Want to Keep Up With Veteran's News?

[longknife]

Check out Veterans Today - Military Veterans and Foreign Affairs Journal ? VA ? Veterans Administration and it does have an RSS feed or check out the HTML link.

 

[waltky]

Congress crackin' the whip on VA bigwig bonuses...

Congress losing patience, works to eliminate bonuses for top VA execs
February 10, 2014 ~ Congress appears poised to tighten oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs in light of the claims backlog and recent medical errors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A bipartisanship group of top members of the congressional committees that oversee the VA are frustrated with the agency in the wake of incidents ranging from a patient’s death after an altercation with a nursing assistant in Louisiana to a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers say these episodes reflect a lack of accountability at the 1,700 VA hospitals, clinics and other facilities. Congress now appears likely to impose restrictions: The House last week unanimously passed a bill that included a five-year ban on bonuses for senior VA executives, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would save $18 million. The Senate has not voted on the measure, yet.

According to GovExec.com, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said the bill’s passage is an important step forward to hold VA more accountable, as the department has failed to conduct the review of its performance appraisal system that the committee recommended. The chairman long has argued that no one at the department deserves bonuses while the backlog of benefits claims remains high. The Senior Executives Association, a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation representing the interests of career federal executives, warned Miller not to eliminate the performance awards, as it would drive VA employees out of federal service, according to GovExec.com.

SEA said in a letter to the committee that the bonuses are part of the pay structure for SES employees, and are awarded only after a “rigorous review of executives’ achievements against both individual and organizational performance goals.”The VA cares for 8.75 million patients, from nonagenarian World War II veterans to teenagers with brain injuries from Afghanistan. Vietnam-era vets are now heavy VA users. In some ways, the VA is politically inviolate, wrote the Wall Street Journal. The report noted that since Fiscal 2000, its budget has tripled to $148 billion, with no serious talk of cuts despite general concern about government deficits. But that windfall and the influx of wounded vets have also drawn increased congressional scrutiny.

The dispute has taken a testy turn in recent weeks, with Miller and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki swapping comments about VA accountability practices, according to the Journal. In a Jan. 31 letter to Miller, the secretary defended the agency’s bonus and dismissal practices, even going so far as to explain bonuses given to particular employees. “Results, or lack thereof, for which employees and executives are responsible and accountable, are factors when evaluating performance,” wrote Shinseki, a former Army general. Miller shot back Friday: “It’s becoming more apparent by the day that there seems to be just two types of people who think VA is properly holding its leaders accountable: VA executives who have received huge performance bonuses year after year despite failing in their jobs, and those who work in VA’s central office.” VA officials say the agency has spent less on bonuses than allowed by law.

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Construction industry pledges 100,000 jobs for veterans
February 10, 2014 ~ First Lady Michelle Obama announced Monday that a coalition of construction companies and associations has pledged to hire more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years.

“I know that you all have made this commitment not just because it is the patriotic thing to do, which it is. You’ve done this because you know that it is the smart thing to do for your businesses, because you know that America’s military turns out some of the highest skilled, hardest working employees this country has ever seen. And that’s particularly true when it comes to the construction sector,” Obama told industry representatives at a symposium at the Labor Department. “[Our servicemembers] have built cities in the middle of deserts halfway around the world. They’ve built schools in remote villages. They’ve repaired complex machinery in combat zones in the middle of the night. In short, our troops have taken on some of the most challenging projects in some of the most inhospitable places under some of the toughest deadlines and constraints,” she said.

Companies making the pledges run the spectrum from large national firms like Jacobs and Bechtel to regional and local firms. Associations like the National Center for Construction Education and Research, the Home Builders Institute, The Associated General Contractors of America, and the Building Trades Association are also supporting the effort. More than 100 companies and other organizations are involved in the initiative, according to the first lady. “Many of the skills and abilities gained during military training and service are highly transferable to the skills we require to successfully serve our clients around the world,” said Lori Sundberg, the senior vice president of human resources at Jacobs. “We are proud of the veterans working at Jacobs and appreciate their military service, their dedication, and the value they add to our company.”

The construction industry is expected to boom in the coming years. The Department of Labor estimates that more than 1.5 million construction jobs will be created between now and 2022. The hiring push was spearheaded by the Labor Department and Joining Forces, a White House initiative promoted by Obama and Jill Biden to encourage organizations to hire and train veterans.

Construction industry pledges 100,000 jobs for veterans - News - Stripes

 

[waltky]

Where's Obama?...

