Military Suicides Reach Highest Rate Since Record-Keeping Began After 9/11

While suicide remains a rare event among U.S. troops, 325 active-duty members died by suicide in 2018, the highest number since the Defense Department began collecting the data in 2001 and exceeding a record set in 2012. According to a report released this week by the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, 139 active-duty soldiers, 68 sailors, 60 airmen and 58 Marines died by suicide last year, 40 more service members than the previous year.

The figure is higher than the sum of deaths reported by the individual services in January -- the result of continued death investigations -- and tragically exceeds the previous record of 321 in 2012. For three of the services, the numbers represent an increase over the previous year. The Army in 2017 saw 114 deaths by suicide, the Navy, 65, and the Marine Corps, 43. Only the Air Force saw a decline in suicide from the previous year. In 2017, it had 63.

Earlier this year, Defense Department officials said the rates of suicide, which provide a more accurate understanding of the occurrence among the military population, are "devastating and unacceptable and not going in the desired direction." "My colleagues and I know that every single life lost is a tragedy and each one has a deeply personal story. With each death, we know there are families and often children with shattered lives," Elizabeth Van Winkle, Director of the DoD’s Office of Force Resiliency, told members of Congress during a joint hearing on veterans and military suicide May 21.

The military deaths reflect a national trend. In the U.S. the suicide rate has increased by 33% since 1999, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years old.

The Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments have collaborated on efforts to reduce suicide in the ranks and among veterans, who die by suicide at an average rate of 20 a day. The Defense Department is preparing to issue a comprehensive report on military suicides this summer, and the two departments are gearing up for a joint conference on suicide, scheduled to be held in Nashville this August.

An analysis of Defense Department suicides in 2017 published this year found that roughly half of those who completed suicide that year had a known mental health condition and half had contact with the military health system within 90 days of their deaths. Most were male (95%) and white (81%) and more than half had a history of deployment (57%).

According to the report, the suicide rate in 2017 among active duty troops was 21.9 deaths per 100,000 members, a slight uptick from the 2016 rate of 21.5 per 100,000, but not considered a "statistically significant" increase. The age-adjusted civilian rate, which includes American civilians and service members, is 17.4 deaths per 100,000.

The year-end figures for 2018 showed a drop in suicides in the Reserve component, from 226 in 2017 to 216 in 2018. There were two more deaths among National Guard members in 2018 from the previous year, 135 up from 133. The National Guard continues to have the highest rate of suicide among components, at 29.1 suicides per 100,000 people.

In addition to publishing the data for 2018, the Defense Suicide Prevention Office released information on the number of suicides by military personnel in the first quarter of 2019. From January through March, 90 active duty service members died by suicide, including 30 soldiers, 20 sailors, 26 airmen and 14 Marines. In the same time frame in 2018, 81 service members died by suicide: 36 soldiers, 23 sailors, 9 airmen and 13 Marines.

Van Winkle said each loss “reverberates beyond the unit, beyond the commander and beyond the service” and the Defense Department and services remain committed to the well-being of service members. “We must meet that sacred obligation because we need each and every woman and man who bravely signs up to fight for this nation,” she said.

The Coast Guard, which is in the Department of Homeland Security, does not publish its suicide data and has not provided the information despite multiple requests from Military.com. An unverified list posted online by a Coast Guard veteran who walks to support suicide awareness and prevention said at least four Coast Guard men and women died by suicide in 2018.

Article from Military Times

Mrs. Murphy

You mention the name Audie Murphy around a millennial or a snowflake and you get a blank stare. You mention the name Pam Murphy around just about anyone and you get the same blank expression – except for those who may have lived in or near Sepulveda or Van Nuys, California. I have always said the toughest job in the world is the spouse of a military person.

Audie was only 46 years old when he died in a helicopter crash into the Virginia Mountains. He was bothered all his life when he came back from the war and it really affected his life. He never got the medical help he should have gotten.

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Not many young people know who Audie Murphy was or how big a war hero he was. Two or three of the medals he earned would make most service men proud, but to have earned his decorations in battle is truly unbelievable.

