waitlist scandal broke in Phoenix, the problems there aren’t fixed. An inspector general’s report in October found that seven more Phoenix-area veterans died after delayed treatment and lapses in medical care.
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Mr. McDonald also acknowledged during a House hearing last month that his department also is suffering “a leadership crisis.” In September, for example, one of his top deputies quit under pressure from congressional investigators looking into a scandal over padding the salaries and relocation expenses of senior VA managers. Five VA officials invoked their Fifth Amendment rights at a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing last week in connection with the probe.
Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Florida Republican, said the VA is still suffering from a culture that fails to hold wrongdoing accountable.
“Until the VA rids itself of those who engage in scandalous behavior, the department will always be mired in scandal,” Mr. Miller wrote in an op-ed in The Hill Tuesday. “But unfortunately, indefensible civil service rules that put the job security of failing VA bureaucrats ahead of the safety of the veterans they are charged with serving are prolonging the agency’s problems indefinitely.”
Pete Hegseth, president of Concerned Veterans for America, says the VA under Mr. McDonald “is not fundamentally serious about fixing the systematic problems plaguing the department.”
And government watchdogs in the past year have found numerous additional cases of VA whistleblowers facing retaliation, and of VA leadership failing to discipline those responsible for mismanagement or dangerous health care practices.
The Office of Special Counsel wrote directly to Mr. Obama on Sept. 17 about continued problems at the Phoenix VA Medical Center, including the lack of training of emergency room nurses and substandard care at other facilities.
OSC head Carolyn Lerner told the president that the lack of accountability for the problems in Phoenix “sends the wrong message to the veterans served by this facility, including those who received substandard emergency care.”
Meanwhile, she said, the VA continues to go after employee whistleblowers with a vengeance.
“The VA has attempted to fire or suspend whistleblowers for minor indiscretions and, often, for activity directly related to the employee’s whistleblowing,” she told Mr. Obama.
In a speech last week at the National Press Club, Mr. McDonald claimed that the VA has “proposed disciplinary action against 300 individuals for manipulating scheduling.”
“I just wish that there would be more fact-checking on some of the numbers that are used, because there are a lot of myths out there,” he added.
Actually, his claim is dubious. The VA’s own statistics submitted to Congress showed that, as of last week, there were proposed disciplinary actions against 27 employees and one senior executive specifically for patient wait-time manipulation.
Of those 27, three have been fired. And Sharon Helman, the Phoenix VA medical center director, was fired for accepting improper gifts, not because of her role in the waitlist scandal.
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The department has proposed disciplinary action against 305 employees for various issues, including 20 probationary workers and other nonmedical employees such as food service workers and transportation supervisors.
Funding for the VA has increased 73 percent since 2009, but examples of waste at the agency are rampant. Construction of a VA hospital in Denver is more than $1 billion overbudget. And an investigation earlier this year uncovered that a VA executive received almost $300,000 in relocation expenses to move from Washington to Philadelphia.
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6.13 - The Hill: Senate passes VA spending bill — just in time for Veterans day (10 November, Jordain Carney, 2M online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
The Senate on Tuesday passed a fiscal year 2016 funding bill for veterans' benefits and military construction, making it the first spending bill to clear the upper chamber this year.
Senators voted 93-0 on the legislation after lawmakers reached an agreement to wrap up work on the proposal before Veterans Day.
“Today the Senate put our veterans first,” said Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who is up for reelection in 2016 and took a leading role on the legislation.
“With $1.1 billion in funding for veterans' care above the President’s request and special protections for whistleblowers like doctors and nurses who speak up to protect our vets, I am proud we found a bipartisan path forward.”
The Senate spending bill provides $79.7 billion in discretionary funding for military construction and veterans programs, approximately $7.9 billion above the previous fiscal year spending levels.
Passage of the legislation comes after the bill overcame a procedural hurdle late last week, effectively ending a logjam on spending votes in the Senate.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) urged his colleagues ahead of the vote to support the legislation, suggesting it was crucial to helping fix the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
"If we're going to fix the access problems, if we're going to serve our veterans in the way they need to be served, we need to pass this bill," he said, adding that he hoped the vote would be "unanimous because this is an important bill."
Senators lined up on the floor before Tuesday's vote to support the legislation, a marked shift from the largely partisan fighting that has surrounded spending bills so far this year.
