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Probe: VA Not Doing Enough for Iraq Vets
Bilmes, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government who co-authored a paper on the war's economic costs with Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, described a failed system that could have been prevented after years of warnings. She urged simplifying the disability ratings system, reducing time VA staffers spend documenting disabilities, and conducting random audits instead.
"The veterans returning from Iraq are suffering from the same problem that has plagued many other aspects of the war, namely a failure to plan ahead," she said.
  Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., chairs a House Veterans Affairs Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs subcommittee markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, March 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook) (Dennis Cook - AP) 
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Responding, Ronald Aument, deputy under secretary for benefits at the VA, told the House panel that the department was working to shorten delays. The VA also was consolidating some processing operations, and planned to add 400 new employees by the end of June.
"Expediting the claims process is critical to assisting veterans in their transition from combat operations back to civilian life," Aument said.
The hearing follows disclosures of roach-infested conditions and shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center, one of the nation's premier military hospitals. Since the disclosures by the Washington Post, three high-level Pentagon officials have been forced to step down. President Bush has also appointed a commission led by former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., and former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, a Democrat, to conduct a broad review on veteran and troop care.
"If anything the recent Walter Reed expose has taught us is that trying to treat and care for soldiers and veterans on a limited budget and limited oversight only has one logical conclusion, poor care," said Patrick Campbell, legislative director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Daniel Bertoni, an acting director at the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, said the VA system has been riddled with problems for years. "After more than a decade of research, we have determined that federal disability programs are in urgent need of attention and transformation," he said.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said what was needed was to create specialized case workers known as "navigators" who could make sure soldiers don't fall through the cracks after leaving military service and before they enter the VA system.
Menendez planned to introduce legislation Wednesday to create a pilot program with $25 million in grants over the next five years. The navigators would focus on helping new veterans who are members of the National Guard, women or suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"The Veteran Navigators, who will not be part of the government system, will be better able to advocate for veterans to make sure they are treated fairly," Menendez said.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Mount Laurel, N.J., contributed to this report.
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