List of Decorations for Audie Murphy:

Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross
Silver Star (with oak leaf cluster)
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star (with oak leaf cluster and Valor Device)
Purple Heart (with two oak leaf clusters)
U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal
U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal
Presidential Unit Citation (with First Oak Leaf Cluster)
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with One Silver Star), Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine Campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France)
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal (with Germany Clasp)
Armed Forces Reserve Medal
French Fourrage in Colors of the Croix de Guerre
French Legion of Honor - Grade of Chevalier
French Croix de guerre (with Silver Star)
French Croix de guerre (with Palm)
Medal of Liberated France
Belgian Croix de guerre (with 1940 Palm)

Additionally, Murphy was awarded:
The Combat Infantry Marksman badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar.

Isn't it sad the media can tell us all about the BAD that goes on, but ignores the GOOD people? If a movie Star or politician stubs their toe we have to hear about it for Days!

(From the Los Angeles Times on April 15, 2010)

Pamela Murphy, widow of WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy, died peacefully at her home on April 8, 2010. She was the widow of the most decorated WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy, and established her own distinctive 35 year career working as a patient liaison at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration hospital, treating every veteran who visited the facility as if they were a VIP.

Any soldier or Marine who came into the hospital got the same special treatment from her. She would walk the hallways with her clipboard in hand making sure her boys got to see the specialist they needed. If they didn't, watch out.

Her boys weren't Medal of Honor recipients or movie stars like Audie, but that didn't matter to Pam. They had served their Country. That was good enough for her. She never called a veteran by his first name. It was always "Mister." Respect came with the job.

"Nobody could cut through VA red tape faster than Mrs. Murphy," said veteran Stephen Sherman, speaking for thousands of veterans she befriended over the years. "Many times I watched her march a veteran who had been waiting more than an hour right into the doctor's office. She was even reprimanded a few times, but it didn't matter to Mrs. Murphy. "Only her boys mattered. She was our angel."

Audie Murphy died broke in a plane crash in 1971, squandering millions of dollars on gambling, bad investments, and yes, other women. "Even with the adultery and desertion at the end, he always remained my hero," Pam told me.

She went from a comfortable ranch-style home in Van Nuys where she raised two sons to a small apartment - taking a clerk's job at the nearby VA to support herself and start paying off her faded movie star husband's debts. At first, no one knew who she was. Soon, though, word spread through the VA that the nice woman with the clipboard was Audie Murphy's widow. It was like saying General Patton had just walked in the front door. Men with tears in their eyes walked up to her and gave her a Hug. "Thank you," they said, over and over.

The first couple of years, I think the hugs were more for Audie's memory as a war hero. The last 30 years, they were for Pam.

One year I asked her to be the focus of a Veteran's Day column for all the work she had done. Pam just shook her head no. "Honor them, not me," she said, pointing to a group of veterans down the hallway. "They're the ones who deserve it."

The vets disagreed. Mrs. Murphy deserved the accolades, they said. Incredibly, in 2002, Pam's job was going to be eliminated in budget cuts. She was considered "excess staff." "I don't think helping cut down on veterans' complaints and showing them the respect they deserve should be considered excess staff," she told me.

Neither did the veterans. They went ballistic, holding a rally for her outside the VA gates. Pretty soon, word came down from the top of the VA. Pam Murphy was no longer considered "excess staff."

She remained working full time at the VA until 2007 when she was 87. "The last time she was here was a couple of years ago for the conference we had for homeless veterans," said Becky James, coordinator of the VA's Veterans History Project. Pam wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help some more of her boys. Pam Murphy was 90 when she died. What a lady.

Recent Veteran's Affairs News

Applications for new VA ID cards are open

The Department of Veterans Affairs is accepting applications for new Veteran ID cards as of today, but questions surrounding the program’s costs and private sector involvement remain unclear. The cards — designed to be an easy way for veterans to prove their military service for a host of nongovernment services — will be delivered within 60 days of applying with digital copies available next month.

Veterans can start the application process now through the main VA website at www.vets.gov. The link to the ID application is on the bottom left of the page, labeled “Apply for printed Veteran ID Card.” The cards were mandated by Congress in July 2015, with the expectation of distribution sometime in 2017. In a release announcing the official start of the program Wednesday, VA officials said their moves are “fulfilling a promise that has been unfulfilled since 2015.”

