Veterans Organizations Upset

[TreasonousBastard]

From one of a number of the American Legion's releases and articles at:

http://www.legion.org/

Nation Must Prove It CARES for Vets, Legion Says

WASHINGTON, August 05, 2003 - Three planeloads of American wounded are flown daily from Iraq to a military hospital in Germany. More than 200,000 veterans must wait from six months to two years for a primary-care appointment at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. In January, VA suspended from enrolling in the system yet another estimated 164,000 veterans in the lowest of eight VA priority-treatment groups. And, rubbing the proverbial salt into veterans’ wounds, the House passed a fiscal-2004 appropriations bill July 25 that fell $1.8 billion short of the VA health care spending target that it approved in a budget resolution in April.

For these reasons, the 2.8 million-member American Legion supports plans to build two VA hospitals and to develop more treatment centers for veterans suffering from spinal cord injuries and blindness as VA recommended. But the nation’s largest veterans organization opposes plans to close wards and to excessively contract veterans’ health care to private-sector medical centers. These recommendations are contained in the draft National Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Service report released Monday by VA Secretary Anthony Principi to the independent CARES Commission.

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The VFW doesn't seem quite as upset about the current administration, but it's not all that happy:

http://www.vfw.org/

VFW OPED: Quit Rationing Veteran's Health Care

Washington, D.C., August 7, 2003--On behalf of the 2.6 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary, I would like to make you and your readers aware of a crisis in the veterans' health-care system.

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[hadrons]

1. Leadership of the VFW are a bunch of GOP shills ....

if Dumbya took a crap on their heads they would salute him for giving them free hats ... Dumbya can do what he wants to the vets, they'll buckel under, you just have to hope that the rank-and-file knows better

[pansypoo53219]

2. yup

gotta wonder what they give these guys to drink. Retardican love potion?

[jarab]

3. More bad news last week

After consideration to limit the hours at one Lexington, KY VA facility from 24 to 8 hours, the suggestion now is to close the unit (Leestown) and incorporate the 60-some beds (long-term care) into another one in the same city (Cooper Drive).
The hammer is falling thunderously on Veterans Affairs; all veterans' groups must stay (or become) the more vigilant against these * assaults.
...O...

[Skittles]

4. how long will it take them

to realize * is assaulting them? Usually they just find a way to blame it on the Dems.

[lkinsale]

5. Bob Graham a critic of CARES Commission

Graham Concerned That Draft CARES Plan Puts Veterans Last

August 4, 2003

Senator Bob Graham, ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, expressed concern about the draft plan to restructure the VA health care system, citing the plan's focus on cost at the expense of quality care for veterans. The plan, which was released today, will now be evaluated by the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) Commission, with final recommendations scheduled to go to the Secretary for review on November 30, 2003.

"Today's draft plan comes after a manipulation of the CARES process, where the bureaucracy of the VA dictated the end results they were looking to achieve," said Graham, D-Florida. "The CARES process is supposed to be about the future health care needs of veterans, but targeting up to 32 facilities for reductions in services does not lend itself to the best interest of veterans."

One facility that VA cited for cutbacks in the draft report, the Lake City VA Medical Center, would retain nursing care facilities, but VA would move inpatient surgery transfers to another facility and study the possibility of moving inpatient medical services also. The draft report also proposes construction of a new inpatient tower in Orlando, additional contracting sites in Fort Myers, a bed tower in Gainesville and expanded acute care facilities in Jacksonville.

"In Florida, where we have some of the longest wait times in the nation, cutting back on health care facilities is no solution to the problem," said Graham. "While it is a positive step that Orlando could gain additional facilities and needed nursing home beds are recommended to remain in Lake City, it is unacceptable to move vital health care services out of the Lake City VA Medical Center."

Graham, a critic of the CARES process, has filed legislation that would allow Congress a role in the realignment of VA health care facilities. S. 1283 would give Congress 60 days to approve before any VA facility could be closed. The bill has 5 co-sponsors in the Senate and a companion bill has been filed in the House.

[Boudica]

6. Wait, there is more

One of the six hospitals slated for closure happens to be the Waco VA hospital. This will mean the loss of a large number of psych beds and who knows where they will end up.See more here:<http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/vahospital.html?10802>

So a certain AWOL pResident gets immediate care when he chokes on a pretzel or falls off a Segway while diabled vets who wait months for an appointment get to wait longer and go farther for care.