Despite – or perhaps because of – the fact that two large federal organizations have a say in their fate, wounded soldiers often don’t get the quality care they’re owed.
A bipartisan commission, led by former Sen. Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, issued a report last week on the treatment of soldiers during and after their tours of duty. It made six recommendations on how the Veterans Administration and Department of Defense can improve care for veterans.
The timely, effective care of injured U.S. troops wasn’t considered thoroughly enough before the invasion of Iraq. People – medical staff and patients among them – are now making the case that the VA wasn’t doing an adequate job even before the Iraq War started. The backlog of roughly 500,000 compensation payments to veterans is clear evidence of that.
The Dole/Shalala commission’s first recommendation is probably the most ambitious, but it meets the common-sense test: replace inefficient groups of administrative staff that currently handle parts of cases with a single caseworker dedicated to coordinating the recovery process of a recuperating soldier.
Other major recommendations call for the VA to handle disability payments for soldiers whom the Department of Defense declares unfit for duty, for it to be more proactive in preventing and treating brain injuries, and for improved communication between the Defense Department and the VA. It also recommends amending the federal Family and Medical Leave Act to better assist military parents and spouses.
The plan suggests a major operations overhaul at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the hospital that provided much of the impetus for the current uproar in Congress. Sen. Patty Murray has been a leading voice for reform in the VA and a sharp critic of outgoing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, calling him an apologist for the Bush administration.
Nicholson’s resignation, effective Oct. 1, was a step in the right direction for reform. While Nicholson did serve in Vietnam, his status as former chairman of the Republican National Committee was likely the more pertinent reason for this appointment. The next secretary must put the needs of veterans ahead of political concerns.
The care that veterans deserve requires commitment and coordination. It mustn’t be a political issue. Troops shouldn’t have to worry about becoming a bureaucratic casualty after they’ve returned from duty.
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