Military Construction Veterans Affairs

Current funding for veteran healthcare care is low and insufficient because of the large number of veterans, who are being discharged from the military as the country transitions to a democratic President. According to Dr. Rachel Nardin in her article about veteran healthcare, “Soldiers get excellent acute care when injured on active duty, but as revelations of poor conditions for soldiers receiving ongoing outpatient care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted, service members often have trouble getting the care they need once active duty ends” (Nardin 1)

National Level: H.R. 251, a bill that addresses homeless veterans, is titled Homes for Heroes Act of 2015. H.R. 251 was introduced in the House on January 9, 2015 and passed the House without amendment on July 14, 2015. The bill is to establish in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a Special Assistant for the VA. The special assistant will make certain veterans have fair access to HUD housing and homeless assistance program, coordinate, all HUD programs and activities relating to veterans, and serve as a liaison with the VA (Congress.gov, nod).

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 3230) have been put in place to provide funding as well as other services to veterans in any form of VA medical facilities. With this legislation, various programs have been established to provide funding and ensure care (Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, 2014).

Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a non-profit charity that provides lifetime support to veterans and their families. More than 1 million veterans a year have been helped by changing their lives in an encouraging way. Our main goal is to offer veterans with meaningful employment so that they can begin their civilian life since serving our country. There are job fairs throughout the year that provide resources that ensure the veterans a chance to take part in new jobs which is a huge goal of ours. The DAV also offers support to more than 700,000 veterans in getting them to and from medical appointments and helps more than 300,000 with benefit claims annually. There are almost 1,300 chapters and 1.3 million members across the country. This gives veterans and their families the resources they need and ensures them that our nation will keep the promises that they made when they served our country.

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is responsible for providing vital services to Americas veterans. Such services include health care, benefit programs, and access to national cemeteries to former military personnel and their dependents. In this case well be discussing the health care system and how it pertains to our veterans. The health benefits provided by the VA should serve as ones’ sole source of health care or as a complement to an already existing plan. As with anything it has its pros and cons.

Contrary to the perception that our nation’s veterans are well supported in fact many go without the services they require of which they are

This bill does not restart the system and will allow veterans to maintain their effective date of their claim if they provide new evidence each year (Yantko, 2017). Additionally, this bill does not force veterans to participate in the trial but offers veterans who already have a pending appeal a chance opt-in to the new process (Yantko, 2017). Further, the legislation directs that the Secretary must ensure that there are enough resources to implement the process and work through the backlog (Yantko, 2017). Implementation of this system will be costly, at approximately two million dollars over the next five years (Yantko, 2017).

Can the committee also look for other options outside the community to ensure their program could remain sustainable such as grants and other types of permanent funding. Most often projects will start and get off the ground but, if the funding stream is only short term the program will not work or be sustainable. The alternative solutions will start with getting grants for the monies to transition into housing, paying contracts for medical and mental health treatments. The other solution is getting the HUD Vouchers and HUD/VASH voucher for Veterans, in place to assist with help on rent. Have the State Employment office provide counselors to help with job screening, resume writing and interview classes. As for the elder and disabled investigate housing assistance but also have Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs do a review to ensure each of people in this group are getting the maximum benefits. Look for places who might offer a site to help with transitional

The first two experts that will be presented are the previous and current Secretary of the Veteran’s Administration. Eric Shinseki was recently replaced by Robert MacDonald. Both men in this distinguished position feel that the U.S government is providing effective care to our disabled military veterans. The third expert is Mike Coffman the U.S Representative for the 6th District of Colorado. He has had a long military career, while fighting on the front lines. Rep. Coffman does not feel that the VA has effectively handled the illnesses that have been acquired while overseas and would like to have a separate government agency oversee these issues.

This military omnibus bill consists of employment rules, VA Choice Card program, new caregivers support and many others (Shane, 2016). Isakson hopes that within months the military can switch departments to a Title 38 status which will allow flexibility for hiring and firing those in the military. However, a certain senior executive does not want this bill to pass because he believes it would appeal the rights of those in the military. Meanwhile, Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Jeff Miller, is pushing for his own bill to be passed that adds on to Isakson’s omnibus bill. However, the White House thinks Miller’s Bill will weaken employment protections. Which would make it that much harder for the Isakson bill to get passed. Isakson is quoted saying, “Anybody can write a letter. We’re going to produce legislation and work with the house to get a joint bill together that solves everybody's problems when it comes to accountability” (Shane, 2016). The last step for this omnibus bill is for it to be passed by the House of Representatives. As of right now, the omnibus bill it is still a bill, stuck in the House of

The Veteran’s Administration Affairs Department is an organization that reaches all throughout the United Stated of America. It is broken down by each state and then by each county of the states. The affairs department helps with the operation of the nation's largest integrated health care system, with more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, community living centers, domiciliaries, readjustment counseling centers, and other facilities. They help oversee a variety of benefits and services that provide financial and other forms of assistance to Service members, Veterans, their dependents and survivors. Finally, with the 131 national cemeteries in the United States and Puerto Rico, they will assist with burial and memorial benefits available for

Other proposed legislation addresses veteran housing, homelessness, issues with disabled veterans, and more funding for county veterans service officers from the current $5.6 million to $7 million.

The VA has endured harsh public and political criticism for their health care backlogs and erroneous disability claims in the past years. Therefore, Legislation has proposed a timeline for budget submissions. On February 3, 2015 the budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs was proposed. Upon its submission, legislation proposed a few changes including; better business practices, additional benefits, and extended authority to transport Veterans to VA facilities. The costs for the proposed changes were $50 million for fiscal year 2016. (VA.gov/budget docs).

conditions. It is about handling the care of veterans in a more timely fashion rather than waiting for something detrimental to happen. One would think that with the deaths that are occurring because they have to wait for appointments would be enough, but apparently that is not the case. A more substantial program can be put in place with the right amount of people and medical professionals that are able to see it through. Caring for this population means that there needs to be specialists of all different aspects as it is one that is going to continue to grow as the years pass (Olenick, Flowers & Diaz, 2015).

The findings are likely to present challenges for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, which has made improving care for veterans a priority. Continuing delays in care could bolster the case of agency critics, who say the government alone cannot meet the medical needs of all veterans, who should be able to turn to private doctors when they want.