American Legion: 'We Need the White House, the President to Come Forward'
May 19, 2014 -- "We realize that the administration has done a lot for the veterans, but that isn't the issue," American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Dellinger said the long wait for veterans to get medical care is an "ongoing problem" that President Obama must address personally: "We need the White House, the president to come forward. He needs to make a statement, to show the employees of VA that this needs to change, now. One death is tragic, but when you hide it, that's unforgivable." It's been three weeks since CNN reported that at least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret list to hide the long waiting times. And over the weekend, the Dayton Daily News reported that the government has paid out more than $34 million to numerous veterans who claimed delays in treatment.

President Obama has not talked about the scandal, but he did send one of his top advisers to speak for him: “The president is madder than hell, and I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings I’ve given the president,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CBS News White House Correspondent Major Garrett. The interview aired Sunday on “Face the Nation.” “Nobody is more outraged about this problem, right now, Major, than the president of the United States,” McDonough added.

Dellinger said the recent news reports about long waiting times and veterans' deaths point to "egregious mismanagement" of the VA. He said Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki should display the same leadership at the VA that he showed in the military. "And it just hasn't happened. The accountability has not been there," Dellinger said. Dellinger said "cultural change is necessary" at the VA, and he specifically complained about VA employees getting bonuses "just for doing their job." He has called for Shinseki's resignation, citing "poor oversight and failed leadership."

President Obama, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, talked about going around Congress to get things done, but he said nothing about veterans. Speaking for Republicans, however, Sen. John McCain in his Saturday radio address urged Congress to give VA administrators "greater flexibility to hire and fire those charge with caring for our veterans." McCain also said veterans "have earned the right to choose where and when they get their medical care." McCain said the way the nation cares for veterans "is the most important test of a nation's character. The U.S. is currently "failing that test," he added. "We must do better tomorrow -- much better."

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...on-we-need-white-house-president-come-forward

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Obama Outraged by Veterans Hospitals Conduct, Aide Says
May 18, 2014 President Barack Obama is “madder than hell” about reports of U.S. veterans dying while awaiting health care and allegations that hospitals may have altered records to hide lengthy delays, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said.

“Nobody is more outraged about this problem right now” than Obama, McDonough said in an interview broadcast today on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. “And he will continue to press, as it relates to this question of timely access to care, until it is fixed.” Veterans Affairs Inspector General Richard J. Griffin told a Senate committee last week he is investigating allegations that as many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at a Phoenix hospital. He is trying to determine if the deaths were related to the delays and whether the hospital’s electronic wait list purposely omitted some names.

The American Legion and some congressional Republicans have been calling for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki since CNN first ran a report last month about the deaths and wait times at the Phoenix hospital. “We need the White House, the president, to come forward,” Daniel Dellinger, national commander of the American Legion, told CBS. “He needs to make a statement, to show the employees of the VA that this needs to change now.” The Veterans Health Administration operates the largest health-care system in the U.S., serving about 8.8 million patients annually at more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics and other facilities, according to the department’s website.

Wait Times

“They were advertising waiting times of 30 to 55 days, when in fact they were more like six to seven months,” said Sam Foote, a retired doctor who worked at a VA facility in Phoenix and disclosed some of the problems. “We never said that they died because of this,” Foote said on “Fox News Sunday” today. “We just made the point that at least 40 veterans, we felt, had died while waiting for care and these needed to be reviewed.” Robert Petzel, the VA undersecretary for health, resigned last week, though he had been scheduled to retire sometime this year. Obama assigned Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors to work on a review of patient-safety rules, the Associated Press reported. “This has gone from incompetence and a backlog to something criminal,” said Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and Iraq war veteran who spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program today. “I think it’s time for Shinseki to resign.”

Inspiring Change

McDonough was asked on CBS whether Shinseki, a retired four-star Army general, retains Obama’s confidence. “The president will continue to demand that he and all of us who work for him continue to fix these things until they are functioning the way that our veterans believe they should,” McDonough said in the interview, which was recorded May 16 and aired today. Ryan Gallucci, deputy director for national legislative service at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said his organization has “been screaming about this for years, about wait times.” “We hope that the attention that’s really come to this in the last couple of weeks will finally inspire significant change,” Gallucci said on Fox.

Obama Outraged by Veterans Hospitals Conduct, Aide Says - Bloomberg

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Den why didn't dem politicians do sumpin' about it???...

'We've Known for Years That the VA Backlog Was Enormous'
May 20, 2014- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says the Veterans Administration has longstanding problems that pre-date the Obama administration:

"It doesn't make any difference that he (President Obama) just heard about Phoenix in April, we've known for years that the VA backlog was enormous. I had the secretary of Veterans Administration in my office a year and a half ago on the same subject, and other members have as well. Speaking to Fox News Monday night, McConnell said issues at the VA are a "management problem, not a money problem." "So it's obvious that the management team needs to be changed in order to address this problem," he added.

