The United States Department Of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Throughout history, war has been one of the few constants that has never changed, because of this many have tried to aid those affected by it. In America, the Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) was created in order to specifically help veterans as they return from their service overseas. However, a few decades ago, the VA seemed to have failed in their goal during arguably one of the most important wars in American history. The mission statement, originally spoken by President Abraham Lincoln was: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans.” The mission statement brings up values of integrity and loyalty to America’s veterans, however

The New York Times article, “Wait Lists Grow as Many More Veterans Seek Care and Funding Falls Far Short” says the Department of Veterans Affairs agency has a new crisis they’re facing. The wait list of Veteran’s is more than 50% higher than it was last year, departments say. They are also facing nearly a $3 billion budget short, which could very well affect the care of our veterans.

In today’s society, veterans health care system is troubling to those aware of the problem in the outside world. Veterans are people that have sacrificed so much for the United States, yet receive very little in regards to their health and well-being, which poses a great problem. The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is very vocal about the lack of health care options for veterans and is actively trying to make reforms and provide solutions to these problems. The Department of Veterans Affairs "strives to ensure that you have access to all of your needed services wherever you receive your VA health care” (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). They also claim that our veterans deserve the best care possible (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). While all seems well, there are still a large percentage of veterans that get denied veteran services. The goal of this study is to pinpoint the disparities among veteran health care, shine a light on the issues to increase awareness within the community, and then attempt to create solutions for these problems. This can

One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.” The VA, who was formerly called the Veterans Administration, was established 21 July 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA encompassed the functions of the former U.S. Veterans ' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective 15 March 1989 (V.A.)

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) has been tasked with providing support and benefits to Veterans after they have completed their service. However, many Veterans are reporting difficulty accessing care due to systematic barriers within the VA’s Veterans Health Administration (Oliver, 2007). Complex eligibility requirements, long wait lists and lack of providers are a few of the issues Veterans are faced with when trying to access health and mental health care. Additionally, studies indicate that veterans, predominantly those from the recent wars in Iran and Iraq, have disproportionately high amounts of mental illness (Shim & Rust, 2013). These same veterans are experiencing difficulty accessing mental health care due to issues around a backlog of healthcare eligibility applications and a shortage of mental health providers through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which operates the Nation’s largest, integrated health care delivery system (APA, 2014). In 2014, at the request of the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the merit of the allegations of mismanagement at the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) and the Health Eligibility Center (HEC).

In the past few years there has been increasing discussion about how to provide adequate care for the increasing number of veterasn who are eligible for care through the Veterans’ healthcare administration (VHA). There are concerns is that the VHA is not providing the level of access, efficiency, and quality of care that veterans expect. Lee & Begley, (2016) suggest access to care for the veteran population may be resulting in poor health outcomes. In response to these concerns, the Veterans ' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act (VACAA) of 2014, also known as the Veterans Choice Act, was created to improve Veterans’ healthcare. The VACAA proposed to do this by expanding the number of options veterans have for receiving healthcare, by providing access for healthcare at non-VA care centers as well as providing for an increase in staffing at VA facilities (U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016).

Over the past 15 years, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) has seen a dramatic increase in the average degree of disability, growth in the number of compensation recipients, a rise in the number of medical issues claimed and an increased level of complexity of claimed issues. To illustrate this point, prior to the September 2011 terrorist attacks, 333,700 Veterans received compensation at the 70-100 percent level; however, these figures rose to over 1.1 million by the end of 2013. Additionally, since 2009, VA’s disability compensation workload rose 132 percent. This is in large part due to an unprecedented demand resulting from over a decade of war, military downsizing, economic issues, increased outreach, the addition of presumptive conditions and an aging Veteran population.

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)

Throughout the history of the United States the government has felt a responsibility to care for those who defend the freedom of the United States. This responsibility is to make sure that our veterans have the best care possible when they return home from war. Since its establishment, the Veterans Affairs (VA) has come under fire from all angles, saying that they are not offering the best possible care for our Veterans. Throughout history yellow journalism has been found to destroy some organizations. The VA is an organization who has experienced the effects of yellow journalism and they are trying to recover. The VA is taking the yellow journalism and turning it into constructive criticism in order to improve their services for the United States Veterans.

The Veterans Affair has always claimed to take pride in their timeliness care. What they were not offering was the truth about how they were getting these numbers. They were changing the dates on paper work and falsely recording in the database. The patient’s charts were altered in order to lessen the effect of their conditions, along with performing useless procedures to make the time seem more favorable. Schedulers were pressured into using unofficial waitlist and other inaccurate paper work in justifying these wait times. It has been proven that the extended waiting periods have led to many deaths within the Veterans Affairs care system. An incident surrounding the wait was when “Thomas Breen, a 71-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, With a history of bladder cancer, Breen called his Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix for a follow-up appointment. He had to wait months to receive treatment. In the meantime, his family took him to a private hospital where he was diagnosed with bladder cancer”(Hankel,1). Thomas Breen had passed away before ever hearing back from his Veterans Affairs hospital. This story is important in understanding that the wait times for the Veterans Affair program are causing deaths in our Veteran population. This story allows one to understand how long the wait times could be for this care, but the question aroused from this is what is allowing the Veterans

In recent years, the Veterans Benefits Administration has found itself defending against a tsunami of negative public opinion, unrelenting media coverage and has suffered from a contentious relationship with the U.S. Congress. While the administration has made enormous strides in reducing the claims backlog, improving quality and undertaking the largest technological transformation in its history, the agency as a whole has not transformed its leadership practices and has neglected to learn from its failures. This has resulted in an erosion of trust both within the Veteran population and with external stakeholders alike. In order to restore the trust and respect of Veterans and reestablish public trust, the agency must transform itself into a learning organization, practice sound financial stewardship, focus on incremental improvements, act with a sense of urgency and reduce potential exposure to significant media events.

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

U.S veterans former, and current have fought or are fighting and have died in battle serving this wonderful country. More former veterans than ever are coming back disabled either mentally or physically. There are hundreds of disabled veteran foundations in the United States today, but a lot are a fraud. Everybody who has not served should donate a good amount of money of these foundations and not be worried about the foundations keeping it or giving it to someone else who shouldn’t receive it. We owe our lives to these men and women. Like Elmer Davis once said, ¨Our nation is the land of the brave because it is the home of the brave¨ (Elmer.). More Veterans are coming back disabled than ever before. To see the disgusted and sad faces on these families of these heroes who can’t live the way they used to is extremely depressing, You should

I agree with you. The Department of Veteran Affairs has failed many veterans. Moreover, as you stated, with the bureaucratic system that exists, and each change within legislation the agency has had a very difficult time adapting to the change. Furthermore, I attest to your thoughts on these changes in legislation, regulations, political influences, and unrealistic public expectations do contribute to the ineffectiveness of the programs offered by any one of the federal agencies.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, over 8 million adults develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder during a given year ("PTSD: National Center for PTSD”). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as “a pathological anxiety disorder resulting after exposure to a traumatic event” ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). While any traumatic event may cause PTSD, a primary cause stems from action in war ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). The Trojan War, as depicted in Homer’s epic The Iliad, demonstrates the setting of which this form of disorder would likely be triggered. Greek warrior and hero Achilles displays common symptoms of PTSD in his journey throughout the epic, leading many researches to conclude he was a