“The new Veterans Identification Card provides a safer and more convenient and efficient way for most veterans to show proof of service,” VA Secretary David Shulkin said in a statement. “With the card, veterans with honorable service to our nation will no longer need to carry around their paper DD-214s to obtain veteran discounts and other services.” Cards will be printed and shipped by Office Depot, an arrangement that VA officials said will allow veterans to receive the IDs free of charge. VA officials declined to release the cost of the printing and shipping arrangement with Office Depot.

The final design of the cards has not been finalized yet. Previous versions had the Office Depot logo on the back with the veteran’s information on the front. Under rules developed by VA, individuals who served in the armed forces, including the reserve components, and have a character of discharge of honorable or general under honorable conditions are eligible for the new IDs. Veterans with other than honorable status are not eligible.

Late Breaking Update:  The VA's on-line process is currently down due to a "high volume of traffic". 

VA promises fixes after report blasts mistakes with reporting of problem physicians

Veterans Affairs officials are promising swift fixes to their physician monitoring practices after a scathing report this week accusing department staffers of failing to report potentially dangerous doctors to appropriate authorities. “We need to do much better,” Gerard Cox, VA’s acting deputy under secretary for health for organizational excellence, told members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Wednesday. “I can’t excuse that in the past adequate oversight has not been provided.”

Earlier in the week, a Government Accountability Office report blasted Veterans Health Administration officials for what they see as systemic failures in the agency’s documentation and investigation of complaints against clinical care providers. Of five sites studied, researchers found proper documentation for nearly half of the 148 complaints at five VA sites. At least 47 cases were ignored until investigators raised concerns. Of those that were addressed, some took months or years to move forward.

In addition, of nine physicians with documented problems that should have been reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank from the five sites, only one was. None of those complaints were forwarded to state licensing boards. Randall Williamson, director of health care for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, called the findings unsettling because the lack of reporting could allow physicians with poor or negligent work histories to continue in VA or private-sector care without interruption.

Lawmakers agreed, calling it the latest oversight misstep at the veterans bureaucracy. “Refusing or failing to adhere to reporting requirements puts not just veterans, but all patients across the country, at risk of receiving substandard health care,” said Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., chairman of the committee’s oversight panel.

Senate committee advances its plan for VA health care overhaul

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved its version of a VA health care overhaul on Wednesday, including easier access for veterans to meet with private-sector doctors and a massive expansion of the department’s caregivers assistance programs. But the cost of the measure — estimated initially at $54 billion over five years by the Congressional Budget Office — could prove problematic as the proposal winds through Congress.

The measure passed with a 13-1 vote, with only Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., opposing the idea. He voiced concerns that the measure didn’t go far enough to open up community care programs to more veterans, leaving most of them stuck in VA-managed care still. The Caring for Our Veterans Act closely follows legislation proposed by VA officials earlier this fall. It would gradually sunset disparate outside care programs within the VA and replace them with a single community care program with fewer restrictions on which veterans can seek private-sector care.

VA physicians would remain the coordinator of veterans care, but individuals who face significant wait times, travel distances or hardships to reach VA facilities would be eligible to seek care outside the department’s system. VA officials would also more easily be able to enter into partnerships with community health care providers to create a broader network of options for veterans. Veterans who have used VA care within the previous two years would also have two walk-in visits at any private-sector practice without a co-pay, even without prior approval from the department.

It includes language “removing barriers” for telemedicine and hiring of health care professionals within the bureaucracy. And it also includes $3 billion in bridge funding for the existing VA Choice program — which allows outside care options for veterans who live 40 miles from a department medical center or face a 30-day wait for appointments — and another $1 billion for improvements to existing VA health care programs.

VA Secretary says House budget plan would 'hurt veterans'

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald warned this week that House appropriators’ plan to trim $1.5 billion off his department’s annual budget request will “hurt veterans” if it becomes law.

This is the second consecutive year that House lawmakers have proposed a smaller-than-requested VA budget, albeit still a sizable increase in department spending. It’s also the second consecutive year McDonald has called the idea harmful to veterans seeking medical care and benefits.

“It will impede some critical initiatives necessary to transform VA into the high performing organization veterans deserve,” he told a crowd at a Center for Strategic and International Studies speech on Wednesday. “We’re encouraging Congress to fully fund VA at the level requested.”

Last month, the House Committee on Appropriations passed a VA spending plan for fiscal 2017 with nearly $73.5 billion in discretionary spending, which would be an increase of about 3 percent from fiscal 2016 levels.

