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Veterans get health care cuts { May 30 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Last update: May 30, 2004 at 7:03 PM
Lyle Pearson: Health care cutbacks are no way to thank our veterans
Lyle Pearson
May 31, 2004 PEARSON0531
As a bomber pilot in World War II, I spend Memorial Day reflecting on my experience in the military. I was flying my 50th and final mission when shot down over Austria and taken hostage as a prisoner of war Dec. 29, 1944. I was injured, and I maintained my connection with my "band of brothers" by serving as the National Commander of Disabled American Veterans.
Memorial Day is also a time to remember our country's veterans, those who sacrificed so much and so honorably. This day of remembrance is even more poignant this year, with hundreds of thousands of our men and women in uniform deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Tragically, those soldiers will return home to find a veterans health care system that is dramatically underfunded, unable to care for their urgent needs. I know this from personal experience -- at the age of 83 and struggling with my own health, I find the promise of health care for this nation's veterans to be at risk.
Since 1995, the hospitals of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical System have seen admission increased from 2.9 million to more than 4.5 million a year. Another 600,000 of America's 25 million surviving male and female veterans will enroll in 2004. This spike in enrollment is nationwide. Nearly 79,000 Minnesota veterans received health care at VA facilities in 2002.
Over the last few years, the VA Medical System has struggled to accommodate the increasing strain on its resources. The system has been forced to eliminate 6,000 hospital beds, just as 235,000 veterans sit on waiting lists for VA care. In addition, the VA reports that many of its facilities have reached capacity with closed enrollment at some hospitals and clinics.
Despite the rising demand for VA health services among veterans, we continue to bear the brunt of budget cuts. The Bush administration underfunded veterans' health care by $2 billion in 2003, and the proposed 2005 budget falls $2.6 billion short of what is needed to fully meet the demands for quality veterans' health care. Minnesota's veterans' health care facilities would need $48.2 million more than proposed to meet the needs of the veterans in this state.
But instead of addressing the veterans' health care crisis, the current administration simply made 164,000 veterans ineligible to enroll in the VA Medical System. Last year, the federal government excluded veterans who earn more than approximately $30,000 per year and who suffer from non-combat injuries from the VA system.
The problem of funding the health care of America's veterans will not be solved with budget cuts and rationing health care. The U.S. government should guarantee funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, to spare our veterans' health care the uncertainties and political infighting of the annual budget process. In addition, the Disabled Veterans Tax should be repealed to allow retired military personnel to receive both retirement and disability benefits.
On this day of remembrance for those soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice, let us not forget to take care of the men and women in uniform who risked their lives to fight for this country. It is time to meet our commitment to America's military veterans.
Lyle Pearson, of North Mankato, suffered injuries as a POW in World War II. He returned to Minnesota after the war and later served as National Commander of Disabled American Veterans.
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