Costs Kill Big Gains for Vets but Reserve Retirees Win 'Vet' Status

For a while it seemed 2016 would be the year Congress phased in a $3 billion plan to give older generations of severely injured veterans the same caregiver benefits enacted six years ago for Post-9/11 injured veterans. It also seemed Congress in 2016 would modernize VA's appeals process for veteran claims, and would impose stiff new accountability requirements on VA employees who are incompetent or misbehave. It even seemed possible this year that lawmakers would strengthen the Veterans Choice program by establishing prompt payment standards and by streamlining requirements for community medical care providers to enter into service agreements with VA. But have any of these things happened? For more details, see this Military Advantage post.