McConnell also said President Obama should devote the same attention to the most recent VA scandal that he did to the Obamacare website, by holding "multiple press conferences, multiple communications with the American people." "Look, this is a huge problem," McConnell said. "He needs to step up to the plate. Don't try to blame it on Bush or the Republicans in Congress. He's the CEO of the country. The VA reports to him. He ought to have the same kind of interest in this that he did in the Obamacare website and that Obamacare law in general."

Even before Barack Obama became president, he was talking about problems with the Veterans Administration: "When a veteran is denied care, we are all dishonored," he said in 2007. Under the leadership of Eric Shinseki, the VA has been working to reduce the enormous backlog of disability claims. The most recent scandal came to light at the end of April, when CNN reported that VA employees in Phoenix were hiding long wait times for appointments. CNN said as many as 40 veterans died waiting for care they never received.

McConnell: 'We've Known for Years That the VA Backlog Was Enormous' | CNS News

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'The Right Thing to Do, Is to Fully Investigate'
May 20, 2014 -- White House spokesman Jay Carney says he's sure Americans will be hearing from President Obama "at some point" on the scandal engulfing the Veterans Administration.

But right now, the president is waiting for the VA inspector-general to complete an investigation into long wait times for medical appointments, secret waiting lists, and veterans who reportedly died in Phoenix and elsewhere before they were able to see a doctor. "[W]e believe that the right thing to do, is to fully investigate, fully review, take action to fix the problems that are identified, and make sure that the services are being provided to our veterans," Carney told reporters at the White House on Monday. "On the broader issue of accountability, we are of the view that the kinds of allegations that we have seen need to be investigated rigorously, and once we know all the facts, it is absolutely appropriate that accountable individuals ought to be held to account."

In the meantime, Carney said the president has sent "one of his most trusted advisers from the White House" to help VA Secretary Eric Shinseki conduct his own review: "It is absolutely the case that the president strongly supports Secretary Shinseki's request to the I.G. (inspector general) to investigate the allegations that have emerged around initially the Phoenix office, and have spread elsewhere, because he insists that we do everything we can to ensure that our veterans are getting the care that they deserve, and that they're getting it in a timely fashion. "But we are not of the view, as a general matter, that the latter comes before the former. The investigation needs to continue and needs to be completed, and then we can assess what the facts are." Carney repeated that President Obama "has confidence" in Shinseki, who "has overseen an increase in the services provided to our veterans," including a vast expansion of disability claims for PTSD and Agent Orange.

Carney also said both Shinseki and the president learned about problems at the Phoenix veterans hospital from news reports that came out three weeks ago. But even before he became president, Obama said no veterans should be denied medical care. "He certainly stands by what he said then," Carney told reporters. "And that is why, when he was elected to this office, having said what he did about the care we need to provide to our veterans, he actively pursued significant increases in our budgets for veterans care, substantially increasing the amount that we spend in order to take care of our veterans, substantially increasing the availability of services to veterans and availability of disability claims to veterans on his watch, because of that sacred trust that he's talked about."

Carney noted several times that president Obama has sought "significant increases in the V.A. budget" every year, reflecting "the high priority the president associates with providing benefits to our veterans." House Republicans plan to pass legislation this week -- the Veterans Administration Management Accountability Act -- which would make it easier to fire deficient VA employees. Carney said the White House "shares Congress's concerns about making sure that there is accountability and effectiveness at the V.A. And we're working to address the problems that have surfaced. We'll look closely at the bill. We certainly share the goals that the bill represents," he said, even if the administration is concerned with some of the details.

Carney on VA Scandal: 'The Right Thing to Do, Is to Fully Investigate' | CNS News

 

[waltky]

Our heroes should be getting better treatment at VA facilities...

VA Scandal Sheds Light on Inadequate Medical Care for American Heroes
May 23, 2014 — The Veterans Administration admitted that soldiers who've served their country have died from delays in medical care across the country at VA Hospitals.

Reportedly, 23 veterans have passed away just from delays in gastrointestinal units but the number of dead and injured is likely much higher. "There have been numerous incidents across the country at VA Hospitals and no one has been held accountable," said Roscoe Butler, assistant director for health care with the The American Legion in Washington, D.C. "We need new leadership to lead VA Hospitals and ensure that veterans are getting the care they deserve and are not harmed."

