307,000 Veterans May Have Died While Waiting for VA benefits. The VA Status Quo Must Change.

Remember the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal in April, 2014 that exposed veterans had died as a result of waiting for healthcare?

Veterans were placed on fake wait lists and were signed up for ghost clinics and records were manipulated.

Deceit had become the norm in order to make the VA look better in an attempt to not draw attention to the dysfunctional leadership failures running rampant through the bureaucracy.

The result: veterans suffered, veterans died.

Nearly a year and a half later what has changed? Nothing.

CNN has reported that the Veterans Affairs Inspector General has found that roughly 800,000 records and applications were delayed in the VA system for healthcare enrollment.

Of those delayed, 307,000 veterans may have died while waiting on an answer from the VA on their application for benefits.

These aren’t veterans waiting on healthcare appointments who are already in the system, but veterans merely trying to accomplish the first step, applying for VA healthcare.

The investigation additionally discovered that a veteran who died in 1988 still had an unprocessed application in the system 26 years later.

Another veteran had applied for VA healthcare enrollment in 1998 had a “pending” status on his record 14 years later.

The Inspector General also found that due to improper management and marking of unprocessed applications, Veteran Affairs employees had likely deleted over 10,000 applications in the past five years.

The report additionally noted that in 2010, employees concealed veterans’ applications in their desks so they didn’t have to process them at that time.

In standard VA practice, the employees were not recommended to be disciplined for their actions.

Recently Veteran Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald voiced his concern that politics were setting the VA up for failure.

His attempt to shift blame is unacceptable as the VA’s top leader.

Enough with the excuses, veterans deserve better than that.

They deserve the quality and timely healthcare they earned, but sadly are not getting.

It’s time for results, not continual empty rhetoric.

The agency has an annual budget of roughly $160 billion. In 2014 congress gave the VA an additional $16.3 billion to provide veterans with more choice when it came to their healthcare.

The VA manipulated the intentions behind the choice program, making the option virtually impossible for veterans to use. Again, the VA chose to put the agency ahead of veterans well-being.

The VA has evolved into a massive bureaucracy that facilitates an unethical culture that refuses to accept change.

Its leadership climate fosters zero accountability within the department.

A year and a half after the scandal broke, the VA continues to resist reform that will produce effective results.

Enough is enough. The status quo is unacceptable. The VA needs accountably, choice and access for private care options, and a cultural shift that puts veterans first.

VA reform must become a priority now. Veterans have made tremendous sacrifices and put country before self.

They deserve a VA that serves them, not the other way around.

Because as it stands now, the disgusting reality is that our nation’s finest are left to fight for the benefits they’ve earned – some dying without receiving any of them at all.

Via: Daily Signal

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N.C. lawmakers join forces to find money for veterans

Charlotte, N.C., members of Congress Alma Adams and Robert Pittenger have teamed up in an effort to help veterans.

The pair plan to introduce legislation Wednesday to get additional federal funding for a Mecklenburg County program that works to help members of the military transition to civilian life.

The county approached the two about expanding the program, based on a model developed by Syracuse University, that currently connects 29 local agencies and non-profit groups in the Charlotte region in a network connecting veterans to the myriad of available social, health and wellness services.

Adams, a Democrat, and Pittenger, a Republican, seek to use existing Veterans Affairs funding for a grant to develop the regional technology network. The bill would direct the Veterans Benefits Administration to use existing money to develop such a grant, though Adams and Pittenger didn’t specify how much money would be needed.

“It’s kind of piecemeal now,” Adams said in an interview. “They go to one place and then to another place. You know how you go to one place and people say ‘let me refer you to another.’”

There are nearly 800,000 veterans in North Carolina, including 37,000 veterans in Adam’s 12th Congressional District and more than 41,000 veterans in Pittenger’s 9th Congressional District.

