It’s time those who have served in our military be treated with respect. We must never see a repeat of the scandal at Walter Reed. We must see to it that the hidden injuries of our most recent wars are diagnosed and treated. We must ensure our soldiers don’t return to live in squalor as did those returning to Ft. Bragg from Afghanistan.
Honoring our current soldiers and future veterans means:
- Making sure our troops are ready to serve by providing proper training and equipment and allowing for appropriate rest periods between deployments
- Recognizing the hardship some of soldiers face when they leave civilian jobs to deploy
- Keeping our commitment to providing education benefits to veterans
- Providing healthcare that meets modern needs
- Keeping military facilities in good condition so soldiers and veterans are safe in them
- Improving access to Veterans’ Administration (VA) facilities, including in rural locations
- Not nickeling-and-diming veterans and survivors
Some of the things I support:
Fixing the Cash Benefits System. The VA has a variety of programs for veterans. The rules can be complex, the payments low, and receipt of one payment often precludes receipt of another. We need to:
Revise retirement pay eligibility rules for Reservists and National Guard members who have served at least 20 years, removing the requirement that they be at least 60 to receive benefits. With so many Reserve and National Guard members serving on active duty, this no longer makes sense. (Active duty service members are eligible as early as age 37).
Solve the concurrent receipt issue. Veterans receiving retirement pay who also are eligible for VA disability payments can’t receive both unless they have served 20 years and are more than 50 percent disabled. Retirement pay is reduced by the amount of disability pay the retiree is receiving.
Similar circumstances exist for spouses. If a veteran dies from a service-related disability, his or her spouse is entitled to VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, but the highest monthly payment is 41 percent of the maximum disability payment of a totally disabled veteran. (The survivor of a federal employee gets 55 percent of his or her spouse’s federal annuity.) Consequently, many survivors are living in poverty.
It’s wrong to be nickeling and diming our veterans and their families. They have proven themselves willing to make the ultimate sacrifice on our country’s behalf. We can afford to ensure they live with dignity.
Improving Health Care Coverage and Delivery. With so many veterans needing frequent medical care, and with new veterans returning from service with injuries, changes are needed to ensure we serve them well. We shouldn’t be rationing health care for sick and disabled veterans. We need to:
Fulfill our promises to military retirees. Retirees under 65 are eligible for TRICARE, the health care provider to active duty families. When TRICARE beneficiaries reach Medicare eligibility, they can enroll in TRICARE for Life (TFL), which pays medical expenses Medicare doesn’t. In 2003, 1.6 million retirees were eligible for TFL.
While there are no enrollment fees, there are often out-of- pocket expenses such as deductibles. The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Bush Administration have tried to institute additional out-of-pocket expenses.
What sometimes appear to be modest additional costs are often prohibitively expensive for those on fixed incomes. Further, retirees who joined the military prior to 1956 were told they would receive free medical care for life if they served 20 years. It’s wrong not to keep that promise.
We also have to make sure TRICARE remains viable. The payment rate to physicians is slated to be reduced by 10.6 percent this year. Some doctors already refuse to see new TRICARE patients. Without action, more doctors may turnveterans away. (http://www.military.com)
Uncomplicate veterans’ healthcare and benefits. In 2006, 5.5 million veterans were receiving health care through the VA. Due to budget constraints, the VA has developed a complex system of “priority groups” that receive varying levels of benefits. Imagine the administrative costs involved in determining who gets what and why.
Wounded servicemembers undergo physical evaluations by the DoD, which determines fitness for duty and if necessary assigns a DoD disability rating. After separation from the military, servicemembers have a separate evaluation by the VA, which assigns a separate rating. Some servicemembers wait more than a year to be discharged and accept lower disability ratings than they may be entitled to. Clearly there’s something wrong here.
Under a DoD pilot program initiated in October 2007, VA physicians began performing physicals and the DoD basing fitness for duty upon them. If the DoD proceeds with a medical discharge, then the VA will tell the DoD what disability rating to assign. Results of the program aren’t clear yet, but it seems like one step in the right direction.