"I want to encourage everyone in the Senate to vote favorably," Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said ahead of the vote.
"But I want everybody to stop and take a deep breath and think about three things: Number one, today is the 240th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. … Tomorrow at 11th hour of
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the 11th day of the 11th month we celebrate the soldiers of World War I in the United States of America, and today in the United States Senate we're fixing problems that confront our veterans."
Democrats originally blocked the legislation when it came before the Senate earlier this year as part of a push to get a two-year budget deal. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested earlier Tuesday that Democrats deserve the credit over the extra veterans’ funding.
“The veterans have $2 billion more than they would have had we followed the Republicans’ lead, $2 billion more," he added. "So we’re satisfied this bill is a good bill, and it’s a good bill because veterans are getting $2 billion more."
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Dean Heller (R- Nev.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) missed the vote.
Cruz, Paul and Rubio are running for president and slated to appear at Tuesday night’s Republican debate in Milwaukee.
Graham is also running for the White House, but did not qualify for the debate.
Senators still need to reach an agreement on veterans and military construction spending with the House.
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said that senators “look forward to working with the House to finish work on this important bill to provide the necessary resources to improve veterans’ healthcare, benefit claims processing and medical research.”
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6.14 - International Business Times: US Military Veterans Feel Federal Government Has Not Treated Them Well: Report (10 November, Sarah Berger, 1.5M online visitors/mo; New York, NY)
While the majority of veterans said they valued their service and would do it again, most do not feel as if they received adequate support in reintegrating into civilian life, a new survey released Tuesday by Disabled American Veterans revealed. Roughly two-thirds of veterans of recent wars said their qualifications do not translate well to the civilian job market, and 59 percent felt as if civilians don’t understand what vets are dealing with when coming home from war, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
When asked whether they felt that promises made by the government to them as a veteran had been kept, 48 percent answered yes, 28 percent answered no and 24 percent were not sure. Only 19 percent of veterans agreed that the federal government treats them well, while 30 percent disagreed. And a mere 15 percent of veterans said that they agreed that disabled veterans have received the benefits they were promised, while 30 percent disagreed.
“That’s why I’m doing this job,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald told the Wall Street Journal, who warned that some of his overhauls may take time. “There have been shortfalls in the past; there may even be shortfalls today.”
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The Veterans Affairs (VA) budget has doubled in the past decade, reaching $163.9 billion this year, and a report released last summer discovered that post-9/11 veterans have higher incomes and are better covered by private and public health insurance than civilians, based on 2013 numbers. However, 31 percent of post-9/11 veterans have service-connected disabilities, while only 16 percent of all other veterans do.
During the race to 2016, major veterans' groups have complained the VA has not been talked about enough. Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley, though, announced Monday a comprehensive veterans and military policy platform, which included ending veterans' unemployment by 2020, overhauling healthcare offerings and ending “wrongful” military discharges related to post-traumatic stress disorder, the Military Times reported.
“Veterans have not escaped Washington’s dysfunction,” O’Malley said in his policy paper. “While some progress has been made at [the VA], the current situation remains unacceptable. Further reform and bold actions are needed to ensure instances of data manipulation and secret waitlists never happen again.”
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6.15 - MinnPost: Can the VA fire its way out of its problems? (10 November, Sam Brodey, 665k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN)
“Zero-sum situation.” “Culture of bureaucracy.” “Doesn’t make sense in the 21st century.”
These were some of the harsh words that some members of Congress, including First District Rep. Tim Walz, have spoken recently over an agency many are well past fed up dealing with: the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
If you believe the headlines, Congress’ goal of improving the VA will be a monumental task: Over the past two years, the agency has weathered a lot of bad press, from reports of interminable wait times at hospitals to unfair medical billing practices to allegations of bureaucrats gaming the system for personal gain.
Those stories have prompted Republicans to hold up the VA, which operates a massive health care network that provides care to nine million veterans and employs roughly 250,000 people, as Exhibit A of federal government incompetence and complacency. In the past year and a half, they have put forth a raft of reforms aimed at streamlining the agency — or, depending on how you view it — placing punitive measures on VA employees.