YOU HAVE VARIOUS PROGRAMS THAT ARE SCATTERED OUT AND THE RIGHT HAND DOESN’T KNOW WHAT LEFT HAND IS DOING. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THIS FRONT AND CENTER AND VETERANS KNOW THE ENORMOUS SYSTEMS THAT ARE THERE ON THEIR BEHALF.Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C.

It’s unclear what chances the legislation has of passing. The legislation currently has two additional sponsor, Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., who represents the Syracuse area.

The Veterans Benefits Administration has $79 billion in available funds to provide benefit assistance for veterans and their families, said Jamie Bowers, Pittenger’s spokesman. The legislation, he said, would allow communities like Mecklenburg County or Syracuse to apply for a specific grant to help pay for the support system. The grant program would not be an earmark, he said.

The community would determine the amount of its specific request, Bowers said. And it would be up to Veterans Affairs to decide whether to approve the grant and which discretionary funds to use, he said.

Via: McClatchy

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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article29389699.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article29389699.html#storylink=cpy

Simple bill to help vets shows things in Congress aren’t so simple Measure from Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan would let veterans get new ID card

A bill that would create a uniform identification card for U.S. military veterans is in the final stages of its journey from idea to law, and is being seen both as a nice benefit for America’s fighting men and woman and an illustration of just how hard it can be to get anything through Congress.

Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican who represents the Bradenton and Sarasota areas, the bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue a veteran’s identification card. Such a card would allow veterans to prove their status without having to carry around military service records, such as the common form known as a “DD-214.”

Those forms, Buchanan said, contain sensitive personal information such as veterans’ Social Security numbers, leaving them at a higher risk for identify theft. The VA does offer some veterans – those in the VA health system, for example – ID cards. But there is a large population of veterans who served honorably yet have no easy way to prove their military service.

“On the surface it doesn’t sound like a gigantic thing,” said Buchanan. “But at the end of the day it’s a very big thing for veterans. ... We’re very excited about it.”

The “Veterans Identification Card Act of 2015” was introduced on the first day of the current session of Congress and eventually picked up 82 co-sponsors, roughly divided between the two parties.

It passed the U.S. House in May by a vote of 402-0 and the Senate last month by unanimous consent. The bill has been endorsed by veterans’ groups, while others took no position on it. The bill is expected to go for final action in the House on Tuesday, where differences between House and Senate versions are expected to be easily passed; then it will go to the president for his signature.

The Obama administration, however, isn’t so enthusiastic. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs last month, a top VA official, Rajiv Jain, said that veterans in most U.S. states can get veteran status noted on their drivers’ licenses and that such options “can meet the intent of the legislation without creating within VA a new program that may not be cost-efficient.”

In his prepared statement, Jain also said a new VA-issued ID card could create confusion among veterans, since other cards are specifically designed to help them get health care and other benefits. “Having several VA-issued cards creates the potential for confusion on several levels,” said Jain, an assistant deputy under secretary for health.

Diane M. Zumatto, the national legislative director for the advocacy organization AMVETS, sees the bill as a simple, cost-effective way to help veterans. As for the state options, she said those often aren’t enough: “The service we performed was federal, so the card should be federal,” she said.

“I just don’t see any drawback to the bill,” she said. “I understand there are many more critical things that are on the agenda for Congress. But hey, gather up these no-brainers and pass ’em.”

That’s easier said than done – even on a piece of legislation with such bipartisan, unanimous support.

Despite the simple nature of the bill and the fact that it is intended to be cost-neutral – veterans would pay a fee for their cards – it’s taken a long time to get such a bill through Congress. Similar legislation was introduced in 2011 and 2013 but went nowhere.

And that’s the way it is in Congress, where 535 representatives and senators all have bills but face limited time, energy and political capital to do anything about them.

Via: McClatchy

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Veteran Denied Care At Two VA Facilities Thought No One Would Believe Him, So He Filmed It

The VA clinic in Lawrenceville, Ga., initially turned him away for the same reason, which is why he decided to bring his camera along to the Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Oakwood. He received the same response. But this time, he captured the interaction on camera.