But White House officials asked for a 5 percent increase, arguing the need for more construction funding and expansion of VA programming. House Republicans have said their funding plan covers enough of those programs while practicing fiscal restraint.

Senate appropriators are working on a different funding measure which would nearly equal the White House request. On Wednesday, McDonald lauded that plan and urged the House to follow suit.

That’s what happened last year, when House lawmakers initially trimmed the administration’s budget request by several hundred million dollars, only to restore most of it as negotiations with the Senate progressed.

But McDonald’s comments about the shortfall hurting veterans became fodder for critics who said the department has failed to fix many of its problems, despite generous annual increases.

If approved by Congress, the VA discretionary budget will equal almost as much as the department’s entire budget 10 years ago. Both mandatory and non-mandatory funding totaled $79.5 billion in fiscal 2007, less than half the $163 billion budget finalized for fiscal 2016.

No timetable has been set for when the appropriations bills could reach a full vote in their respective chambers. Lawmakers from both parties have spent recent months sparring over spending caps and budget targets, and are scheduled to take a two-month recess in mid-July to prepare for the November elections.

Article from Military Times

VA gets 'F' for Persian Gulf War claims approvals

The percent of disability claims approved by the Veterans Affairs Department for Persian Gulf War-related illnesses has declined steadily in the past five years, resulting in record lows, according to a new report from the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense.

In the first two quarters of fiscal 2015, VA denied nearly 82 percent of claims filed by Gulf War veterans for two main conditions presumed to be connected to their military service — chronic multi-symptom illness and undiagnosed illnesses.

In 2011, the denial rate was 76 percent, Veterans for Common Sense director Anthony Hardie said. The low approval rates, which "approach the limited odds of winning a scratch-off lottery," are a "complete contravention of 1998 laws passed to improve Gulf War veterans' ability to have their claims approved," Hardie wrote in testimony to two House Veterans' Affairs subcommittees Tuesday.

"If we measure VA's success by how it has approved Gulf War veterans' claims 25 years after the war, VA has failed most ill and suffering Gulf War veterans," said Hardie, an Army veteran who served in the 1991 war as well as in Somalia.

Nearly 700,000 U.S. service members deployed to the 1991 Gulf War, and 54,193 have filed disability claims for illnesses related to their service, according to a 2014 VA report.

Roughly a fifth of those claims were granted, and of the denied claims 42 percent were approved for another condition other than a presumptive Gull War-related condition, according to VA.

To qualify for disability compensation for Persian Gulf War-connected conditions, veterans must have developed one of a number of infectious diseases during their service or have undiagnosed chronic symptoms or a chronic disability that began either during service or after.

Currently, the conditions must appear before Dec. 31, 2016, to an extent that they are at least 10 percent disabling, existed for at least six months and not be attributable to any other circumstance or cause for consideration.

But during a joint hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs oversight and investigations and the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittees, veterans advocates pressed for an extension of the year-end deadline as well as improvements to the claims approval process.

Citing a recent report from the Institute of Medicine that found two conditions occurring in Vietnam veterans — bladder cancer and hypothyroidism — likely are linked to exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange more than 40 years ago, advocacy groups and members of Congress said the deadline should be extended for at least five years if not indefinitely.

"VA has repeatedly extended the end date ... due to scientific uncertainty regarding the time period in which Persian Gulf War veterans have an increased risk of suffering from chronic illnesses. ... Little has changed with respect to the level of scientific certainty. Due to this continued state, VA should again extend the date of presumptive service connection," said Richard Spataro, director of training and publications for the National Veterans Legal Services Program.

A VA official said the department is taking the steps needed to extend the deadline but the process has not been finalized. Dave McLenachen, acting deputy undersecretary for disability assistance at VA, also said the department is working to improve claims processing for Gulf War veterans but its own internal reviews indicate a 90 percent accuracy rate for claims decisions.

McLenachen added that VA has taken steps to improve and accelerate claims processing but he would return to his office to "see whether there was room for improvement." "I intend to look carefully at the testimony of the other witnesses and carefully consider their suggestions," McLenachen said.

Rep. Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican who served in the Persian Gulf War, pointed out that the claims process for Gulf War veterans warrants improvement since VA is failing to expedite claims designated as presumptive, a moniker that is supposed to accelerate the process, not delay it. "I am disappointed that the law was passed that a specific set of conditions is supposed to be presumptive and the VA does not appear to be following the law," Coffman said.

