|
Other sections of my website
that might interest you:
-
Veterans Assistance - Find out how I can help you
collect benefits or find answers to your questions
-
National Guard
- Learn about the Vermont National Guard and my work as the
co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus
-
National Guard Healthcare -
Learn about our successful effort to make sure every member of
the Guard and Reserve will have
health insurance
-
Support Our
Troops - Browse various options on how to assist troops
who have been deployed to Iraq and their families here at home
|
Veterans Healthcare in
Vermont
Many of Vermont’s more than 60,000 veterans
access healthcare through the VA Medical Center at White River Junction.
This hospital is one of the nation’s best veterans medical centers. Last
year, the VA awarded the medical center its highest quality award, the
Robert W. Carey Quality Achievement Award. The VA also decided to make a
substantial long-term investment in the center, keeping White River off
the list of hospitals slated for closure as part of its ongoing so-called
CARES process.
Almost five years ago, the White River Junction VA Medical Center faced a
crisis that threatened the high-quality care delivered at the facility.
In late 1999, members of the Veterans Administration announced a decision
to close the inpatient surgical unit at the hospital. Further,
funding shortages were on the verge of affecting the entire facility.
I joined with other members of Vermont’s
congressional delegation to write the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and
block the closure of the inpatient surgical unit. I also worked
with other senators across New England to encourage the VA to release
additional, emergency funding into the region’s veterans healthcare
network. The combined efforts of the 12 New England senators forced the
Veterans Administration to change its funding distribution formula to
better reflect the realities of providing care in our region. The
additional funding for New England, and changes in funding distribution,
have directly benefited White River Junction, which has received
much-needed resource increases.
As a senior member of the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over veterans healthcare, I
have worked to secure almost $30 million over the past four years to go
directly to White River Junction VA Medical Center. This funding has
allowed the hospital to make critical renovations, purchase new equipment
(like a new noninvasive vascular ultrasound), expand the surgical unit, and
ensure the center's success.
National Veterans Spending
While the funding situation has improved
substantially in Vermont, more must be done on a national level to ensure
the entire veterans delivery network remains strong.
Last year, the Senate added almost $2.4
billion to the Veterans Administration budget request. Yet more
than 60,000
veterans across the country remain on waitlists. Other veterans with
non-service connected disabilities have been excluded from the system
entirely.
Unfortunately, the President’s budget
request for 2005 remains inadequate. The Administration’s proposal
includes only a $500 million funding increase. An independent panel,
composed of such major veterans associations as the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, the American Legion, and the Vietnam Veterans of America has
recommended a far more substantial increase to ensure adequate care for
all veterans.
The budget request
also includes unreasonable plans to charge non-service-connected veterans
higher drug co-payments and onerous user fees. I oppose these
counterproductive requests and would like substantial increasea to the
veterans healthcare budget.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
