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SECRETARY NICHOLSON'S CONGRESSIONAL FAREWELL:
APOLOGIZES, THEN CITES ACHIEVEMENTS -- "We were
not as sensitive...as we could have been...My
heart
has gone out to service members or veterans who
seem to have slipped through the cracks."
"My heart has gone out...," said VA Secretary
Jim Nicholson.
Has his heart gone out to all of the veterans
who have had to wait for healthcare or wait for their claims to be
processed because HE didn't request adequate funding for the VA?
Has his heart gone out to the "Blue Water Navy"
veterans who HE continues to fight in Court?
Has his heart gone out to the Priority Group 8
veterans who remain cut off from VA benefits because HE has not allowed
them back in the system?
This is nonsense! Good riddance to this
man!
For more about VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, use
the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=nicholson&op=and
Story here...
http://ap.google.com/
article/ALeqM5gqXsT7VfC4q
PAvruQYQljVZg4FRA
Story below:
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VA Chief Cites Disability Claim Backlog
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Outgoing VA Secretary Jim Nicholson acknowledged
Tuesday that he's struggling to reduce backlogs in disability claims
from Iraq war veterans, saying current efforts won't be enough to cut
down waits that take months.
Addressing Congress for a final time before stepping down Oct. 1,
Nicholson also pointed to persistent problems between the Pentagon and
Department of Veterans Affairs in coordinating care for veterans and
urged Congress to embrace proposals by a presidential commission to fix
gaps.
"They have some very good ideas in there," he said.
Nicholson's testimony to a House Veterans Affairs Committee painted a
mixed picture of a VA that has initiated measures to boost mental health
and other care but has struggled to keep up with growing demands due to
a prolonged Iraq war.
Nicholson, who took office in early 2005, said the department has hired
1,100 new processors to reduce delays of up to 177 days in processing
disability payments. But he predicted another rise in compensation and
pension claims this year, citing the additional applications pouring in
during "the midst of war."
The increase, he said, is coming from Iraq war veterans as well as
veterans from previous conflicts who were prompted to file additional
claims for new or additional benefits amid the current public focus on
war-related injuries in Iraq.
Even with new staff, the VA can only hope to reduce delays to about
145-150 days — assuming that the current level of claims don't spike
higher.
"The claims backlog is an issue that has bedeviled me and many that have
come before me," Nicholson said. "In fact, VA can influence the output —
claims decided — of its work product, but it cannot control the input —
claims filed."
Nicholson abruptly announced in July that he was resigning. His
appearance Tuesday comes amid intense political and public scrutiny
following reports of substandard outpatient treatment at the
Pentagon-run Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at VA facilities.
In recent weeks, injured Iraq war veterans have filed a lawsuit against
the VA alleging undue delays in health care, particularly in mental
health coverage. The VA inspector general's office also found the VA
repeatedly understated wait times for injured veterans seeking medical
care and in many serious cases forced them to wait more than 30 days,
counter to department policy.
The report also concluded that Nicholson and VA Undersecretary for
Health Michael Kussman earlier this year falsely reported to Congress
that 95 percent of veterans' outpatient appointments — rather than 75
percent, as the IG found — were timely.
On Tuesday, Nicholson said he's proud that he pushed forward initiatives
to require screenings for brain-related injury, add storefront walk-in
clinics and boost mental health counselors.
At the same time, Nicholson acknowledged persistent problems that will
fall upon his yet-to-named successor and expressed sympathy to injured
veterans who might have unfairly suffered as a result of unnecessary red
tape.
"We have learned that, in many instances, we were not as sensitive to
those needs as we could have been — and we have tried to adjust, while
at the same time caring for veterans of different wars and different
eras," Nicholson said in testimony prepared for delivery to the House
Veterans Affairs Committee. "My heart has gone out to service members or
veterans who seem to have slipped through the cracks."
Among the achievements Nicholson cited:
_Launching a campaign to reduce high rates of obesity and diabetes in
veterans. Some 25 percent of veterans under VA care suffer from
adult-onset Type II diabetes, which can lead to blindness, renal failure
or amputations.
_Creating a new multi-campus academy in partnership with U.S. nursing
schools to address a nursing shortage and encourage nurses to work for
the VA.
_Hiring suicide prevention counselors at each of VA's 153 hospitals and
creating a 24-hour prevention hotline in July.
_Centralizing the VA's information technology system to minimize the
risk of data loss. That came after nearly 26.5 million veterans'
personal information was put at risk of identity theft last year after a
VA employee lost a computer hard drive.
On the Net:
* Department of Veterans Affairs:
http://www.va.gov/
* House Veterans Affairs Committee:
http://veterans.house.gov/
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Larry Scott --