Others, including many Democrats, dispute the idea that primary blame for the VA’s woes lies on its employees. Instead, they have favored a number of smaller, targeted reforms to do the heavy lifting to make the VA better without wading into union politics.
Members of Congress love to talk about honoring America’s veterans — but if the last months are any indication, they have a long way to go in figuring out the best way to do it.
Scandal upon scandal
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Exactly how bad are things at the VA? If the past two years are a guide, very bad. The agency had a blockbuster scandal on its hands in spring 2014 when it was revealed that 35 veterans had died while waiting for care at a Phoenix, Arizona, VA hospital, and that officials had manipulated wait times to obscure the problem.
That scandal opened wider investigations from the White House, the FBI, Congress and the VA itself, which found similar problems nationwide. Top agency officials, including Secretary Eric Shinseki, stepped down as a result.
In the aftermath of the debacle, Congress and President Obama undertook a raft of measures aimed at helping veterans get care. Many were designed to help veterans circumvent problematic facilities, and one bill passed by Congress gave veterans more flexibility in going to non-VA doctors.
But problems with the institution persisted: In June of this year, it came to light that faulty billing practices at Minnesota and Wisconsin VA health facilities were confusing and putting undue financial burden on veterans. The entire Minnesota congressional delegation, joined by some Wisconsin members, sent an outraged letter to current Secretary Robert McDonald over the issue.
If that all were not enough, recently it was revealed that certain VA officials had maneuvered to create new jobs for themselves in different cities.
A government report charges that Kimberly Graves, a VA administrator from Philadelphia, persuaded a superior to leave a post in St. Paul, which she then filled. She received $129,000 in relocation fees — a move Rep. John Kline called “unconscionable … a clear violation of the public trust and blatant abuse of power.”
Graves failed to appear before the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in October and was promptly subpoenaed. Last week, she appeared before the committee in Washington and pled the fifth.
To lawmakers, it was textbook behavior from an agency that has circled the wagons. “It seems like the veterans administration has had this blank check — so they’ve gotten complacent and recalcitrant and unresponsive. Some heads need to roll,” Rep. Rick Nolan said.
Making firings easier Many close observers of the VA agree that a negative culture has festered in the agency for years, with bad habits building up to create a bureaucratic mess unique in the federal government simply because of the immense size and scope of the VA.
To fix the problems, Republicans have taken direct aim at the public sector unions that represent VA employees, arguing that limiting their influence is perhaps the single biggest thing Congress can do to remedy the situation. Generally, Republican arguments on the effect of federal workers unions mirror their arguments on teachers unions: They believe that unions help protect subpar employees from being fired.
Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican Veterans’ Affairs Committee chair, said last week that it is too hard to fire underperforming employees and too hard to hire new, eager ones. He said the most important thing the VA could do is “make it easier to discipline individuals who can’t or won’t do their jobs.” Since Shinseki stepped down as secretary last year, the rate of firings at the VA has slowed.
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To that end, Republicans this year introduced legislation, the VA Accountability Act of 2015, aimed at giving top VA executive officials more authority to fire lower level administrative workers. It was co-sponsored by Kline, and passed the House with some Democratic support. In a statement, Kline — a former Marine and one of three veterans in the Minnesota delegation — said the law “would give the VA secretary new authority to fire corrupt or incompetent employees — putting the treatment of our veterans before bureaucrats.”
The bill, Kline said, “comes in response to the VA’s long and well-documented history of not holding problem employees accountable,” adding it would be a “significant step toward increasing oversight and transparency.”
Walz, along with many other Democrats, opposed the VA Accountability Act, saying it was purely partisan. At a Wednesday talk hosted by the Brookings Institution, he said “it doesn’t make much sense to strip workers of collective bargaining,” and that it’s the “only strength they have.” He added that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s weakening of public sector unions in that state has had a chilling effect on whistleblowers — like the ones who stepped forward this year to shed light on poor management, high workload and unsafe environments at the St. Cloud VA hospital.
On Thursday, Nolan spoke of a myth that “somehow because of federal employee protections and because of unions, it’s impossible to fire a federal employee. That’s just not true,” he said. “I think we need to leave those protections in place.”
Walz has emphasized the importance of unions that represent VA employees, but has signalled a willingness to work with his Republican colleagues on so-called accountability measures that may weaken the unions. “When I hear someone hasn’t been fired who should be fired, I’m madder than anyone,” he said.