The full video shows 33-year-old Dorsey waiting for five minutes before telling an employee that he needs a transfer from the VA system in Athens.

“We’re not accepting any new patients — not this clinic,” the VA employee said in response, signaling an abrupt end to the interaction.

Dorsey, who served in Iraq in 2003, has PTSD and was seeking treatment for escalating symptoms. Aside from the Oakwood clinic, Dorsey’s other option is in Atlanta, which is more than 50 miles away from his current location. PTSD is a fairly common diagnosis in veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA states that anywhere between 11-20 percent of those veterans suffer from PTSD.

“It takes a lot to say, ‘You know what, I need to get help,’” Dorsey told the New York Daily News. “And for a veteran to be told on multiple occasions that they can’t get help is just very, very discouraging.”

While this means that the VA Choice program applies, no employees offered that information. It was only after he had discussed his experiences at the two clinics with another veteran that he learned of the program.

“We have some very serious geographical issues. Now we have the VA Choice card but we have doctors who won’t accept it or don’t understand it,” Jerry Edwards, founder of North Georgia Veteran’s Outreach Center, told Military Times.

Not only do doctors often refuse to accept the program, but internally, the VA has previously tried to interpret the legislation establishing the program to mean that if any facility exists within 40 miles of a veteran, regardless of whether that facility provides appropriate care, then that veteran can’t access the program.

Other administrative problems have plagued the VA. Over 500,000 veterans have inquired about the VA Choice Program from the period between November 2014 and May. Just 50,000 received authorization for appointments.

Via: American Spectator

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Report: Wait lists for vets even longer today than last year

The number of veterans seeking health care but ending up on waiting lists of one month or more is 50 percent higher now than it was a year ago when a scandal over false records and long wait times wracked the Department of Veterans Affairs, The New York Times reported.

The VA also faces a budget shortfall of nearly $3 billion, the Times reported in a story posted online ahead of its Sunday editions. The agency is considering furloughs, hiring freezes and other significant moves to reduce the gap, the newspaper reported.

In the last year, the VA has increased capacity by more than 7 million patient visits per year, double what officials originally thought they needed to fix shortcomings, the Times reported. However, the newspaper added, department officials did not anticipate just how much physician workloads and demand from veterans would continue to soar. At some major veterans hospitals, demand was up by one-fifth, the paper reported.

Citing interviews with department officials and internal department budget documents it had obtained, the Times reported that doctors and nurses have handled 2.7 million more appointments than in any previous year, while authorizing 900,000 additional patients to see outside physicians.

The Times also reported intense internal debate at the VA over a proposal to address a shortage of funds for a new, more effective but more costly hepatitis C treatment by possibly rationing new treatments among veterans. Certain patients who have advanced terminal diseases or suffer from a "persistent vegetative state or advanced dementia" would be excluded under that plan, the paper reported.

Via: Fox News

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Why Veterans Preferred to Call These 10 Cities Home

1. PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburgh has an active business community with a number of companies headquartered in the area. The Pittsburgh area offers a vibrant downtown, historic neighborhoods and plenty to do with ample downtown shopping and nightlife along the river.

>> Find Out How Much You Need to Make in Pittsburgh

>> Start Your Separation Checklist

Pittsburgh Snapshot

• Population - 2,357,981

• Median Home Price - $113,500

• Median Rental Price 2BR - $799

• Unemployment - 6.8%

• Local Employers - Alcoa, FedEx Ground

• Nearby College - University of Pittsburgh

2. AUSTIN, TEXAS

Austin area residents enjoy a strong economy, education opportunities, attractive housing options, a relatively pleasant climate and abundant activities. Area highlights include the University of Texas, an important music scene and a large tech industry. 