Currently, VA investigators are on the ground in Augusta, Georgia and San Antonio, Texas, where my own veteran father, James Fairley, is supposed to receive medical care. Contrary to popular belief, the negligent medical care of veterans such as my father is not a funding issue. "Every year the VA submits a budget to Congress and Congress has given the VA every dollar they requested and beyond," Butler told MainStreeT. "Congress has made it clear that if this is not enough all you have to do is ask."

My personal experience with the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio has been disappointing. Complaints to supervisors, the captain of social work and the Patient Advocacy office yielded no results at all. It wasn't until I hired an attorney that a VA dentist agreed to stop pulling my fathers teeth and instead fill 12 cavities, and the dentist still refuses to order a low sugar diet.

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[Howey]

Check out Veterans Today - Military Veterans and Foreign Affairs Journal ? VA ? Veterans Administration and it does have an RSS feed or check out the HTML link.

REALLY? Veterans Today is closely linked to Russia Today and never says a bad word about The Pootin. They're also behind some of the craziest conspiracy theories out there.

If you want information about the VA, got to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

That's where they get it. Dumass.

You do know they're owned and controlled by Gordon Duff, renowned anti-semite and buddy to The Pootin, right?

Veterans Today (VT) is a website that bills itself as a “military veterans and foreign affairs journal.” And, indeed, many of its contributors are military veterans or veterans’ advocates from across the political spectrum. VT also offers some information about veterans’ benefits (lifted from the Veterans’ Administration) and links to home and other loans for vets.

But start reading the posts, and you’ll find something else entirely: myriad claims that there was a conspiracy behind 9/11 (Israel orchestrated it, in cahoots with the American government), that the American government is a puppet (of Israel), that the Holocaust never happened or was greatly exaggerated (Jews made it up to manipulate non-Jews), and, most recently, that Julian Assange, the man behind Wikileaks, is a pawn (of Israel).

Notice a theme?

Gordon Duff, the senior editor and chairman of the board at VT, is a prolific proponent of these anti-Israel conspiracy theories, including the Wikileaks claims. Though he does occasionally write on issues and policies that directly affect American veterans (he claims to be a Marine Vietnam veteran), most of his ammo is reserved for churning out articles that claim 9/11 was a U.S./Israel conspiracy and that Israel controls the U.S. government. According to Duff and VT contributors like author and attorney Jeff Gates, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights watchdog group, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group, are Zionist-controlled fronts for Israeli intelligence operations.

Here's one of his fellow contributors: Alan Sabrosky:

Alan Sabrosky bills himself as the former Director of Studies at the U.S. Army War College. He has made quite a name for himself in recent months by first declaring himself a military expert with high-level connections in the U.S. military hierarchy, then by outrageously claiming that Israel was responsible for 9/11 and that the U.S. military knows this and is concealing it. While he offers no evidence for this, he claims that he should be trusted because of his "expertise". The truth of the matter -- with respect to both his background and his claims -- is quite different, of course.

Sabrosky was working at the US Army War College as an administrator. He never was the director or dean of the college. Far from it. According to the Press Office of the Army War College, in the mid-1980s, Sabrosky served as a civilian administrator at a research department of the college, supervising the publication of papers written within that department. Putting it simple, he was something like a librarian, a mid-level civilian manager at a military college, without access to the sort of highly classified material of the sort he now fraudulently claims to have. Moreover, he worked there 28 years ago. How on earth could someone who worked on the level of a college librarian in the 1980s be privy to top secret information about the 9/11? And how on earth could he be the only person to know about it or think it worth revealing?

 

[waltky]

VA has solution for waiting list scandal...

No Veteran Dies Alone program helps vets in their final days
May 22, 2014 — There are close to 22 million military veterans in the United States today and more than 20% are either nearing or have already surpassed the nation's average life expectancy of 78.

As a way to help families and veterans cope with the inevitable hardships during their loved ones' final days, and as a way to ensure that veterans will not be alone in their final hours, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has recently created a program dubbed "No Veteran Dies Alone" (NVDA). Founded within the past few years, the one-of-a-kind program places volunteers at the bedside of dying veterans as a way to provide comfort and reassurance to the families of those who previously helped defend the nation's liberty and ensured the freedoms that many Americans enjoy today. In some cases, veterans have moved to distant parts of the country making it financially difficult for their family members to be present; and in many instances, family members are either not around or are unable to commit to a 24-hour per day bedside visit with their loved ones. In extreme cases, the veterans themselves have outlived their family members or other loved ones, leaving them alone in their final hours.

