Heather Ansley
Director of Veterans Policy

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will likely consider the fiscal year 2011 Veterans Affairs (VA) funding legislation (H.R. 5822).

The House Committee on Appropriations’ legislation would provide the VA with $56.8 billion in discretionary funding (mainly for health care for veterans), which is on par with the $56.9 billion provided for by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Under both the House and Senate bills, the VA would receive approximately $64 billion in mandatory funding (mainly for disability compensation and pensions for veterans).

VetsFirst is pleased to report that both the House and Senate bills also include $50.6 billion in advance appropriations for VA health care. VetsFirst, along with other veterans service organizations, supported advance appropriations to ensure that the VAs will be able to meet the needs of veterans from all eras.

Earlier this year, the President submitted his FY 2011 budget which included $125 billion for the VA. The President’s request included $60.3 billion for discretionary spending and $64.7 billion in mandatory funding.

As the appropriations legislation moves through Congress, VetsFirst will continue to advocate for Congress to provide the funding needed to ensure that our nation’s veterans receive the services and benefits they have earned through their service to our nation.

VetsFirst believes that veterans with disabilities must have access to needed health care services through the VA health care system. Specifically, veterans must be able to receive accessible physical and appropriate mental health services, including long-term services and supports (long-term care). In order to adequately perform these services, Congress must ensure that the VA has the appropriate staffing and resource levels to provide these benefits to veterans of all eras and genders.

Despite efforts to link veterans to the VA health care system, a substantial number of veterans are accessing health care through community-based, non-VA, providers and services. VetsFirst believes that the VA must fully recognize the importance of veterans being able to receive a wide variety of services in their communities and develop robust partnerships to ensure that these services will be available to veterans when and where they need them. At the same time, however, the VA must find better ways to reach out to veterans to make them aware of the assistance available. Partnering with non-VA providers that also serve veterans with disabilities would help individuals to learn about the VA and receive all of the services that they are eligible for as people with disabilities.

Better access to health care will ensure that veterans are able to maintain their health and functioning, thereby reducing the need for long-term services and supports. When long-term services and supports are required due to disability or age, most people want to live in and be a part of their communities. Evolving the VA’s system of long-term care to one that is more focused on community supports, funded by the VA, will ensure that veterans are receiving services and supports in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their needs.

Lastly, VetsFirst believes that streamlining the transition from soldier to veteran is an important step in making VA health care services accessible. Although the care of servicemembers and veterans is divided between the DOD and VA, it is the responsibility of these agencies to ensure that individuals’ needs are seamlessly met. The DOD and VA must diligently work toward the development and implementation of an electronic records system for medical information and service-related documentation sharing that will help veterans in filing for VA benefits and receiving proper VA health care.

VetsFirst will continue to fight for access to health care and other services and benefits that are critical for veterans with disabilities.

In future posts, we will explore additional VetsFirst public policy priorities.

For decades, annual funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) budget for its veterans health care programs has been held hostage by political wrangling and Washington budget battles. Uncertainties and late budgets have prevented the VA from effectively planning for hiring medical and support staff, purchasing medical equipment, renovating deteriorating health care facilities, opening new clinics in medically underserved areas and conducting vital medical research. The result has been a decrease in available VA health care programs and services, longer wait times for access to health care and the loss of precious time in fighting and preventing disease and disability among our nation’s veterans.

The new law accomplishes two sorely needed reforms. It provides for Congress to budget for VA health care one year in advance of each upcoming fiscal year. Accordingly, the VA will know how much funding it will receive for health care programs up to two years in the future so it can allocate its resources much more efficiently. The law also requires the VA to produce a publicly-disclosed estimate of its advance funding requirements that will be reviewed for accuracy by the Government Accountability Office. This will ensure that Congress appropriates enough money to allow the VA to meet future veterans’ health care demands.

“Advance appropriations are not the end of the battle,” stated Paul Tobin, President of VetsFirst. “Even with this new law, Congress has not passed the VA’s budget for Fiscal Year 2010. The VA’s budget has been late for 20 out of the past 23 years. The resulting interruption in VA health care funding has put us back to square one. We must remain vigilant in demanding that Congress and the VA take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that our veterans receive the health care that they desperately need and rightly deserve,” Tobin added.

The equipment was used during endoscopic procedures, including colonoscopies, at three VA medical centers: Murfreesboro, TN, between April 2003 and to December 2008, Augusta, GA. between January and November 2008, and Miami, FL. between May 2004 and March 2009. The equipment was improperly sterilized after use.

So far, the VA has sent letters to 10,555 veterans who are at risk for infection as the result of these procedures. The letters advise them of the danger and invite veterans to undergo additional testing to determine if they have, in fact, been infected.

More than 3,000 veterans have been tested to date and the results are rather alarming. Twenty-two veterans have tested positive for Hepatitis B (5), Hepatitis C (11) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (6).

The results do not necessarily prove that these infections were actually caused by diagnostic testing at the affected VA facilities, but they do raise the disturbing possibility. In response, the VA, in addition to notifying potentially exposed veterans about the danger, is offering testing, treatment and counseling services. The VA is following up on notification letters that have been returned as undeliverable, as well as reaching out to homeless veterans with no known address.

Although VA officials have described the situation as “unacceptable” and are “extremely concerned about this matter”, the fact remains that in two VA medical centers, veterans were potentially exposed to contaminated invasive equipment for as long as five years! This is not merely unacceptable, it is unconscionable.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and newly-confirmed Deputy Secretary Scott Gould need to get on top of this issue immediately to safeguard veterans’ health. Otherwise, their credibility and promises of VA health care reform will be seriously compromised. This is what VetsFirst means by demanding meaningful accountability on the part of the VA. It is not about pointing fingers, but fixing problems – quickly and permanently.