“Whatever it takes to deliver the highest quality health care is the one we should choose. I don’t have an ideological dog that I’m tied to in this fight.”
Incremental improvements For now, the likeliest scenario is that the VA will be improved incrementally, with lawmakers and the White House agreeing on noncontroversial laws, like one passed last year that expanded veterans’ access to care and hired more doctors and nurses for VA facilities.
Walz has been able to produce VA reform legislation that can earn support from both parties. In July, he introduced two bills: one that would require the VA to submit to an independent health- care audit every two years, and one to streamline how members of the private sector health- care industry operate at VA facilities.
And in the wake of the VA billing problem, Kline and Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced legislation aimed at reforming how the health-care system bills patients. (Kline’s bill will be considered in committee November 17.)
In October, Walz, along with Rep. Tom Emmer, introduced a bill to make VA internal reports more transparent and accessible to Congress and the public. That was introduced in response to their joint visit this fall to the St. Cloud VA.
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Whether there will be a grand showdown between Congress and VA employee unions remains to be seen. While Obama is in office, it’s highly likely he will veto a bill like the VA Accountability Act of 2015 — if it even survives the Senate. “There will be those who don’t understand the issue who will see this as a proxy fight over public sector unions,” Walz said.
“If you’re looking for a silver bullet that’s gonna weaken public sector unions and fix the VA, you’re gonna be looking for a long time.”
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6.16 - Military Times: Vets advocates script plan for new president's first 100 days (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Veterans advocates have already scripted the first 100 days of the next president's agenda, whoever he or she might be.
In a new policy paper from the Center for a New American Security, analysts say swift engagement on veterans issues will be critical for the next administration as a signal not only to those who have already served, but also to those in uniform today and future potential recruits.
"National security depends on the United States' ability to recruit, retain, manage, and support its service members and their families," the report states. "The nation benefits from the successful transition and future success of veterans in myriad ways, including … the example they set for future generations weighing whether to join the all-volunteer force."
The bipartisan document sets out a general blueprint for the top issues facing the Veterans Affairs Department now and in coming years, and outlines advice for President Barack Obama's successor to tackle in their first 100 days. Priorities include:
A more public commitment to veterans' issues: "The next president must use his or her personal presence and participation to convey the importance of this support and its vitality to national security." A government-wide focus on veterans: "The next president should identify and nominate key leaders for (the Defense Department), VA, the Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration that work on veteran and military personnel issues." Including veterans in wider military planning: "Military personnel and veteran issues should be integrated into key strategic planning processes and documents, such as the National Security Strategy." Paying for it: "This includes, but is not limited to, adequate funding to fully resource the military compensation, defense health, defense operations and maintenance, veterans health, and veterans benefits accounts." Authors of the document acknowledge that the challenges involved in providing health care to veterans in coming years are "daunting," but they note "near universal" support among Americans for ensuring that veterans' military service is recognized and honored.
However, they also note the political fights over current VA operations, and philosophical differences over whether future decisions should expand the department's bureaucracy or outsource long-held core programs to the private sector.
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Still, the report notes that enough common ground exists for the incoming commander in chief to use the issue to push for positive change with broad public support.
"The American military always rises to meet challenges to national security," it states. "The nation and its economy embrace those who have served and do so far better today than for past generations, though there is still room to improve."
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6.17 - Military Times: Senate approves VA funding for fiscal 2016 (10 November, Leo Shane III, 540k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
Senate lawmakers advanced plans for a $166 billion Veterans Affairs Department budget for fiscal 2016, a potential next step not only for veterans program funding but also a broader budget deal for all federal spending.
The military construction and VA spending measure is the first fiscal 2016 appropriations bill to make it through both chambers of Congress, although revisions from the $163 billion House plan mean it will have to go through further negotiations before it can head to the White House for President Obama's final signature.
How soon that might happen is unclear. While the Senate passed the measure by an overwhelming 93-0 vote, leaders in that chamber said they see the legislation as a potential vehicle for a larger omnibus budget deal, one that is still being negotiated in advance of the Dec. 11 deadline facing lawmakers.
In late October, White House and congressional leaders announced the framework for a two- year budget deal that lifted spending caps both for defense and nondefense spending.
