Top 10 News for Veterans from Around the Country – 07-23-08

1. US Spending Record Amount On Veterans.  
2. Peake Lifts VA Ban On Paid Advertising.  
3. Peake Defends VA’s Plan For Replacement Of Denver Medical Center.  
4. Military Health System Planning To ‘Evolve’ Electronic Health Record System.  
5. VA Now Accepting Online Claim Applications.  
6. VA Hopes To Give Patients More Control Over Medical Records.  
7. VA To Open New Vet Centers In California, Texas.  
8. VA To Celebrate Grand Opening Of Vet Center In Florida.  
9. Homeless Vets To Benefit From Funding Provided To San Francisco Housing Authority.   Colorado Vets, Lawmakers Rally For Independent VA Hospital.  

     1.      US Spending Record Amount On Veterans.   USA Today (7/23, Zoroya) reports, "The federal government is spending more money on veterans than at any time in modern history, surpassing the tidal wave of spending following World War II." Expenditures "hit $82 billion in 2007, because of the rising cost of health care, the expense of caring for an aging population of mostly Vietnam War veterans and a new crop of severely wounded troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That exceeds the $80 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars spent in 1947 after most of the 16.1 million Americans serving in World War II left the service, according to a Congressional Research Service report submitted to Congress" in June. An "11% hike in spending to $91 billion is slated for this fiscal year, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has proposed $94 billion for 2009."
      Generals Admit Army Needs To Improve Care Provided To Wounded Soldiers.   In his "Washington Sketch" column in the Washington Post (7/23, A3), Dana Milbank said four generals were contrite during a Tuesday appearance "before a House Armed Services subcommittee to explain why, 16 months and at least eight fact-finding investigations after the Walter Reed scandal, the Army still hadn’t fixed the health-care system for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan." Before the hearing, committee investigators "had visited Army medical facilities and came back with ominous statistics" that revealed the Army had "miscalculated the growth in the number of soldiers needing care," causing "it to fall below ‘the required level of staffing’ at most facilities." The generals testifying before the committee, who admitted that improvements need to be made in this area, "professed their devotion to the cause. ‘Warrior care is our highest priority, second only to the global war on terror,’" said Lt. Gen. Robert Wilson, commanding general of the US Army Installation Management Command.
      Iraq Vet’s Efforts Lead To Improvements In VA Care.   The Christian Science Monitor (7/23, Carroll) reports that after his veterans’ disability benefits were stopped in 2007, Iraq veteran Paul Weaver, who had been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), "decided to fight – and unwittingly started a chain of events that would lead to improvements in the local San Diego VA system, benefiting thousands of others." The improvements, which involved shoring up the San Diego VA’s scheduling call center, are the "kind called for by Congress, veterans groups, and the public as the VA system comes under increased scrutiny with the arrival of a new generation of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars." The Monitor adds, "The VA came under particularly harsh criticism earlier this year when an e-mail surfaced showing that VA officials discussed keeping secret the figure of about 1,000 attempted suicides per month among veterans in VA facilities. The secretary of the VA later said the figure was unreliable, but he got a thorough tongue-lashing from Congress and veterans groups nevertheless."
      Schools Learning To Deal With Vets From Iraq, Afghanistan   . The Washington Times /AP (7/23) reports, "As veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq return to campus, many are finding that colleges and universities are only beginning to figure out how to help them transition back to civilian, social and academic life." And with "more people returning from conflict than at any other time since the Vietnam War — along with a new, more generous GI bill — the number of college-bound veterans is expected to swell," so schools "are trying to respond to their needs." Many veterans, though, "have banded together to help one another navigate their schools." 

2.      Peake Lifts VA Ban On Paid Advertising.   Advertising Age (7/22, Teinowitz) reported, "After at least 30 years of banning paid advertising, the Department of Veterans Affairs has decided it’s OK after all. Under congressional pressure," VA Secretary James Peake "has dropped the department’s longstanding ban and is about to issue its first request for proposals seeking an agency to develop communications to reach the nation’s 24 million living veterans." Lisette M. Mondello, "the VA’s assistant secretary for policy and inter-government affairs, told Advertising Age that paid ads will start next year. ‘This will give us more opportunities to reach out to veterans,’ she said."
      VA Steps Up Outreach Efforts Following Lawmaker Inquiries.   The Arizona Republic (7/22, Montini) reported that US. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), a subcommittee chairman on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Republican colleagues have been asking the VA "some tough questions about how much effort it put into reaching veterans at risk of suicide or other mental-health problems connected with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury." Initially, Mitchell "found… that the VA had a self-imposed ban on the kind of television advertising." There "also was no aggressive program aimed at reaching veterans through the Internet or through cellphone technology." But not long ago, "officials from the VA told Mitchell’s committee that it has changed its outreach policy. A pilot program that involves advertising on everything from buses to billboards" to television spots "is going into effect" in Washington, DC.

3.      Peake Defends VA’s Plan For Replacement Of Denver Medical Center.   In a Billings (MT) Gazette (7/23) op-ed, Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake says the "manner in which" the VA will replace its "Denver Medical Center is the subject of much controversy throughout the region. I am concerned many veterans and their families are neither fully aware of what VA is proposing to do, nor the reasoning behind our proposal." Peake explains that his "goal for the VA is to provide veteran-centric care: care that provides the health care services veterans need, in locations closer to where veterans live. This is particularly critical in the Colorado area, where distances are long, unpredictable weather patterns create hazardous driving conditions literally in a blink of an eye and demographics are shifting." Peake says the VA’s plan for replacing the Denver Medical Center will help the VA to reach his goal. He adds, "I hope veterans and their families will agree that our current plan better meets the needs of the vast majority of Rocky Mountain veterans and their families for many years to come, and offers us improved flexibility to stay current with their needs and the delivery of health care."

