Iraq War Veterans Are Cheated On Healthcare: A Case Study

Thousands of veterans have great track records showing their strong commitments to better served the US nation. In fact ,these veterans of Iraq War are not getting the medical benefits. Thousands of troops are returning from Iraq War with wounds, injuries or other War ailments. Why does the government of United States denying by their responsibility for providing medical benefits to Iraq War vets by saying that these veterans are post-traumatic stress disorder. Government violating diagnosed by arguing these personality disorders were exists before joining. This argument shows that government wants leaving himself from this matter and still not willing to compensate and pay medical benefits to Iraq War Veterans. Military doctors know all the facts about veterans’ physical injuries but ignoring them by declaring that the veterans are having personality disorder. The result of this, many vets not treated for most serious diseases, some soldiers were found to have very serious problem of post-war,

Josh Hicks, author at The Washing Post, says that the Veterans Affairs has an ongoing problem of delays in servicing veterans. “Phoenix VA hospital kept delays off the books with secret wait lists that allegedly included dozens of patients who died while waiting for care” (Hicks 1). “Several patients died at an Atlanta clinic because of mismanagement” (Hicks 1). “A Department clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado, falsified appointment records to give the impression that staff doctors saw patients within the agency’s goal of 14 days” (Hicks 1). In addition to these issues, other veterans waiting to hear if their disability claims had been approved for care were waiting in excess of 125 days without determination. Retired four-star Army General Eric Shinseki, serving

The morale and welfare of the men and women that serve our country is considered one of America’s primary missions. Throughout the course of American history, the U.S. government has set forth initiatives as well as mandated laws; with efforts to provide aid and support services for members of the armed services.

This link was made most evident in the veterans who returned home from service in the Gulf and Iraq Wars due to them suffering from a wide variety of behavioral and physical issues, including PTSD, injuries sustained from blast exposure, chronic joint pain, substance abuse, long term effects to substances used in biological warfare, injuries from working with chemicals and machinery during their time of service (Heady, Gale). These issues are made worse for veterans living in rural areas due to the lack of access to VA healthcare.

It is evident that reforms are necessary within the VA system and society in regards to PTSD and veterans. How can the American veterans be better taken care of? I will focus on the following four specific issues that are in need of reform,

When I returned from Iraq, I worked as a Veteran Representative for the County Veteran Service Office in Martinez. There, I managed over 1,500 veterans’ medical records and guided them to the right resources for their claims, including burial proceedings, Agent Orange related illness, and other disability and compensation-related issues. I’ve experienced the battle vets fight both overseas and at home; hence, another reason for my pursuit of nonviolent conflict resolution. During this time, I became frustrated by the limitations of help available to veterans in need. I saw that without a change in policy, there will always be a limit to change you can effect.

Every day at the Veterans Affair Hospital, veterans are being sent away with little to no treatment. Or when they do receive treatment, it is using archaic and outdated techniques. The patients are not being treated fully, so they are forced to return at a later time with the same ailment. In a recent article, it outlined that some people were removed from the treatment list and later died from conditions that could have been treated. There was, also, a misappropriation of funds shown in the article. The hospital spent $10 million dollars on a MRI machine It was shown on the VA website that if a veteran wanted to see a primary care physician that average wait time was 10.15 days, however in a different article it was shown that scheduling clerks

There are over 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are seeking compensation for injuries they claim are related to their military service. That is over double the 21 percent of veterans that filed service-connected claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Additionally, these new veterans are claiming on average eight to nine issues and the most recent ones received by the VA are claiming 11 to 14 ailments. In comparison, the Vietnam veterans are averaging compensation for fewer than four ailments and those from World War II and Korea average only two.

In recent years, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has found itself guarding against a tsunami of negative public opinion, unrelenting media coverage and at times, a contentious relationship with the U.S. Congress. Despite these challenges, the administration (VBA) has made enormous strides in reducing the pending inventory of the oldest claims, improving quality, and has undertaken the largest technological transformation in its history. If the VA is to continue to provide timely and quality service to Veterans, VBA must significantly increase enrollment and utilization of Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E), Education programs and continue to streamline and modernize the disability compensation process.

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 is the only legislative pathway to add ailments to the presumptive list of service connected illnesses for Vietnam Veterans. It is set to expire on September 30th, 2015. If the Act is allowed to expire comprehensive research reviews will end. Without continued research reviews, some Vietnam Veterans will never be covered for the ailments caused by their exposure. If this legislation is not extended there will be no new ailments added to the service connected presumptive list for Vietnam Veterans (after the 2014 report is released this December).

What are returning veterans really experiencing?Did their stress get released or may they still suffer. Many of our returning veterans faces a lot of problems from problems ranging from PTSD to no jobs.These problems are important because some veterans commit suicide because they can’t get help.Homelessness is among the most urgent problems facing our veterans and simply the easiest problem to fix.Upon returning home, they may struggle to find employment, obtain felicitous health care or secure treatment for war-related mental illness and this is the problem when the government failed to help the returning veterans

Thomas Brennan, a U.S Marine Veteran and Purple Heart Recipient from North Carolina, is tragically the depiction of why the VA needs reconstruction and more resources. When calling about his prescription for his intense migraines he get as a result to a traumatic brain injury, he was told for the third time that they [the VA] forgot to fill the prescription (Jones). “‘And when you’re sitting at home like this, you don’t feel like you matter to the doctors who are supposed to take care of you,’” said Brennan to one of the many VA officials he had to talk to when asking about his prescription. The 2014 Veteran's Choice Program was made to liberate Veteran’s from complications like this.

Tarnished by lack of efficiency, communication and a vision are inconsistent and divided. My findings of evidence paralleled with my literature reviews because this issue is starting to emerge as a imminent threat to the structural failures that the veterans rely on. The LACK of justice is the primary value my stance emphasizes. As citizens, we are expected to follow guidelines, laws, and abide by or pay the consequences. Both the DoD and the VA have violated all agreements and initiatives to collaborate to form a larger accessible health care system and have neglected to take initiative. Veterans risk their lives to support the prosperity and freedom of the United States, and in return they are marginalized in a sense that provisions within these complex bureaucracies make it difficult for them to be treated. The Old Public Administration has proven to be a detriment to the purpose of the departments and raises the question as to whether the veterans they neglect are really a concern at

The care for our veteran service men and women has been inadequate since the founding of our nation. The intent of this section is to provide an over view on the history of the military and the policies that have affected our veterans. Additionally, I will address the gaps in current mental and healthcare policies affecting veterans today.

The impact of the lack of access to care when it comes to veterans starts off by Murray (2012) stating, “It is estimated that as many as 20% of service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have screened positive for PTSD or other behavioral health symptoms such as depression and anxiety (GAO, 2008a; Gham & Lucenko, 2007)” (p. 178). Even with their policies that Murray (2012) mentions, when healthcare providers evaluate the medical records to find a condition when screening they were found inconsistent (p. 278). Essentially saying, that with these findings through the screenings they are unreliable. Even another statement mentioned by Committee on the Assessment of the Readjustment Needs of Military Personnel (2013), “One finding was that veterans living more than 25 miles from a VA facility were less likely to receive the recommended PTSD treatment compared to veterans living within 25 miles of their treatment” (p. 13). “TBI is one of the most frequently reported injuries among service members in Iraq and Afghanistan abs may account for as much as 20% to 30% of battlefield related injuries (GAO, 2008a)”