|
Edited on Wed Oct-20-04 09:35 AM by vetwife
Vital Concerns to Veterans:
1) A very important issue facing veterans are Congressional bills S-50 and S-19. S-50, "Veterans Health Care Funding Guarantee Act of 2003" is a re-introduction of HR-5250 from the 107th Congress. S-19, "Veterans and Military Personnel Fairness Act of 2003" includes the provisions of S-50 plus additional proposed legislation. S-19 needs to be introduced into the House of Representatives for this Congress. In the 107th Congress, Rep. Christopher Smith of NJ introduced it in the 107th Congress. It was co-sponsored by Lane Evans. Ultimately it was co-sponsored by 128 Representatives, including Rep. Gutierrez. Unfortunately, it never got out of Committee.
We hope this legislation will be seriously considered and passed this year. It will resolve a number of the problems that follow.
2) Secretary Principi has a) created a new category for veterans, Category 8, and then suspended enrollment of all veterans in this category. Category 7 and 8 veterans are among the fastest growing sectors of VA clients. With the on-going attenuation of healthcare coverage among the population in general (47 million people without coverage), this section is going to continue to grow. Layoffs and benefits cuts will force the veteran-section of this population toward the VA. It is imperative that the VA accept all veterans.
3) There has also been an announcement that active duty personnel will only be eligible for VA care (barring service-connected disabilities, etc.) for 2 years after their release from service. The VA was created to serve all veterans. It is imperative that the VA cover veterans, regardless of the terms or conditions of their service.
4) Of paramount importance to all veterans is the increase in co-payments for medications, inpatient and outpatient hospital visits, and, in some cases, even for nursing home care. These increases in co-payments hit the most disenfranchised sections of veterans the hardest. Veterans from World War II , Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War (as well as other interventions) were promised free health care. Not only is this promise being abrogated, but veterans benefits are being continually whittled away through program limitations and cost increases. This process must be reversed and health care provided free for all veterans, particularly those in real economic and medical need.
5) There are major issues of communications between veterans and the VA Administration. From the point of view of veterans, the VA administrators seem to get quite offended and hostile if asked questions that challenge them or their point of view. Of particular note in this regard are questions on the pay system and methods of reward. As an example, there are persistent rumors floating around that VA administrators have received large sums of money for cutting veterans' benefits and programs. As an example -- not to pick out one person, but to say what the rumors are -- it is rumored that the previous Director of Hines VA (Max Lewis) received a large bonus (some say $30,000, but others $300,000) for returning funds unused (the rumored amounts are $3 million, $1 million and $300,000) to Washington. These rumors are obviously detrimental to the morale of veterans at the hospital, yet we cannot get answers. There may not be a problem with incentive programs, but these are public employees and veterans want to know that VA administration doesn't make money by screwing veterans (or that they do; at least we'd have the truth then). Until we get answers, we naturally assume the worst, especially when the VISN-12 administration refuses to address the rumors. We need to know the truth.
6) Another VA communications problem relates to VA administration and management procedures. The veteran view is that veterans benefits and programs are continually being cut back, piece by piece. A large part of this is not VA-wide policy, but local management. At Hines, as at Westside and Lakeside, we have seen closures. Lakeside was closed to inpatients, despite the protest of veterans, employees, and Northwestern Medical School and Hospital. Westside has had programs curtailed. Food for Westside is now prepared at Hines. The food veterans receive is terrible and this whole process seems preposterous to everyone except the VA administration. At Hines, we are aware of numerous down-sizings, including:
a) the fire department closure. Broadview FD now responds and veterans and employees are afraid their response will be (and is) inadequate. They are also dubious over the reasons for this change.
b) The laundry service have been out-sourced.
c) At least 90 patient beds have been cut.
d) The $100 million Homeless Program was mandated by Congress for New York, Los Angles and Chicago. To date, there is no program at Hines VA and even those designated to run the program don't seem to know where the funds are. It was supposed to be a 90 bed program.
e) The Therapeutic Pool was closed in December 2001.
f) Mental Health Rehabilitation exercise has been downsized.
g) The Mental Health Intensive Case Management Program (MHICM) was supposed to provide staff to follow community-based mentally ill patients to keep them in the community and out of the hospital to the degree possible. It was told recently that there is no staff or funding.
These program have been cut and under funded without adequate communication between the VA administration and veterans and employees so people know what is going on, what is going to happen and why. Thus, veterans (and employees) feel victimized and used by the VA administration. We need better communication and information.
7) There is major concern about VA employee understaffing, overwork and the resultant poor moral. This leads veterans to complain about the staff. The reality is that employees are so harried and harassed that their morale is extremely low. Activation of more than 500 VA employees to the Iraq theater has the potential to make this substantially worse. We are very concerned about this, particularly at a time when the VA may be required to care for war casualties .....................................................................
The following was taken straight from the Dept of Veterans Affairs per Princippi..The key in all of this look at where it says major hostilities. .................................................................. Veterans who serve on active duty in a theater of combat operations during a period of war after November 11, 1998 or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities are eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for a period of two years from their date of discharge.
We created this page to provide shortcuts to valuable information and services of interest to Returning Service Members
|