Article from the Military Times

Report: VA lost 10,000 health applications

The Veterans Affairs Department's system for tracking veterans’ applications for health care is so unreliable that it's impossible for VA officials to know how many former troops still want care — or even if they are still alive, according to a new report.

Investigating allegations made by a whistleblower in July that nearly a third of 847,882 veterans listed in the Veterans Health Administration enrollment system died while waiting for care, the VA Inspector General confirmed with the Social Security Administration that 307,000 former troops on the list are in fact deceased.

But investigators also found that the VA system cannot discern how many records in the system are associated with actual applications for health care, and more than half the records did not contain an associated date of application. Investigators also found that employees incorrectly marked unprocessed applications as completed and may have deleted as many as 10,000 applications during the past five years.

The system also shows a backlog of waiting patients. According to the IG report, 11,000 applications and 28,000 related transactions, some as old as September 2012, have not been processed.

The IG said the database, which includes the names of all VA patients as well as applicants whose military service needed to be confirmed, is inadequate for its intended task — to track progress of applications for medical care at VA.

"Enrollment program data were generally unreliable for monitoring, reporting on the status of health care enrollments and making decisions regarding overall processing timeliness, in spite of the costs to collect the data and maintain the enrollment system,” inspectors wrote in the report, "Review of Alleged Mismanagement at the Health Eligibility Center."

The House Veterans' Affairs Committee asked for the investigation following a report on the backlog problem published in July by the Huffington Post.

Following that article, VA officials explained they cannot expunge deceased veterans from its eligibility system because under department policy, only death notices from three sources — death certificates, a record of a death at a VA facility or a notification from the National Cemetery Administration — are considered sufficient verification.

Many of the death notifications of veterans were from sources including the Social Security Administration, Medicare, the Defense Department and other government entities that the VA does not accept as proof of death.

The VA IG recommended several fixes, including suggestions that VA senior leaders develop and implement a plan to better monitor the data and improve the system's accuracy, and revise policies to address the department's record-keeping shortcomings.

For whistleblower and VA employee Scott Davis, the new IG report vindicates his decision to come forward with the issue.

Davis, who still works at VA but says he has been assigned a lesser job in a secluded office since raising the issue with Congress and the media, said Wednesday that he plans to send VA senior leaders and Congress his own set of recommendations.

They include bringing in an outside board to examine the databases and oversee improvements, and for VA to reinvigorate its commitment to help veteran patients and hold employees accountable.

“I'm hoping they'll take a look at my recommendations," Davis said. "Ultimately, my goal was to help. I didn’t do this, as some people have accused, to make the VA look bad. I did it to fix the problem."

VA officials said Wednesday that they plan to "work diligently to address the issues in the report."

"The report discusses issues VA acknowledged publicly last year that our enrollment system management and data integrity and quality are in need of significant improvement," department spokeswoman Walinda West said. "VA realizes the issues surrounding the enrollment process are confusing to veterans and our stakeholders."

As of June 30, VA has sent letters to more than 300,000 veterans asking them to submit documents required as part of the application process to determine eligibility, West said, adding that the department has received 36,749 responses and enrolled 34,517 veterans as a result.

Article from Military Times

Another VA SNAFU - VA Orders X-Ray on Missing Leg

You just can't make this stuff up.....The VA Wanted to X-Ray this Army Veteran's Leg, the same leg he lost in Combat,.... only there one problem.......


Former Army Ranger Chad Fleming didn’t just put his life on the line for his country multiple times, he gave one of his legs for it. Despite proudly sacrificing for his country, the Ranger still experienced a lack of professionalism from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA asked Fleming to get an x-ray on his prosthetic leg, to prove his status as an amputee.


The Blaze covered the ridiculous demand from the VA, in an interview Fleming gave to Glenn Beck:


"Chad Fleming, a veteran who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, says the VA took an X-ray of his artificial leg to prove he was actually an amputee. Though they could have referenced his extensive medical history or just used their eyes, he said, they wasted precious resources taking an X-ray of a leg that “doesn’t exist.” “[The doctor] actually laughed,” Fleming said. “And I told him, I said, ‘You wonder why the country is in such a deficit? It’s because you’re wasting money taking X-rays of a leg that doesn’t exist.’ It’s like, ‘Dude I’m not a starfish. It isn’t going to grow back.’”