There are also variances in benefits based on National Guard or Reserve status. I believe we should offer drilling Guard members and Reservists benefits consistent with those of active duty soldiers. Our Guard and Reserve members are bearing responsibilities unseen since World War II, and benefits are effective recruitment and retention tools.
Believe it or not, our government also has been nickeling-and-diming disabled veterans on bonuses when they’ve been forced to retire or separate from the military due to combat-related injuries. Some have actually been asked for their money back. This is shameful and must stop. (http://capwiz.com/military/home/)
Improve access to and safety of facilities. One in five enrolled with the VA live in rural areas and must travel considerable distances to get care. Travel is difficult for the elderly and disabled. It’s also expensive.
Unbelievably, veterans still receive the 30-year-old mileage reimbursement rate of 11 cents per mile. Proposed resolutions include reimbursement for care in their own communities.
Prior to our engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA began evaluating its facilities and services for the purpose of “modernizing.” But in 2004, the VA concluded it didn’t have enough information to make final decisions about realignments, and Congress refused to invest in the maintenance or improvement of most facilities. Enter Walter Reed.
An investigation ordered in the wake of the scandal found substandard conditions at VA facilities across the country. Our VA facilities need full support and funding until the day they close their doors.
(http://capwiz.com/military/home/)
Pay attention to the signature injuries of today’s conflicts. Between the invasion of Afghanistan and January 8, 2008, 1.7 million had deployed to a combat zone. The DoD has reported 59,407 wounded. As of July 2007, 1,005 of these were amputees and 3,294 were traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). However, the TBI number may be much higher: USA Today uncovered at least 20,000 U.S. troops were being treated for brain injuries.
Additionally, 17 percent of veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq served by the VA have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet recently, leaders including John Kline have suggested that concerns about TBIs or PTSD have been “overblown.”
Eighty percent of TBIs are difficult to recognize, meaning thousands could be suffering without diagnosis. The long-term consequences are not known, and neither the DoD nor the VA have system-wide programs for dealing with mild to moderate TBIs. Proposed solutions include establishing a TBI transition office at VA sites and establishing a Traumatic Brain Injury registry.
Veterans suffering from PTSD have been struggling to get care for years. Recently, a federal judge ruled on behalf of 320,000 to 800,000 veterans seeking to damages from the VA for denial of mental health care. Something must be done to avoid similar future outcomes. Proposed actions include legislation to provide mental health services to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan via contracts with community health centers where necessary.
Giving Our Soldiers a Hand with the Unintended Consequences of Their Service. Our men and women in uniform often suffer significant unexpected consequences of service. We should:
Help our men and women avoid financial hardship while they serve. Many National Guard members endure large pay cuts when they leave civilian jobs. The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act of 2007 would provide tax relief to the military community and provide tax credits to small businesses that pay Reservists and Guard members who deploy.
Additionally, we should change certain aspects of veterans’ home loans, including increasing the length of time lenders must wait before foreclosing on a returning servicemember, providing a year’s grace period from increases in mortgage rates, and establishing a counseling program to assist servicemembers and veterans with finances. (http://www.military.com)
Providing Meaningful Education Benefits to Our Servicemembers. The original GI Bill was one of the best pieces of legislation ever to pass through Congress. It sent seven million veterans to college. For every $1 invested in the bill, $7 were returned to our nation’s economy.
A new GI Bill is awaiting President Bush’s signature. John Kline voted against it. The bill is designed to improve education benefits that haven’t kept pace with college costs. I’d also like to see education benefits become transferable to spouses or children.
Making Sure Our Soldiers Are Ready for Duty. We have vehicle, body armor, and weapons availability problems, among others. The U.S. military is strong, but we can’t continue on this course if we’re to stay strong and safe.
Financial and equipment resources are not, of course, our only resources. Our troops are the most important we have. They have their limits. We should be mandating minimum rest and recuperation periods between deployments. A bill calling for soldiers to spend at least an equal amount of time in combat and away from it passed the House last August. John Kline voted against it. Historic precedent is two years away from combat for every year in combat.
It’s time to change course for the men and women who serve and have served our nation. The Greatest Generation went to war, saw death and destruction, and came home determined to make a better world. Today’s servicemen and women want to do the same. We need to make sure they have the opportunity, support and resources to do so.