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VETERANS' CARE A CONCEALED COST OF WAR -- VA
TAKES NINE
MONTHS TO "FIND" INFORMATION -- "It is one
thing for the VA to
be reluctant to deliver bad news but another
thing entirely to
deny the existence of the information."
Story here...
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/
content/opinion/epaper/2006/10/15/a1e_moffett_1015.html
Story below:
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Veterans' care a concealed cost of war
By Dan Moffett
Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer
The National Security Archive is an independent, nongovernmental
research group located at George Washington University.
Researchers there use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain
declassified government documents and make them available to the public.
In January, the NSA asked the Department of Veterans Affairs for records
about the number of disability claims filed by veterans who served in
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. How the government responded to the
request and what the researchers ultimately found out should make
Americans worry even more about where the country is heading.
At first, the VA made the amazing pronouncement that no documents
existed. The archive's researchers were asked to believe that the
government had no records of claims by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Of
course, this could not be true. For the next nine months, the NSA made
repeated requests and finally threatened to sue the VA if it did not
turn over the records. This month, the government relented and complied.
There were plenty of reports and plenty of documents.
"For the agency to take nine months to 'find' information that is of
current public interest in the context of the ongoing global war on
terrorism is astounding," said Meredith Fuchs, the NSA's general
counsel. "It is one thing for the VA to be reluctant to deliver bad news
but another thing entirely to deny the existence of the information."
Thousands coming home disabled
The news definitely was bad. The records show that about one in five
service members leaving the military after serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan has been disabled to some degree. More than 104,000 of the
567,000 returning veterans from the two wars have been given disability
compensation so far, and more are applying for it each day. At least 1.5
million U.S. troops will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, which suggests
the possibility of 400,000 disabled veterans if current proportions
hold.
The potential burden to U.S. taxpayers is staggering. The Bush
administration last year had to send VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to ask
Congress for $2 billion more for veterans' care because of an
embarrassing series of inadequate budget requests. Senate Republicans
are pushing a bill that would appropriate $26 billion for veterans
medical services next year - about 15 percent more than the
administration proposed.
"Failure to do otherwise," says Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, "would be
an open invitation to returning to the budget shortfalls of the past
that contributed to historic primary care backlogs."
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the administration's 2007
veterans' health budget is $10 billion below what's needed. Backlogs in
claims processing and appointments with physicians have increased during
the past two years, due to the troops returning from the battlefields.
The administration admits that the year began with 52,000 people stuck
on waiting lists to receive care at VA hospitals, but veterans groups
believe the number is much higher now.
Numbers only will get worse
Is there any wonder why the VA is reluctant to give up information on
the growing ranks of Iraq and Afghanistan vets who are receiving
disability compensation? The White House can't begin to defend its
budget requests if all the numbers are put on the table. The numbers
will only get worse, as healthy veterans develop symptoms of service
damage years later. About 30,000 Iraq and Afghanistan vets already have
sought treatment for post-traumatic stress, and that number could
increase exponentially as war-related psychological problems develop.
The news last week that the Pentagon is making contingency plans to keep
140,000 troops in Iraq through 2010 raises the ominous prospect of
creating a generation of disabled veterans that would rival those from
the Vietnam War. President Bush not only will pass on the Iraq mess to
his successor but also the incalculable bills for treating its wounded.
Were it not for the Freedom of Information Act and the National Security
Archive, Americans might be tempted to believe that the White House has
a plan to care for the nation's veterans.
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Larry Scott