For Coarsegold residents and NVDA participants Robert Trice and his wife, the circumstances were overwhelming while they visited Robert's father in the Veterans Association Hospital in Fresno. Homer Trice, a member of the 29th Marine Division on D-Day and recipient of a bronze star for his bravery behind enemy lines, was facing complications during the aftermath of an apparent stroke he experienced in early February of 2014. Following several trips to Fresno and countless hours spent in the hospital, on May 2 a reluctant Robert, along with his wife and daughter, made the difficult decision to head home for some rest. "I had reached the end of my rope and the string tied to it. I was going to go home to get some rest," Robert said. However, on his way out of the hospital, something deep within his subconscious told Robert not to leave his father alone.

Torn between staying with his father and getting the rest necessary to maintain his health, Robert decided to leave for the night and return in the morning. But not without addressing his concerns first. On his way out the door, with a heavy heart, Robert approached an unnamed nurse and pleaded for another option. "I don't want him to pass away...to die alone," a teary-eyed Robert told the nurse. To his surprise, the nurse informed him of the No Veteran Dies Alone program developed by the VA, which had been introduced to the Fresno hospital within the past six months. Taking Robert's hand, the nurse told him they would make sure there was another veteran in his father's room while Robert was away. She explained how a volunteer veteran would take his place in the wake of Robert's absence and hold his father's hand throughout the night if the nurse or doctor was not able to be there.

Feeling a bit more relieved by the comfort of the NVDA program, Robert kissed his father on the forehead, told him he loved him and walked out of the hospital, not knowing if it would be the last time he would see his father alive. "There was such a sense of relief because here I was walking out of my palliative care room, and when I looked back, I saw my father unconscious. I simply couldn't leave him alone," Robert said. Later that night about 8 p.m, with a fellow veteran by his side, Homer Trice passed away at the age of 90. Although deeply heartbroken by the passing of his father and hero, Robert expressed gratitude that someone was there for his father's final moments.

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VA pilot program brings health specialists closer to home for veterans in northern Maine
May 23, 2014 ~ After Peter Miesburger broke his hip in January, the retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant underwent an operation to have it replaced with an artificial joint at his local hospital in Caribou. His family visited every day while he was recovering, and he drove just a few miles home after he was discharged by his doctors.

Miesburger would have had a lengthy drive to the veterans hospital in Augusta, if he lived in nearly any other part of rural Maine, but Cary Medical Center is among five pilot sites in the country participating in a federal program that allows medical facilities outside the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs system to provide treatment covered under veterans’ health benefits. The Access Received Closer to Home, or ARCH, program is designed to allow veterans who live many miles from a VA hospital to get the care they need closer to home. The VA still oversees veterans’ care but contracts with non-VA providers under the program, which is due to expire later this year.

The ARCH program also saves Miesburger regular trips to Togus, the state’s sole VA medical center, for routine appointments. Every three months, a specialist drives from Bangor to Aroostook County to check on his high blood pressure and medications, he said. “I don’t have to do that 500-mile round trip down to Togus, 10 hours on the road,” said Miesburger, a former state commander of the VFW in Maine. Veterans young and old who live throughout northern Maine use the program, he said. “It’s a win-win,” Miesburger said. “The veteran wins, the family member wins and it takes some of the workload off of Togus.” The VA hospital in Augusta provides top-notch treatment, he said, despite a national scandal involving misconduct at other hospitals in the system. “The whole system is getting a black eye,” he said. “I’ll tell you, Togus can’t get any better.”

The VA health system is at the center of a federal inquiry in light of allegations that long delays at the VA hospital in Phoenix may have contributed to 40 veterans dying while waiting for appointments. Government officials are alleged to have falsified records to hide how long veterans waited to see their physicians. Dozens of VA hospitals around the country are now under investigation. Togus, which served roughly 40,000 veterans last year, is not among them, according to Jim Doherty, a spokesman for Maine’s VA medical center. In 2013, more than 98 percent of established patients at Togus received primary care appointments within 14 days of requesting them, he said.

But new patients and veterans in need of specialty care waited longer. Patients visiting Togus for the first time — about 10 percent of overall number — waited an average of 30 days for an appointment last year, he said. Doherty attributed the lag to turnover among medical staff, which resulted in patients being matched with new providers. Some patients also requested appointments far in advance, which counts against Togus’ tally, he said. Patients with urgent health care needs are seen more quickly, sometimes the next day, he said. “We get them right in,” Doherty said. In some cases, the ARCH program resulted in shorter wait times for veterans, according to Kris Doody, CEO of Cary Medical Center. Togus patients from Cary’s service area who face a wait in Augusta may be referred to Caribou for earlier appointments, she said. Cary also has referred local veterans to Togus when more timely openings are available there, Doody said.

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