The move appeared to calm Democrats who had signaled an intent to stall the fiscal 2016 appropriations process over funding fights, but the specifics of each agency’s appropriations still must be finalized by Congress. The two parties are still sparring over possible riders that might be attached to those measures, on such issues as immigration and abortion.
Senate passage of the VA budget bill gives lawmakers some momentum toward a budget compromise, and could give VA leaders an unexpected funding boost for the fiscal year.
VA leaders repeatedly have lamented earlier congressional plans to trim about $900 million from the president’s budget request for the department. On Tuesday, before the Senate vote, Republican leaders added about $2 billion to the budget total, to cover unmet medication and benefits requests made by department leaders.
That move prompted Democrats to drop their concerns about the earlier funding levels, and would give a boost of 4 percent to department spending over fiscal 2015.
VA has seen its total budget nearly triple since the late 1990s, but department officials have insisted that increased demand on services still leave potential shortfalls in health care and facility construction funds.
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The Senate plan would give VA about $71 billion in discretionary spending for its fiscal 2016 programs and almost $60 billion more in advance appropriations for fiscal 2017.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., chariman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, praised Tuesday's vote as a step towards helping all veterans
"With $1.1 billion in funding for veterans' care above the president’s request and special protections for whistleblowers like doctors and nurses who speak up to protect our vets, I am proud we found a bipartisan path forward," he said in a statement.
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6.18 - WFED-AM (AM-1500): Clarification, cutting ‘red tape’ at heart of proposed changes to VA contracting program (10 November, Meredith Somers, 461k online visitors/mo; Washington, DC)
The Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress are working to make it easier for veterans to take advantage of a special veterans-focused contracting program while also protecting it from abuse.
The VA released proposed amendments to its Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Guidelines, while Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, recently introduced a bill he called a “three- pronged approach” to reform how the government awards its contracts and ensure the program “operates effectively for our veterans.”
“Currently, veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) face incredible challenges getting certified to participate in seeking and securing federal contracts under the program’s rules,” Coffman said in a statement. “With over 50,000 small businesses attempting to use congressionally established VOSB and SDVOSB contracting programs, it is critical that we protect our nation’s veterans seeking federal contracts from the VA and Small Business Administration.”
The bill, entitled the Improving Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Act of 2015, would create an appeals process that lets a business owner take their case to the SBA’s office of hearings and appeals. The decision of the office would be considered the final word.
“Increasing SBA’s role in the appellate process will limit confusion in how to appeal and ensure a more predictable pattern in the final decisions,” Coffman said. “It will also ensure impartiality by not having VA review its own previously denied claims.”
The proposed legislation also would require the VA to follow the SBA’s regulations when verifying VOSBs and SDVOSBs, and aligns the definitions of VOSB and SDVOSB so that “variations between the Small Business Act and the Vets First Program are not used to justify additional inconsistencies between the VA and SBA programs.”
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Congress created the Veterans First contracting program in 2006 with the goal of awarding more contracts to veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. VA is responsible for verifying the ownership of these businesses in order to participate in the program.
During a joint subcommittee hearing on the program last week, Coffman shared that according to an Office of Inspector General report for 2015, VA procurements total $91.5 billion, of which $3.9 billion went to veteran-owned small businesses, and $3.5 billion of that money went to service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses.
In a statement from Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs and one of the six co-sponsors of Coffman’s bill, said the legislation would cut “needless red tape” and streamline the verification process, which can help “ensure veteran business owners are properly recognized for their service, while reducing fraud and freeing up more resources for veteran support.”
Last week the VA also published proposed amendments to its verification program.
“The Verification Program has been the subject of reports from both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and VA’s Office of Inspector General stating that despite VA’s Verification Program, fraud still exists in the Veterans First Contracting Program,” the proposed rule summary stated. “Some stakeholder feedback has been that the current regulations … are too open to interpretation and are unnecessarily more rigorous than similar certification programs run by the Small Business Administration (SBA).”
Among the changes to the rule would be:
Clarify the eligibility requirements for businesses to obtain “verified” status, Add and revise definitions, reorder requirements, redefine the definition of “control” and explain examination procedure and review processes.
