[Vision2020] 05-16-04 Afghan War Veterans Already Seek Care From VA System

[amy smoucha]

This will continue to be a very important issue.  During "peace" times, the 
VA is often the target of funding cuts.  In the past, as Korean War vets 
reached their life expectancy, VA budgets and staffs were shamelessly 
gutted.  Just recently, people in our area successfully fought the closing 
of a VA facility in Walla Walla.

Every one who supports either the war, the troops or both must remember 
these heightened times in the future--the health care needs that have been 
created with this struggle are our responsibility, and we will have to 
insist that Congress spends money on these vets--and their families--until 
they no longer need it, not just until we forget the issues.

Amy


----Original Message Follows----
From: "Art Deco aka W. Fox" <deco@moscow.com>
To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020@moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] 05-16-04 Breaking AP:  As Many as 22,000 Iraq, Afghan 
War Veterans Already Seek Care From VA System
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 10:34:11 -0700


May 16, 2004

As Many as 22,000 Iraq, Afghan War Veterans Already Seek Care From VA System
By Larry Margasak
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Willie Buckels applied for veterans health care after
returning from Iraq, the back and knee injuries he suffered while rescuing a
fuel truck during a mortar attack were not enough to guarantee him 
treatment.
The Mississippi reservist had to bring along Army paperwork proving his 
combat
service because the Veterans Affairs Department still lacks a computer 
system
that tracks a new applicant's service record.

More than a half-century ago, soldiers who fought in World War II were 
showing
similar paper documents to ensure they got medical care.

"I took my paperwork, showed it to the VA, they got me in the system, got me 
an
ID card and made appointments for doctors," said Buckels, who did not 
complain
about his experience.

More critical, however, are lawmakers who have pressed the agency to make 
amends
for the highly publicized problems it had serving veterans of the first Iraq 
war
a decade ago.

"In this technologically advanced age," proof of service "can't be a sheet 
of
paper crumbling around the edges," said Republican Rep. Christopher Smith of 
New
Jersey, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Nearly 18,000 soldiers who have returned from Iraq have sought care at VA 
health
facilities, officials reported at the end of March. A separate report in
mid-April said 4,000 troops from the war in Afghanistan sought care, 
although
there is some overlap from those who served in both conflicts.

About 60 percent of the Iraq veterans and 84 percent of those from 
Afghanistan
who sought VA care came from the National Guard and Reserves. The most 
common
problems affected joints and back, teeth and the digestive system.

Mental disorders were diagnosed in 16 percent of the Afghanistan veterans 
and 15
percent of the Iraqi veterans.

The statistics reflect medical conditions regardless of their origin. They 
are
not broken down by causes such as bullet wounds, blast injuries, accidents 
and
illnesses.

With thousands more veterans expected to seek benefits and health care, the 
VA
faces its biggest challenge since the early 1990s. Officials are well aware 
of
the stakes.

"I believe the agency will be defined for generations by how well we take 
care
of these returning troops," Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, a
combat-decorated Vietnam veteran, said in an interview with The Associated
Press.

The agency has a mixed record in dealing with the crush of new veterans.

The lack of a 21st-century computer operation is a black eye. Recently the 
VA
health care director, Dr. Robert Roswell, resigned after the failure of a 
$472
million hospital computer system for veterans in Florida that was supposed 
to
become a national model.

The department, in a statement, said it does not now have an automated way 
of
identifying veterans who served in Iraq of Afghanistan. "We rely on military
records provided by the veteran," the VA said.

The Defense Department has compiled a computerized roster of Iraq and
Afghanistan veterans for the VA, but the list has many discrepancies, 
officials
said.

Nonetheless, some returning veterans who expected long delays in qualifying 
for
medical treatment say they were surprised how quickly they entered the VA
system.

Sabrina Sue, a reservist from New York City, was told by a veteran of the 
first
Gulf War to expect a year's wait to see a doctor for a service-connected 
thyroid
condition. She waited only two weeks.

"I was amazed," said the supply specialist with the 340th Military Police
Company, who also is entering a VA educational program.

Also impressed by his first VA experience was First Sgt. Gerry Mosley. He 
was
injured with Buckels when the two members of the Army's 296th Transportation 
Co.
freed the jammed air brakes of a truck in their convoy and jumped to the 
ground
as mortars exploded around them.

"They're just awesome representatives," Mosley said.

To address the backlog of cases that delayed disability pay for veterans, 
the VA
has hired 1,500 workers and formed special teams to reduce the March, 2002 
peak
of 233 days for an initial disability ruling. Today, the wait averages 171 
days.

The agency also has extended hours at medical facilities, added examination
rooms and hired or moved employees to reduce the backlog of veterans waiting 
for
doctor's appointments. There were 176,000 veterans waiting for their first
doctor's visit in July 2002, a number reduced to 3,242 currently.

Principi, who worked as the top deputy at the VA during the first Gulf War, 
is
determined to avoid a repeat of the 1990s. Backlogs then led a congressional
committee to accuse the agency of having "a "tin ear, cold heart and a 
closed
mind" in caring for sick veterans.

The VA chief promises the new veterans, "I'm not going to wait until every 
"i"
is dotted and every "t" is crossed to care for them."

If costs and money were not enough to challenge, there also is politics.

Veterans' attitudes toward government are crucial this election year, with
President Bush's conduct of the Iraq war a growing campaign issue.

A Bush ad highlighted Democratic challenger John Kerry's vote last year 
against
an $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan, contending the vote 
denied
body armor and higher combat pay for troops and better health care for
reservists. Kerry has run ads featuring fellow Vietnam veterans to boost his
claim that he can confront Bush on national security.

Veterans groups, who keep a close eye on the VA, give the agency a passing 
grade
in absorbing the new entries but are not fully convinced the agency is up to 
the
task.

"We're encouraged that the VA is reaching out to veterans" of the two recent
wars, said Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War 
Resource
Center.

"But we feel it's very important that the VA address the veterans' needs
physically, emotionally and spiritually to include psychological screenings,
information pamphlets and hot lines for prevention of suicides. It's obvious 
to
us that mental health disorders and psychological injuries are going to play 
an
important role for the next 20 years."

---

On the Net:

Department of Veterans Affairs, http://www.va.gov

Additional info including documents, photos and video are available at:
http://wid.ap.org/series/rfw1.html

AP-ES-05-16-04 1224EDT

This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAN140DBUD.html