If you are, or know of, a veteran that may have been potentially exposed to contaminated VA medical equipment, please call 1-877-575-7256 for additional information.

(Washington, D.C., February 25) – United Spinal Association and its veterans services program, VetsFirst, in partnership with Vietnam Veterans of America introduced the Veterans Health Council at a press conference today at the National Press Club.

The Veterans Health Council hopes to improve veterans’ health by creating an ongoing educational forum for health care professionals, advocacy organizations, educational institutions, employee representatives, businesses, state and local governments and veterans themselves.

Approximately 80 percent of veterans do not use the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) medical facilities for their health care. Many of these veterans are simply unaware that they may have health problems related to their military service that would entitle them to VA health care, as well as disability compensation and other VA benefits.

United Spinal Association President and CEO Paul J. Tobin said, “There has been a desperate need for the Veterans Health Council for a long time. Veterans must be informed about health risks related to their military service and the VA health care that is available to them.”

Tobin added, “We need to educate healthcare communities about the multiple health issues associated with military service, so that they can better identify, diagnose and treat at-risk veterans. We must also develop educational materials for medical schools, nursing schools, teaching hospitals and related entities along the same lines. Besides its educational functions, the Council will also advocate on behalf of healthcare initiatives for veterans.”

The Veterans Health Council is the first comprehensive collaboration between veteran’s service organizations, private sector businesses and nonprofits dedicated specifically to the welfare of veterans and their families.

The Veterans Health Council website provides information on health conditions associated with military service, links to healthcare websites related to specific diseases and general information about the VA claims process.

Veterans and other claimants for VA benefits can contact VetsFirst with questions about VA benefits, health care and to request representation from our accredited veterans service representatives by accessing the “Ask VetsFirst” service.

About United Spinal Association
United Spinal is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization formed in 1946 by paralyzed veterans and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Americans with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, ALS and post polio. We have played a significant role in writing the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other important legislation. For over 60 years we have provided vital and life enhancing services and assistance to disabled veterans and their families. Membership is free and is open to all individuals with spinal cord disorders.

VetsFirst, a program of United Spinal Association, is the embodiment of United Spinal’s veterans service program.

For more information contact:
Len Selfon
Senior Vice President
United Spinal Association VetsFirst
301-495-4460, Lselfon@unitedspinal.org

With reports of veterans facing difficulties obtaining care at VA medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics in a timely fashion, one has to question whether or not it is advisable to open the VA’s doors wider and place further strain on the system…

From VetsFirst’s perspective, the answer is unqualified: Yes, priority group 8 veterans have earned access to VA health care because they served our Nation in uniform and they either stood ready to defend her, or defended her and were fortunate enough not to have sustained a service-connected injury.

Priority group 8 veterans deserve VA health care and their inclusion strengthens the system. The VA is the Nation’s largest medical education institution. Category 8 veterans provide young doctors and researchers healthier patients thereby rounding out their medical education experience. Doctors trained in the VA should and must learn medicine on a population that will more closely resemble society – this happens when Category 8 veterans are included.

Regarding the already long wait times for the existing categories of veterans being served, this once again reinforces the need for advanced appropriations so that VA administrators can plan for increased demand. It will be prudent to have the VA open the door slowly to control the onslaught of category 8 veterans, but advanced appropriations will give the VA ample time to add more staff and ready more treatment rooms.

The bottom line from VetsFirst’s perspective is simple: Every veteran who served this Nation honorably has earned his or her access to VA health care for a lifetime. Furthermore, every Congress and Administration should make ample funds available to provide each and every veteran the health care they need in a timely fashion.

Let’s see if President-elect Obama can begin universal health care with the veteran population.

However, an article by Carl Glassman entitled “Healing the Wounds of War Downtown” reveals some interesting perspectives from veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam on the services that are available from the VA’s 232 commmunity-based Vet Centers nationwide.

While I have been known to be critical of the VA, Vet Centers deserve a lot of credit when they’re getting accolades like these from veterans who’ve been there. Well done.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I am doing a graduate social work internship at the Manhattan Vet Center, but I had nothing to do with Mr. Glassman’s article or any of the veterans who are quoted therein.

Paul J. Tobin
President, VetsFirst

The new facility will supplement existing inpatient services for Nevada’s estimated 246,000 veterans in facilities at Reno and in shared space at Nellis Air Force base. VA also operates 10 outpatient clinics in Nevada, four of them in Las Vegas.

The 364.9 million dollar medical center, which will be part of VA’s Southern Nevada Health Care System, will provide medical, surgical and mental health care, as well as ambulatory care facilities.

VA states that the new facility will meet the needs of a growing Las Vegas area veterans population with a full-service facility providing radiology, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, pharmacy, laboratories, education, and diagnostic and treatment clinics.

Read the VA press release.

There are so many in fact, that the VA has two centers dedicated to identification and treatment of “difficult to diagnose” and other deployment-related health concerns. These centers are located in East Orange, New Jersey and Washington, DC.

For more information, contact the VA’s War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center at 800-248-8005 or visit http://www.wri.med.va.gov/.

You can view some of the issues and strategies at PDHealth.mil

For more information, contact the VA’s War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center at 800-248-8005 or visit http://www.wri.med.va.gov/.