Issues: Veterans' Affairs
Those Who Serve Deserve Services
Today the veterans of this country return from Iraq and other parts of the world to find an apparent lack of services in many instances. The long delays for appointments and the travels to find treatment must be ended if we are to serve our veterans in the manner they deserve. Veteran's Administration (VA) hospitals need increased funding and more locations, not fewer as we see under the Bush administration with their program of closings and consolidations. The VA funding must be maintained at levels allowing full services to be offered to all in need. The funding cuts of the past few years must be restored and increased in accordance with the needs of today's veterans.
Under the law today, the VA Secretary is required to provide hospital care and medical services to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system only to the extent that Congress has provided money to cover the costs of the care. This discretionary budgeting process, with its continuing resolutions, emergency supplemental appropriations, and increased funding levels provided months into the fiscal year, limits the VA in its mission. Facilities have had to restrict services provided to veterans, delay hiring of new clinical staff, institute local and regional freelance policies to restrict eligibility and care, and impose a variety of cost-cutting measures just to make ends meet while Congress decides how much to appropriate and when to do so. No organization can long survive in the state of management paralysis, planning chaos, and structural financial crisis brought about by the discretionary budget process of our government today.
Year-by-Year Budgeting Must End
Year after year, veterans fight for sufficient funding for VA health care and a budget that is reflective of the rising cost of health care and increased demand for medical services. At a time when demand grows daily as a result of the Iraq War and our aging veteran population, full funding is necessary. Instead we see the cumulative effects of insufficient health care funding, resulting in the rationing of medical care. This situation is unacceptable. As a concerned citizen, and a veteran myself, I want our government to fully honor its moral obligation to provide timely and adequate health care services to all wartime service-connected disabled veterans.
The VA must be assured of steady funding in accordance with inflation and the increased needs of our veterans. Only by Congressional action to give the VA mandatory funding can we as a nation be assured that our veterans receive the care they earned by their service.
P.T.S.D. Treatment is Vital
Programs to 1nsure treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disabilities must be put in place. Job training and programs to help veterans make the transition from military to public life need to be instituted and maintained. We cannot expect the veterans themselves and their families to do all the work without support from the government. Studies have shown veterans suffering from PTSD are more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs and to engage in violent behavior. Recent reports describe the increased violence as returning veterans find themselves mixing in local bars with other young men who have not endured the violence that is war. The mix is volatile and might well be avoided if the troops were given proper counseling, treatment, and access to job and mental health programs upon their return home.
Primary Care is the Starting Place with PTSD Treatment
When veterans first arrive home or are in the process of traveling home, all medical personnel with whom they have contact must be trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of PTSD. Primary care physicians in the veteran's hometown should be alert to the potential. Every VA staff person needs awareness training so that any veteran seeking any measure of care is given proper attention. Local police departments must be given the proper information about PTSD. While officers are not medical personnel, they interact with a wide variety of people and should at least have a chance to understand and to recognize PTSD in their daily work. Only by proper recognition and adequate treatment can our veterans be expected to return to normal life function.
Expanding the G.I. Bill for Education
The GI bill for education should be expanded to funding levels for individuals that allow a veteran to obtain an education. Trade schools and colleges should accept our veterans with support from GI bill benefits that pay enough to allow both living expenses and tuition and books. Many veterans in past times earned a full education with the benefits allowed under the GI bill benefits available at that time. Those who gained the education are better able to contribute to society over the course of time. The system as it stands today requires veterans to use personal funds in order to receive additional educational benefits. In addition, the benefits expire 10 years after discharge from the military. The renewed system should provide benefits with no expiration date. We as a nation cannot afford to leave our veterans behind in educational opportunity.
Our Veterans Deserve Our Full Support
As a concerned citizen and veteran, I want our government to fully honor its moral obligation to provide timely and adequate health care services to all wartime service-connected disabled veterans. The men and women who serve in our nation's military deserve all the support we have to offer. We can no longer allow them to be left without full medical services and educational support.
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