Cold War Veterans Blog

Veterans Affairs: A broken system

Posted:03/13/2009 1:35 AM

For the Times-Standard

The VA's own lawyers claimed that Congress, after a careful study, have determined that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a “broken system,” and that disabled veterans must live with it. They also say that the VA shouldn't be held accountable for its failures.

Yet the VA repeatedly made statements that it has all the resources it needs to do its job. Congress has given them a larger budget for the past few years, yet they claimed in a recent court action that the adverse consequences of a court order that forces them do their job is distressing at best.

Dire warnings from VA officials note that shortfalls in the 2009 budget will result in a dramatic reduction for services for local veterans being able to get their health care needs taken care of by local medical care providers, even when local VA medical facilities are unable to provide necessary care. Unless you are medically unable to travel, you probably will not get approval. This will be decided on an individual basis by San Francisco VA Medical Center. So never mind the fact that you may lose a day or two of work, or you're a totally disabled veteran or the aliment you're seeking care for is related to your military service.

There are long waiting lists for programs like Adult Day Health Care which is a VA outpatient service providing medical and therapeutic services to disabled veterans and respite care which provides veterans with short-term services to give their caregiver a period

of relief from the demands of daily care for the chronically ill or disabled veteran. Homemaker and Home Health Aides services, professional home care, mostly nursing services, all of which is purchased from private-local providers, have fallen under the budget ax.
It's time veterans stop being at the mercy of nameless VA authorization clerks and an inadequate budget. It's time to stop the practice of deciding a veteran's case based upon their (VA clerks) own individual interpretation of the manual and the status of funding. It's not the veteran's fault that the VA is not getting the funding it needs. Yet veterans suffer while the politicians and government administrators play games.

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has introduced some positive legislation called the “Veterans' Emergency Fairness Act of 2009 (S.404).”

This bill would enable the VA to reimburse veterans enrolled for the remaining costs of emergency treatment received outside of the VA's health care system if the veteran has outside insurance that only covers part of the cost.

Under current law, the VA can (again, not will) reimburse veterans or pay outside hospitals directly only if a veteran has no outside health insurance. “Because insurance may not cover all costs, a trip to the ER can leave insured veterans financially crippled. This bill could enable the VA to fill the gap for veterans whose outside insurance does not meet their needs. In addition to reimbursing veterans for future costs of emergency care, the bill would allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide retroactive reimbursements back to May 2000, when the VA was first authorized to cover the cost of outside emergency care for veterans enrolled with the VA for their care.

Many veterans have no idea that they maybe eligible for a VA pension, which is a monetary award paid on a monthly basis to veterans with low income who are permanently and totally disabled, or are age 65 and older. Those veterans may be eligible for monetary support if they have 90 days or more, or at least one day of active military service, during a period of war.

Payments would be made to qualified veterans to bring their total income, including other retirement or social security income, to a level set by Congress annually. Veterans of a period of war who are age 65 or older, and meet the service and income requirements, are also eligible to receive a pension, regardless of their current physical condition.

As you read this, there are veterans around you being denied local health care, even though they meet the stringent requirements of the VA. It's all about money. Now, let's make it about the veterans in our community.

I urge you, and your friends and family, to contact your Congressional representative and tell them what you think about removing the “maybe” in the treatment for our veterans. New priorities need to come out for a full funding process that assures continuation for all VA programs for veterans who have earned them.


Carl Young of Fortuna has been a veterans rights advocate for the past 25 years.