Elderly vet(eran)s face uncertain future

[UpInArms]

http://miva.jacksonsun.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?NEWS/news_storyV2005.mv+link=200504127117575

Veterans' nursing homes could see drastic funding cuts.

WASHINGTON - Veterans' nursing homes run by states and the federal Veterans Affairs Department - havens for more than 40,000 former service members - are under fire in this year's budget battles.

President Bush's proposed 2006 budget would drastically cut financial support for up to 80 percent of the veterans in the nation's 129 state-run homes - including Tennessee's two facilities in Humboldt and Murfreesboro - and allow the VA to reduce the number of its nursing home beds from the 13,391 now required by law.

However, the Republican-dominated House and Senate adopted budget plans that do not include the Bush proposal to cut support to the state veterans' homes - and among those chiming in is West Tennessee Congressman John Tanner.

''Proposed veterans' care cuts like these are an indication of the misfocused priorities in the budget President Bush proposed to Congress,'' Tanner, D-Union City, said in a statement released through his office in Washington. ''The president's budget would require that we borrow billions of dollars more from foreign investors and still fails to fund the programs that Tennesseans depend on.

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[Patiod]

1. This needs publicity

I've told my (elderly veteran) father that Bush's budget is attacking VA programs, and he claims (I'm not kidding) that "if 'Legion' magazine isn't complaining, I can't imagine there's a problem".

I can only speak for NJ, where my uncle was in a VA nursing home, but the supposition that vets could easily obtain care elsewhere is just wrong. In NJ, the cost of a non-VA nursing home would have bankrupted my aunt and uncle (well, back then she could have at least filed for bankruptcy). Thank God there was low-cost VA care available for him.

Culture of life, my ass.

[tyedyeto]

2. My s/o ( a Vietnam Veteran) has been cut off from the VA system...

He just found out when he tried to re-order his meds. They basically told him if you are living at or below the poverty level ($12K/year??) you are eligible, otherwise you aren't.

In the last couple of years, he has seen the co-pays for office visits, tests and meds triple. He didn't mind paying the extra, but now he has been totally dropped from all VA health care.

*'s admin supports our troops..........but after they have served, they give you the finger.