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6.19 - Montgomery Advertiser: Rep. Martha Roby's VA takeover bill to get a hearing (10 November, Mary Omdorff Troyan, 275k online visitors/mo; Montgomery, AL)
Legislation to give the Veterans Affairs Department new power to take control of struggling VA medical centers will be debated by a congressional subcommittee next week.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, would require VA officials in Washington to send a team of turnaround specialists to local VA hospitals with persistent problems involving patient care, customer satisfaction and employee morale.
The House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health will hear testimony on the idea Nov. 17.
“Clearly, the VA doesn’t have in place the tools to come in and take over failing health centers, and that’s what we want to give them,” Roby said Tuesday.
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Roby drafted the bill after more than a year of turmoil at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) in Montgomery and Tuskegee. She’s asked repeatedly for VA officials in Washington to take over CAVHCS, but it hasn’t happened.
The director of CAVHCS was fired last year and a new director is expected to be named soon, Roby said. The former director was fired in part for failing to act quickly enough on two cases of employee misconduct. There were also fraudulent attempts to cover up long wait times for patients, X-rays that went unread, and falsified information on medical records.
Roby’s proposal would also give national VA officials authority to hire and fire employees, a detail likely to draw criticism from civil service advocates who generally oppose short-cutting due process in federal employment matters.
Roby said she met with VA officials about her legislation and doesn’t think they will oppose the bill.
“All indications were that (VA) is favorable toward the idea but there are some details we want to work with them to iron out,” Roby said.
The legislation is modeled, in part, on the Alabama Board of Education’s policy that gave the state superintendent power to take over and stabilize school systems in financial or academic trouble.
Her bill would create the Office of Failing Medical Centers Recovery, led by a new undersecretary of veterans affairs. The office would be required to intervene at a minimum of two and up to seven VA medical centers with the most severe problems.
Selecting troubled hospitals would be based on dozens of criteria already measured by the Veterans Health Administration, such as health care-associated infections, readmission rates, in-hospital mortality rates, turnover among registered nurses, and how long patients wait to get an appointment.
Facilities with the worst ratings would be labeled “failing” and subject to takeover. Roby said she didn’t know if CAVHCS would immediately qualify.
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6.20 - The Daily Times: Honoring our veterans requires action, COMMENTARY: Our veterans fought abroad; we must ensure they don’t have to fight another battle at home (10 November, Rep. Andy Harris, 264k online visitors/mo; Salisbury, MD)
As we celebrate Veterans Day, it is crucial for us to take another hard look at how our Department of Veterans Affairs is working for our men and women in uniform.
As a veteran myself, I believe it is absolutely essential we take care of the service men and women who fought to protect our country’s freedom so many take for granted. Our veterans fought their fight abroad; now it’s our job to make sure they don’t have to fight another battle with the Veterans Administration at home.
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The Veterans Administration has been failing our veterans for too long. Government bureaucrats working for the Veterans Health Administration were lying to our veterans. They were falsifying records and veterans died while they were waiting for care from the VA.
When these tragedies came to light, Congress stepped in and began making progress in ensuring that our veterans receive the highest quality care.
I pushed for the Veterans Choice Program to be included in the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. This program allows veterans who have been waiting for more than 30 days for VA medical care – and who live more than 40 miles away from a VA medical care facility or face one of several excessive travel burdens – to receive health care from non-VA doctors closer to home.
When the VA tried to interpret the 40 mile distance as a straight line distance instead of a driving distance, I fought successfully to get that changed because it disproportionately hurts our veterans on the Shore.
The Veterans Choice Program is just one example of ways Congress is taking meaningful steps to offer private options for our veterans who would prefer not to go to one of our VA facilities. But I believe we have to make many more changes like this to ensure that we do not forget about our service men and women once they have completed their service to this great nation.
Plenty of problems still exist at the VA. We still have a lot more work to do.
•The VA gave bonuses to employees who were falsifying records.
•Government bureaucrats who failed our veterans still have their jobs.
•Recently, officials who worked for the VA even invoked the Fifth Amendment when they were subpoenaed to appear before the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Can you imagine the government continuing to employ people who refuse to answer questions in front of Congress? Sadly, we need a cultural change in the VA. I’m still working to bring about that change because our veterans simply deserve better.
