Larry Scott (former E-5) served four-plus years in the U.S. Army with overseas tours as a Broadcast Journalist at AFKN HQ, Seoul, Korea and AFN, Lajes Field, The Azores, Portugal and a stateside tour as a Broadcast Journalism Instructor at the Defense Information School (DINFOS). Larry was decorated four times including the Joint Service Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. He was awarded DOD's First Place Thomas Jefferson Award for Excellence in Journalism. After the Army, Larry was a news anchor on WNBC Radio in New York City. He receives VA compensation for a service-connected disability. Today, Larry resides in Southwest Washington and operates the website VA Watchdog dot Org.
To contact Larry Scott email larry@vawatchdog.org
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VA Secretary Nicholson: “A crisis? I don’t agree.”
July 8, 2005
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The VA is facing a healthcare budget shortfall that could be as much as $1.6 billion in FY 2005. Estimates for FY 2006 show a $2.6 billion shortfall.
The budget shortfalls came to light when Dr. Jonathan Perlin, the VA's Under Secretary for Health, was being grilled on Capitol Hill. Dr. Perlin's testimony sent bipartisan shockwaves through the Beltway.
In testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on June 28, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said: “A crisis? I don't agree ... It's a matter of definition. It's not a crisis ... Being off a billion dollars is not unrealistic or a crisis.”
At the same hearing Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) bristled: “This Administration has not taken the issue of VA funding seriously.” “This shortfall is either deliberate misdirection or gross incompetence.”
From Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO): “This was decided way above your [Nicholson's] pay-grade. At the OMB and the White House.”
And from Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): “We pose in front of the flag and take pictures with soldiers. We give away tax cuts…[but] when it comes to VA funding, we're not there.”
Secretary Nicholson explained the VA's “non-crisis” by blaming outdated actuarial models that did not anticipate returning troops and did not include cost projections for long-term care, dental care, or prosthetics. Nicholson wanted to borrow money from other parts of the VA budget, most of it coming from capital improvements, which would have eliminated much-needed repairs and upgrades to VA facilities.
On June 29 Secretary Nicholson held a press conference surrounded by Republican House members including Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Secretary Nicholson, having experienced an overnight epiphany, asked for more funding for the first time. Rep. Buyer, sharing the same religious experience, promised more funding for the first time.
Also on the 29th, the Senate passed legislation authorizing $1.5 billion for VA healthcare. Earlier in the year, Sen. Murray's request for $2.2 billion for the VA suffered a partisan defeat. All Republicans, except one, voted against additional VA funding. This historic voting pattern has blocked proper VA healthcare funding for years.
On June 30, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing, with Secretary Nicholson finally testifying that he needed more funds for VA healthcare. However, Nicholson only asked for $975 million, far short of what is needed. This was the figure approved by President George W. Bush.
Later that night the House had their “come to Jesus” moment and passed legislation authorizing the $975 million expenditure. Now the Republicans will try to take credit for this legislation when, for years, they have stood in the way. It's a tried-and-true political game: Create a problem, blame somebody else, solve the problem, take credit for the solution.
Now the House and Senate must pass compromise legislation to settle on an actual dollar amount that will go to VA healthcare. Whatever that figure may be, the VA will NOT get enough funding to provide adequate healthcare for qualified veterans. This is an old political trick. You have two choices, but they are both bad.
Veterans must call their elected representatives and tell them to vote for the Senate version and, at the same time, let them know that even the $1.5 billion is NOT ENOUGH. The toll-free number to call your representative is: 1-877-762-8762, or 1-877-SOB-U-SOB. (Editor's note: This number has been verified as the official capitol operator's phone line.)
VA Secretary Nicholson said he has plenty of money in his budget. This while nurses at the Portland, Oregon VA hospital must voluntarily pay for vending machine food for overnight patients, because there is no money in the budget to provide that food.
Republican members of Congress vote against proper funding for VA healthcare. This while the Portland VA continues to cut beds, because they don't have the money to hire the staff to care for the veterans who should be in those beds.
In the past three weeks I have spent five days at the Portland VA hospital. It was a ghost town. There were empty parking spaces, the canteen was empty and the pharmacy waiting room was one-quarter full. In the six years I have been going to this facility I have never seen anything like this. Staff members tell me: No money means no doctors and nurses, which means no treatment for veterans, which equals an empty hospital. This is happening at VA facilities all over the country.
Secretary Nicholson must accept responsibility for trying to hide this budget shortfall and for trying to gut other parts of the VA budget. But, as was said, this is all decided way above his pay-grade. Nicholson's marching orders from the White House and OMB filter down to a Republican-controlled House and Senate. And President George W. Bush gets the exact VA budget he wants -- not a penny more.
It's time for President George Bush to stop the meaningless rhetoric and fully fund VA healthcare. A half-hearted “thank you” to our troops doesn't pay the medical bills when they come home. A “mission accomplished” doesn't accomplish anything when veterans have to wait two, three or more years for the VA to grant a PTSD claim. And a small monetary band-aid today only aggravates the wounds of all veterans in the long term.
Healthcare delayed is healthcare denied. The lives of millions of veterans are at stake.
© 2005 Larry Scott. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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