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 went back to radio news, working in Indianapolis as a News Anchor on WIFE Radio and then in New York City as a News Anchor on WNBC Radio. He receives VA compensation for a service-connected disability and uses the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington VA facilities for healthcare. Today, Larry resides in Southwest Washington and operates the veteran's help website YourVABenefits.org. To contact Larry Scott email larry@yourvabenefits.org.
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Opinion By Larry Scott
Senators send letters to the White House every day. But not letters that portend what may be one of the biggest fights on Capital Hill in the coming year.
Three Democratic Senators have politely, but bluntly, blasted the Bush Administration's funding of the VA. More importantly, they have drawn the battle lines that may decide the future of veteran's healthcare and other benefits for years to come.
In the letter, dated December 16, 2004, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Committee on Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Daniel Akaka, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski urged President Bush to rethink the VA budgetary process and support programs for veteran's healthcare including special programs to ease the transition difficulties for troops returning from Iraq.
The six-point letter says nothing most veterans don't know. The VA budget is in shambles. Veterans are being locked out. The waiting lists for surgeries and necessary diagnostic procedures mean months of delays for many veterans. Here are the six points in simplified form. I urge you to read the entire letter.
Fully fund and reopen the VA healthcare system for all veterans. Due to chronic under-funding of the VA hundreds of thousands of veterans are being denied the care they were promised and deserve. The VA health-care budget is short billions of dollars. Many veterans shut out of the system have no health insurance. It is a serious mistake to cut the VA budget at a time when we are creating a whole new generation of veterans. This is unfair to those who have bravely served our nation.
Create a seamless transition from active duty to veteran status. Many soldiers are being denied timely access to healthcare benefits and services when they transition. The archaic nature of the system leads to mistakes, backlogs, lost records and long waiting times. The VA and DoD must develop an electronic records system so that those who have served our country are not mired in bureaucracy.
Eliminate claims backlogs and reduce claims processing times. The backlog of VA claims continues to grow, yet the VA continues to reduce claims processing staff.
Increase education benefits. The GI bill meets only about 50 percent of higher education costs for a public college or university.
Increase burial benefits. Burial benefits for the families of our wounded or disabled veterans have not kept up with inflation and rising funeral costs.
Protect, expand and guard against any reduction in long-term care and mental health services. One in every six soldiers returning from Iraq suffers from post-traumatic stress disorders.
That's the short version for you. In detail, the letter paints a devastatingly bleak picture for all areas of veteran's benefits in the next few years.
Vice President Dick Cheney has trumpeted the Bush Administration's philosophy that "deficits don't matter" and many Americans bought into that. Earlier this month, President Bush had a post-election epiphany. Speaking at the White House Economic Summit, Bush said, "We recognize we have an issue with both short-term deficits and the long-term deficits of unfunded liabilities to the entitlement programs."(emphasis mine) Strange that we never heard this before November 2nd. As you know, VA benefits come under the heading of "entitlement programs." Translation of above: More cuts are coming to a VA near you!
It should be noted that VA budgets have increased every year for as long as I can remember. The increase in the past eight years has been over 50 percent. This figure is thrown around by those who claim our veterans are being served properly by the VA. What they don't mention is that the number of veterans seeking healthcare in the past eight years has gone up 150 percent! The figures don't add up. VA funding, plain and simple, has not kept up with the demand for benefits by qualified veterans.
The paltry Fiscal Year 2005 VA Budget Submissions authored by outgoing VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi and his staff is the stuff of outrage. And, the actual funding came in shy of that by about $1.4 billion. Add to this a scheduled $1 billion cut for next year. But, this didn't surprise me as I have been writing about this for months in other opinion pieces for Military.com. It's time for this to stop!
This entire VA under-funding fiasco is a slap in the face to ALL veterans. The veterans in the VA system are waiting months for treatment, surgeries and critical diagnostic procedures. The veterans about to go into the system after service in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries will get no better.
The proposals offered by Senators Reid, Akaka and Mikulski offer real hope for veterans. Now it's time to turn hope into reality. This can only be done with bipartisan support for these proposals followed by concerted action to turn these six "must-haves" into legislation that will pass in both the Senate and House.
We must urge our Senators to work with Reid, Akaka and Mikulski. And you can help. Find your Senator here. Copy the following and insert it into an email to your Senator using a proper heading and your signature:
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Committee on Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Daniel Akaka, and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski have recently written a letter to President Bush urging full funding for the VA and improvements in many programs for veterans.
The six-point letter details needed changes at all levels of the VA and offers viable solutions to a host of problems currently confronting veterans seeking VA benefits.
I strongly urge you to work with Senators Reid, Akaka and Mikulski to make their proposals a reality and prove to all veterans that America really cares for those who served when called.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily of Military.com.