This Veterans Day, I hope you will join me in thanking all of the men and women who have served to protect the ideals of freedom and liberty.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
Dr. Andy Harris represents Maryland’s 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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6.21 - Federal Times: Veterans Affairs names new permanent CISO (10 November, Aaron Boyd, 229k online visitors/mo; Springfield, VA)
The Veterans Affairs Department has a new full-time chief information security officer, Brian Burns, a longtime VA employee and health IT security expert.
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Burns will take over for acting CISO Dan Galik, who was serving in the interim after the departure of Stan Lowe this summer.
"I am very pleased to announce that Mr. Brian Burns has accepted the job as the new chief information security officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs," VA CIO LaVerne Council wrote in an email to staff on Nov. 6. "Brian's leadership and expertise will be needed as we make a strong push to eliminate our material weakness and secure our employees and veterans' data."
Along with his duties as CISO, Burns will also remain in his current position as the deputy director of the Interagency Program Office — which coordinates operations with the Defense Department — and oversee the implementation of the department's Enterprise Cybersecurity Strategy, according to Council's email.
In her note to staff, Council also thanked Galik for his time as acting CISO. Galik will be going back to his prior position full-time: associate deputy CIO for security operations.
"Dan balanced many competing requirements and kept the [Office of Information Security] shop moving forward in this time of need," she wrote.
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6.22 - Albuquerque Journal: Ceremonies, parades will honor veterans (10 November, Charles D. Brunt, 165k online visitors/mo; Albuquerque, NM)
A parade of restored military vehicles, ceremonies at the New Mexico Veterans’ Memorial and the long-awaited dedication of a pair of statues honoring veterans at the National Hispanic Cultural Center are among activities scheduled for Veterans Day.
Veterans Day was formerly known as Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. The legal federal holiday, previously held on the fourth Monday in October, reverted to Nov. 11 in 1978.
The Wednesday parade, which features a collection of restored military vehicles, starts at 9 a.m. at USS Bullhead Memorial Park at the southern end of San Pedro SE. It winds through the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center complex and onto Ridgecrest SE. It then turns east on Gibson and north on Louisiana, concluding at the veterans memorial, 1100 Louisiana SE.
The parade is sponsored by the Roadrunner Convoy of the New Mexico Military Vehicle Preservation Association.
Events at the veterans memorial begin at 10 a.m. with music by the Dukes of Albuquerque American Legion Band.
Ceremonies begin at 11 a.m. Speakers include Mayor Richard Berry; Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient; Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M.; and Andrew Welch, director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System.
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Overflow parking will be at the Kirtland Federal Credit Union at Louisiana and Gibson SE, and free shuttle buses will carry participants to the memorial. Specially equipped vans will be available to shuttle people with disabilities.
Two sculptures honoring Hispanic veterans – including two Barelas Marines who died in Vietnam – will be dedicated at 10 a.m. on Veterans Day at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 Fourth SW.
One sculpture depicts Sgt. Pedro “Pete” Padilla and Pfc. Gregorio “Manuel” Mora, who died 39 months apart while serving in Vietnam.
A few years after the Marines were killed, a small park in the Barelas neighborhood was named for Padilla and a recreation center there was named in Mora’s honor. Both were razed when construction of the cultural center began in February 1999.
For years, the Padilla and Mora families and others worked to create another memorial. They finally succeeded in July 2011, when ground was broken for the Manuel Mora and Pete Padilla Memorial Park on the cultural center’s campus.
The other sculpture, titled Warriors Repose, represents the connection between the adjacent Rio Grande Bosque and the cultural center campus. Guest speakers include the sculptures’ artists, and members of the Padilla and Mora families.
Other Veterans Day activities include:
• The University of New Mexico will honor its veterans and military members with a formal flag ceremony at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Alumni Chapel, conducted by the UNM Joint Service ROTC Color Guard.
UNM President Bob Frank will deliver opening remarks. Guest speaker will be Paul B. Roth, CEO of UNM Health System and dean of UNM School of Medicine. Names of service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan will be read at 10:15 a.m.
⋄ The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center will honor Native American veterans – including Bataan Death March survivor Tony Reyna of Taos – with several events on Veterans Day. An 8:30 a.m. veterans breakfast will be followed by songs, a color guard, flag raising and a four-hour gourd dance honoring warriors that begins at 12:15 p.m.
Reyna will be honored at 11:30 a.m. Reyna, who was a member of the New Mexico National Guard’s C Battery, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II, was a prisoner of war for more than three years.
