Jeez! This is BIG NEWS! It's literally a double-edged sword. In previous wars, these soldiers would have died, but with 'advanced battlefield medical care' seriously wounded soldiers may live, BUT our VA system is UNEQUIPPED to handle them.
"Advances in body armor and battlefield medicine mean soldiers are surviving injuries that would have killed them in past wars. Some will need lifetime care — which means the government is facing a massive bill.
According to recent research by Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard economist Linda Bilmes (LINK TO PDF), caring for Iraq's wounded will cost the government $127 billion.
"The costs that we see today are just the very, very tip of an enormous iceberg," says Bilmes.
More than a quarter of returning Iraq veterans are filing claims for permanent service-related disabilities. And the researchers say Veterans Administration hospitals are already overwhelmed.
"We have essentially another entitlement program, like a mini-Medicare situation," Bilmes says. "We have a large amount of costs that is going on for many years, and we have the Veterans Administration, which is completely ill-equipped and under funded."
Vietnam vet Bob Muller, head of Veterans for America (LINK), says the VA did not adequately care for his generation. Without more funding, he says, the VA will fail this generation of soldiers, too.
"We as a society are gonna have to step up, recognize our tragic past with our earlier generation of vets, and not allow that to be repeated for our children," he says."
"In 2004, the VA had a backlog of 400,000 cases. Last year it was 500,000 cases. Now the backlog is 600,000 cases," she says. "That's just in two years. And the big wave of returning Iraqi veterans has not even hit yet."
The VA strongly disputes the study, calling those numbers "misleading." The VA says only a small fraction of the veterans it cares for are from current wars. This year, more than 5.4 million veterans will receive health care at the VA, of which just over 150,000 are vets from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Now I'm very worried. Will our soldiers have all the care they need when they return home?
I have met many veterans who are homeless, jobless, suffer from PTSD, and essentially are walking wounded.
What medical care is available for them?
John Kerry introduced a bill in 2005 that could have helped. There was no sponsors. And it is still sitting in the never-never land in Congress often referred to as limbo. As far as I know it hasn't been passed.
In the meantime, this bill from John Kerry just got passed.
Today, the Senate passed Senator John Kerry’s amendment, which provides $18 million in critical funding to the nation’s Veteran’s Administration (VA) Centers. Veteran Centers provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to any veteran who has served in a combat zone. Kerry’s additional funding will cut waiting lists and ensure that facilities are not forced to limit services as they respond to an increased workload caused by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Approximately one-third of the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seek help for mental health concerns from the VA. According to published reports, the number of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have sought help for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) services and readjustment concerns has doubled over the past year. This increased caseload has forced many centers to limit services or establish waiting lists for needed services. The National Military Family Association and the Vietnam Veterans of America support the amendment, which is included in the Senate FY 2007 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, and is co-sponsored by Senators Kennedy (Mass.), Akaka (Hawaii), Boxer (Calif.) and Jeffords (Vt.).
Click the link for his floor speech.
And if you're a Vet and you believed that lie before the election, read this link from Thomas.loc.gov of John Kerry's bills he presented that nobody took action on:
1. [109th] S.138 : A bill to make improvements to the microenterprise
programs administered by the Small Business Administration.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 1/24/2005) Cosponsors
(2)
Committees: Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Latest Major Action: 1/24/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship.
2. [109th] S.460 : A bill to expand and enhance benefits for members of
the Armed Forces and their families, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 2/18/2005) Cosponsors
(None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 2/18/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
3. [109th] S.2163 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38 of the United
States Code, to increase and index educational benefits for veterans under
the Montgomery GI bill to ensure adequate and equitable benefits for
active duty members and members of the selected Reserve, and to include
certain servicemembers previously excluded from such benefits.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 12/21/2005)
Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 12/21/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
4. [109th] S.2449 : A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to
reduce the age for receipt of military retired pay for nonregular service
from 60 years of age to 55 years of age.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 3/16/2006) Cosponsors
(7)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 3/16/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
5. [109th] S.2970 : A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
to provide free credit monitoring and credit reports for veterans and
others affected by the theft of veterans' personal data, to ensure that
such persons are appropriately notified of such thefts, and for other
purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 5/23/2006) Cosponsors
(12)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 5/23/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
6. [109th] S.3691 : A bill to amend the Small Business Act, to reform
and reauthorize the National Veterans Business Development Corporation,
and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 7/19/2006) Cosponsors
(3)
Committees: Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship.
7. [109th] S.3833 : A bill to authorize support for the Armed Forces
Support Foundation in assisting members of the National Guard and Reserve
and former members of the Armed Forces in securing employment in the
private sector, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 8/3/2006) Cosponsors
(None)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 8/3/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
****************************
More:
1. [109th] S.RES.470 : A resolution promoting a comprehensive
political agreement in Iraq.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 5/8/2006) Cosponsors
(2)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 5/8/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
2. [109th] S.J.RES.33 : A joint resolution to provide for a strategy
for successfully empowering a new unity government in Iraq.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors
(None)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 4/6/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
3. [109th] S.J.RES.36 : A joint resolution providing a strategy for
stabilizing Iraq and withdrawing United States troops.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 5/8/2006) Cosponsors
(None)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 5/8/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
4. [109th] S.240 : A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
allow small business employers a credit against income tax with respect
to employees who participate in the military reserve components and are
called to active duty and with respect to replacement employees and to
allow a comparable credit for activated military reservists who are
self-employed, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 2/1/2005) Cosponsors
(6)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
5. [109th] S.460 : A bill to expand and enhance benefits for members of
the Armed Forces and their families, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 2/18/2005) Cosponsors
(None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 2/18/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
6. [109th] S.1993 : A bill to provide for a comprehensive, new strategy
for success in Iraq that includes a sustainable political solution and
the redeployment of United States forces tied to specific political and
military benchmarks.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 11/10/2005)
Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 11/10/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
7. [109th] S.2163 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38 of the United
States Code, to increase and index educational benefits for veterans under
the Montgomery GI bill to ensure adequate and equitable benefits for
active duty members and members of the selected Reserve, and to include
certain servicemembers previously excluded from such benefits.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 12/21/2005)
Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 12/21/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Read More »