>> Find Out How Much You Need to Make in Austin

>> Start Your Separation Checklist

Austin Snapshot

• Population - 1,731,777

• Median Home Price - $201,400

• Median Rental Price 2BR - $1,098

• Unemployment - 5.2%

• Local Employers - Union Pacific, City of Austin 

• Nearby Colleges - University of Texas

3. OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma City, the capital and largest metro in the state, is a major hub for the oil industry and related manufacturing. The modern downtown features attractive parks and the restored "Bricktown" residential and entertainment district with a canal and promenade. 

>> Find Out How Much You Need to Make in Oklahoma City

>> Start Your Separation Checklist

Oklahoma City Snapshot

• Population - 1,256,947

• Median Home Price - $126,000

• Median Rental Price 2BR - $751

• Unemployment - 5.1%

• Local Employers - 77 Energy, Chesapeake Energy

• Nearby Colleges - University of Oklahoma

Via: Daily Caller

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Gopher Gate Exposes VA Fraud and Corruption

Fellow Veterans and Friends of Veterans

As we know, the Secretary of the VA’s top assistants and Congressman Ted Lieu’s senior deputies seem to have intentionally lied to Veterans. and the general public about a “gate opening” ceremony being canceled because of gopher holes.

To the contrary, a “private ceremony” was held for these same entrusted public servants along with selected wealthy and powerful attendees, while everyday Veterans and local residents were intentionally deceived to and denied equal attendance.

Thus, nothing has changed as it’s “business as usual” and reminiscent of the days when Sue Young, former executive director of Veterans Park Conservancy (VPC), held her “private parties” for her wealthy cronies. 

Now it’s Carolina Winston Barrie, a former member of VPC’s board of directors, who is continuing with this private and privileged tradition as the Gopher Gate “private ceremony” scam was her idea.

In fact, Carolina Barrie was able to accomplish what Sue Young was unable to achieve for nearly a quarter century, and that is to open the front gates and turn this sacred land into a public park—and she did it without an illegal “sharing agreement” but with the blessings of the Secretary of the VA. She’s even having her own special plaques made to hang on the front, which we will address at another time.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Vets group halts donations after official refuses to stand for Pledge

A north suburban parks official says he's standing up for the U.S. Constitution by sitting down during the Pledge of Allegiance.

But Morton Grove Park District Commissioner Dan Ashta's symbolic actions have spurred an ideological tug of war with a local veterans group, which recently halted cash donations to the Park District until its entire board stands for the pledge at park board meetings.

"Every veteran has taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and has been willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for all of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans," said Joseph Lampert, 47, commander of American Legion Post 134. "Nowhere did we say that he has to recite the pledge or put his hand over his heart. We would just like to see him stand out of respect."

Ashta, an attorney who focuses on constitutional law, said he, too, is defending the Constitution with his refusal to stand during the pledge.

"We have an item on the agenda that says 'Pledge of Allegiance,'" Ashta said. "The only choice you have is to utter a statement. … You don't have a choice to remain silent."

Standing, but not saying the pledge, is still an act of speech, Ashta said. And by having the pledge on the agenda, the park board is potentially infringing upon the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution, he asserted.

After discussing the issue for several months, Post 134 members agreed to withdraw all financial and volunteer support for park programs "until such time that everybody stands for the pledge," Lampert said.

Via: Chicago Tribune

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Veterans toss aside memorial barricades, march on White House

Veterans from all over the country gathered at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Sunday morning to protest the closure of the memorials during the partial government shutdown, throwing barricades placed in front of the memorials aside in heaps.

Organized by Brats for Veterans Advocacy, the Million Vet March on the Memorials drew in a crowd of vocal veterans fed up with the federal government’s shutdown decisions waving enormous American and “Don’t Treat On Me” flags and signs.

“I’m totally, thoroughly disgusted in our government’s decision to close these monuments,” said retired Army Green Beret Mike Freeman, who served in Vietnam.

Retired Master Sergeant  Jim Hanson also expressed his anger with the closures, telling The Daily Caller that veterans have every right to visit memorials erected in their honor.