All events, which conclude at 4 p.m., will take place at the cultural center, 2401 12th NW.
• Rio Rancho will have its Veterans Day event at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Veterans Monument Park, off Southern Boulevard on Pinetree Road and next to Esther Bone Memorial Library.
• The village of Tijeras will host a wreath-laying ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Tijeras Vietnam Veterans Memorial, just west of the village library on Old Route 66 (N.M. 333.)
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⋄ Santa Fe will mark Veterans Day with a downtown parade at 10 a.m., followed by ceremonies at the Santa Fe Veterans Memorial, at Montezuma Street and Cerrillos Road. Ceremonies begin immediately after the parade.
Brig. Gen. Thomas Bump, deputy adjutant general with the New Mexico National Guard, will be the keynote speaker. Music will be provided by the Santa Fe Concert Band.
⋄ The Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park, 4 miles north of Angel Fire off U.S. 64, will host ceremonies at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The Cimarron High School Band will perform, and Red Eagle Rael, veterans liaison with Picuris Pueblo, will be the keynote speaker.
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6.23 - Eden Prairie News: Commentary: Commitment to veterans goes beyond Veterans Day (10 November, Rep. Erik Paulsen, 12k online visitors/mo; Minneapolis, MN)
For nearly a century, Nov. 11 has served as a day to remember the service, bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. While originally called Armistice Day to honor veterans of WWI, in 1954 the day was changed to recognize all veterans that have served our country in the military.
There is no group of people that have defined the trajectory of the United States quite like our veterans. Those who have pledged to serve our country, leave their family for long periods of time, and put their life in harm’s way deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. They are the reason our freedoms and ideals have survived for over 200 years.
Our commitment to our veterans is something that should be a priority and that means upholding the promises that our country made to them.
For far too long, the plight of our veterans has been brushed aside or not taken seriously. Problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were affecting the timeliness and quality of care for millions of patients. Congress has worked over the last two years to hold the VA accountable while providing the tools necessary to get our nation’s veterans the care they deserve.
The first concern that immediately needed to be addressed was long waiting lists that were keeping veterans from being able to see a doctor in a timely manner. News reports and investigations showed that nearly one-third of those on VA waiting lists passed away before they were able to see a doctor at the VA – a truly shocking and tragic revelation. The wait-list crisis needed to be addressed immediately which is why Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act last year to give veterans on the VA waiting list an option to be reimbursed if they saw a doctor outside the VA system. While not a permanent solution, it was important to not allow the backlog to keep veterans from seeing a doctor.
At the same time, I’m supporting legislation that would bring more accountability and transparency to the VA. For instance, I’m working with my Minnesota colleagues, Reps. Tom Emmer and Tim Walz, on bipartisan legislation, the Veterans Care and Reporting Enforcement Act, which requires all reports from VA investigations to be made public. Additionally, the reports will be made available to the Congressional committees in charge of oversight at the VA. In the
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last decade, over 140 investigations by the Inspector General have been hidden and shelved without notifying Congress or the public. This makes it extremely difficult for members of Congress or watchdog groups to access information that would help decision-making and reforms at the agency.
We also need to address the needs of veterans that are recently returning from war. We have an epidemic on our hands in the form of PTSD and veteran suicides. An estimated 22 veterans commit suicide every day – a staggering and heartbreaking number. Earlier this year, I was invited to the White House for the signing of the Clay Hunt SAV Act into law. The bill streamlines available resources for veterans and creates a program to hire more mental health specialists at the VA. This legislation – which I strongly supported in Congress – is already helping countless veterans receive better care for mental health issues.
And, I’m really excited about another bill that I’m authoring to help our veterans by reuniting them with the working dogs they served with in the military. These dogs often keep our soldiers safe on the front lines and form bonds with the troops they are embedded with. By simply ensuring these dogs are retired in the United States, we can enable them to be with the veterans that they served alongside. Thanks to bipartisan support, it should be on the president’s desk in the near future and is a small step aimed at hel ping our veterans transition to life after the military.
On Nov. 11, our veterans are honored at community events and in parades where they rightfully are the subject of our thanks and praise. But our commitment to these great Americans goes beyond one day, it must be a promise that we uphold at all times.
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