4.      Military Health System Planning To ‘Evolve’ Electronic Health Record System.   NextGov (7/22, Brewin) reported that although its electronic health record system "has significant limitations, the Military Health System does not plan to replace it, according to" Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs. Instead, MHS "plans to work toward ‘converged evolution’ of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) electronic health record system and VistA, the Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture, said…Casscells" in an interview with NextGov. NextGov added, "VA Secretary Dr. James Peake is personally involved in the effort to converge the electronic health record systems of the two agencies."

5.      VA Now Accepting Online Claim Applications.   The Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer (7/22, Gierer) reported, "The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that online applications are now accepted from veterans, survivors and other claimants filing initial applications for disability compensation, pension, education, and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits without the additional requirement to submit a signed paper copy of the application." The VA "will now process applications received through its online application Web site VONAPP without the claimant’s signature. To find out more, go to www.va.gov/onlineapps.htm or call 1-800-827-1000."

6.      VA Hopes To Give Patients More Control Over Medical Records.   Federal Computer Week (7/22, Buxbaum) reported, "The two military Cabinet departments – Defense and Veterans Affairs – thrive on obedience to a chain of command." That is "why the departments’ joint development of personal health record" (PHR) systems "is…potentially revolutionary. Such records give patients a measure of control over their health care services and clinical records, and the systems are pushing service members and veterans toward the top of the health care chain of command." Dr. Madhulika Agarwal, chief patient care services officer at VA’s Veterans Health Administration, discussed these efforts, saying, "We would like to deliver health care that is more patient-centric" so veterans will "be more empowered about their own" care.
      In a related story, Federal Computer Week (7/21, Buxbaum) reported, "The Office of Management and Budget set a goal" for the VA’s "My HealtheVet PHR system to have 282,000 registrants by 2008, and it has already exceeded that goal by registering more than 540,000 users. However, the number of veterans who have signed up for upgraded accounts with enhanced features remains at less than 10 percent of the total."

7.      VA To Open New Vet Centers In California, Texas.   The San Diego Union-Tribune (7/21) reported Chula Vista, California, will be the site of one of 39 new VA "counseling centers for recent combat veterans and their families, VA officials said last week." Other "new centers are slated for Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento and San Bernardino counties."
      WFAA-TV Dallas (7/21, 6:03 p.m. CT) broadcast, "North Texas veterans will have two new places to go" when "dealing with post-traumatic stress. The Veterans Affairs Department plans to open centers in both Dallas and Fort Worth." The facilities "will offer screening and counseling" services. The Dallas Morning News (7/22, Horner), which publishes a similar story, adds, "The new centers are scheduled to open by the fall 2009."

8.      VA To Celebrate Grand Opening Of Vet Center In Florida.   Vet Center gives help to soldiers after war. Florida Today, Moody) reports "counseling and group sessions" are being "offered at the new Melbourne Vet Center" in Florida. Vet Centers, "like the one in Melbourne, are opening at an accelerated pace around the country to cope with returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who need help making the transition from combat zone to civilian life." And on Wednesday, the VA "will celebrate the grand opening…of the Melbourne site, the first one in Brevard County." The center "began limited operations in January." 

9.      Homeless Vets To Benefit From Funding Provided To San Francisco Housing Authority.   The AP (7/23) reports, "The San Francisco Housing Authority will receive $1.5 million of federal funding to help homeless veterans obtain support services and permanent housing," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday. The funding "is part of the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program." The AP adds, "The Housing Authority, which leases units to veterans, will receive the funding in portions and the ‘wait list" for housing units will be monitored by the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which has started work on a selection and placement process. The center will refer veterans to the Housing Authority for an intake for the assistance program."

10.    Colorado Vets, Lawmakers Rally For Independent VA Hospital.   In continuing coverage, the KCNC-TV Denver, CO (7/21, Nathan) website reported, "Veterans in Colorado are demanding the Veterans Administration listen to their frustration with plans for a new hospital in the Denver area. The VA has been talking with the University of Colorado Hospital about sharing a facility" in Aurora, Colorado, but a "group of veterans and a couple" of Democratic congressmen "rallied on the issue Sunday in downtown Denver." The veterans are "opposed to the VA plans to…possibly partner with the CU Hospital. Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Ed Perlmutter joined the group in calling for the building of an independent facility."
      Paper Says VA Plan Should Not Be Automatically Dismissed.   An editorial in the Rocky Mountain (CO) News (7/22) noted that in a July 18 letter, VA Secretary James Peake told Salazar and Perlmutter that a $1.1 billion estimate to construct a stand-alone veterans hospital in Aurora far exceeded the $769 million previously submitted to Congress. Peake "added that evolving medical practices and the location of many of the veterans themselves…also argued for a different approach than a large, centralized facility." The News says that "just because the VA…suggests a tweak in the plans doesn’t mean its new path should automatically be discounted. And just because there are savings to be had doesn’t necessarily mean that veterans won’t get top-notch care." The VA plan, therefore, "is definitely worth a second look."