“It’s a disgrace to close this memorial,” Hanson said, indicating the World War II memorial. “It cost more to close it than to let the veterans pay their respects. The government is not in charge of keeping people out of monuments that were put here in their own honor.”

An African-American vet who asked to remain unnamed was dismayed that patriotic commemorations were caught in partisan crossfire and that more black veterans were not joining in the protest.

“I think that things are getting bad when they can find the money to fund academy football teams but can’t find the money to give to widows and dead soldiers’ families. That’s just wrong,” he said. “My only regret is that there’s not a lot more black veterans here today. It’s not a black or a white thing, it’s not a Republican or a Democrat thing — it’s a right or wrong thing. I’m here today because it’s the right thing to do.”

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz all made appearances to thank the vets for their service and rail against the Obama administration and the closure of the memorials.

Via: Daily Caller

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Harry Reid blocks funding for veterans programs, national parks

Senate Democrats blocked four resolutions to fund government programs, including paying the National Guard and opening national parks, as Republicans offered the limited measures in an attempt to win the government shutdown fight by financing popular programs and leaving those they oppose untouched.

“Unbelievably, today Senate Democrats went on record to oppose funding for National Guard and Reserve salaries, veterans’ services, lifesaving medicine and cures, and national parks and museums," Senate Republican Conference chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in a release following the procedural battle.

"Congress unanimously passed a bill to ensure active-duty military personnel are paid during this lapse in government funding, and it’s unclear why Senate Democrats wouldn’t pass similar measures to fund these important services,” Thune said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked for unanimous consent to pass funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, requested unanimous consent to pass a bill funding the national parks and monuments. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejected both.

Via: Washington Examiner

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National Park Service to Keep WWII Memorial Open to Veterans

After veterans once again breached barricades at the shuttered Word War II Memorial on Wednesday, the National Park Service announced that it would keep the monument open to veterans as a free speech right.

After similar scenes Tuesday, two groups of veterans from Missouri and the Chicago area descended on the World War II memorial in two phases before noon, this time led by Republican and Democrat legislators.

And one veteran activist said perhaps the two feuding political parties could make peace over the issue of honoring the men and women of World War II.

All memorials on the Mall have been closed closed and most are cordoned off, as a result of the government shutdown. The National Park Service specified that only the World War II Memorial would remain open and only to veterans.

The veterans Tuesday were part of honor flight programs, which fly veterans for free from around the country to Washington to see the World War II Memorial.

Jeff Miller, co-founder of the Honor Flight Network, said: “The Park Service, they have been so compassionate. They have done everything they could, bent over backwards, to make sure veterans were not inconvenienced or disappointed.”

Via: Washington Post

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Congressman Henry Waxman: What Would You Like to Tell Them?

What would you like to tell the doctors, nurses, patients, and health practitioners, Henry?

“Together, those two pension funds lost millions of dollars of their retirement money [for the 2009 auto bailouts], and my question to you as a supporter of the bailouts is What would you like to tell them?” (Congressman Mick Mulvaney)

Congressman Henry Waxman claims to lead the fight for workers, for the poor, of the environment; however, in a 2012 budget committee hearing, he was caught off-guard, first failing to acknowledging (or rather refusing to acknowledge) that General Motors went bankrupt in 2009.

Then he dodged questions about the bailouts which saved the industry in Detroit cost public employees, teachers and police officers in Indiana, hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr. Waxman could only muster: “People get hurt.”

What would you like to tell those retired teachers and police officers, Henry? What about the unions whom you claim to support?

Other constituents have been hurt by Congressman Henry Waxman’s ignorance, lack of oversight, and attention to less pressing matters.

The thousands of homeless veterans in Los Angeles County have languished for decades without proper food, shelter, and medical treatment, all of which should be theirs through the Brentwood Veterans Administration, a property which deeded to the veterans primarily and exclusively.

Via: Canada Free Press

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