The former Ranger handled the situation with humor, but other veterans have told similar stories about experiences at the VA. The Veterans Affair Department, and multiple hospitals managed by the federal agency, has faced a number of recent scandals, including issues in receiving timely care which made headlines last year.


Fleming, who was wounded three times in service to the nation, was just announced as a headlining speaker on U.S. Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell’s upcoming Patriot Tour.


This article was posted on Independent Journal Review

VA Social Worker’s Emails Mock Veterans’ Woes

The last thing the Veterans Affairs Department — an agency that’s trying to kick its reputation for negligence — needs is a new scandal. Especially one that reveals an extraordinary lack of sensitivity to veterans’ suicides and the epidemic of other mental health issues facing those who have served in the nation’s armed forces.

But that’s what’s brewing at a VA medical center in Indianapolis, where a social worker has been caught emailing her colleagues photos of a toy Christmas elf, dressed as one of the hospital’s patients, begging for Xanax and hanging himself with a set of Christmas lights.

The December 18th email sent by Robin Paul, a manager at the Roudebush VA Medical Center, was obtained by the Indianapolis Star. Now that the email has been made public, the local center and the VA are trying to make clear that behavior like Paul’s will not be tolerated.

A spokeswoman for the Roudebush center told the paper that administrators had known about the email months ago and had taken administrative action, but on Tuesday, Paul was placed on administrative leave, a Fox affiliate in Indianapolis reported.

Tom Mattice, director of the Roudebush Center told the station, “The email message that was sent out by Ms. Paul is completely and totally unacceptable. It in no way reflects the attitudes of our staff toward our patients.”

Already, the outrage has spread to Washington, where Indiana lawmakers and veterans groups are demanding an independent investigation into what happened to make sure it was an isolated event.

Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called for Paul’s firing.

“I hope that leadership within Roudebush grasps the fact that supporting veterans and their families must be their top priority, not saving a disgraced employee,” she told the Star.

A spokesperson for the VA apologized to veterans and their families, and echoed Mattice, calling the behavior “completely unacceptable.”

“This one incident is not reflective of the quality care and services that hundreds of thousands of Veterans receive every day from VA employees across the country,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are committed to treating our Veterans with respect and compassion and providing them the quality mental health care they have earned and deserve.”

Suicide remains an urgent problem for those who have served in the armed forces, with as many as 22 veterans committing suicide every day. More than 3,000 veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq have taken their own lives since 9/11.

Article written by Kate Brannen for Foreign Policy.com

Vets awaiting primary care at VA can now seek Private Physician

Veterans waiting for a primary care appointment at a VA medical facility may now be able to get one at a private physician under a program that allows veterans to seek medical treatment outside the Veterans Affairs Department.

VA announced Wednesday that primary care has been added to its Patient-Centered Community Care, or PC3, program.



The initiative originally was designed to provide specialty care, in-patient and mental health treatment to veterans who could not access a VA hospital or clinic because of distance or prolonged wait times and their regular facility.



But it was expanded to include primary care in an effort to expedite treatment to patients sitting on wait lists, according to a VA release.



“With the addition of primary care services, VA medical centers can now use PC3 to provide additional types of care in order to reduce wait times,” VA Secretary Robert McDonald said in a prepared statement.



In September, VA awarded contracts worth up to $9.4 billion over five years to two health care companies to provide specialty care and mental health treatment in the private sector under the PC3 program.



Former Tricare West Region contractor TriWest Healthcare Alliance and Health Net Federal Services, the company that manages the Tricare North Region, run the program.



According to VA, the change is part of the department’s “Accelerated Care Initiative,” a massive effort to move veterans — many of whom have waited months for care — off appointment wait lists.

VA has been under fire since April for allegations that some facilities gamed the appointment system to meet VA metrics and excessive wait times for appointments and consults may have lead to patient deaths.



The scandal led to the resignation of several top officials, including VA Secretary Erik Shinseki, who left the department in May.



While VA facilities have had the authority to outsource care, many facilities have been reluctant to use the option and in turn, many veterans prefer to use the VA, which they perceive as a benefit earned with military service.



VA spent $5 billion on private-sector care in 2013 and launched the PC3 program in January to provide care to veterans using established health care provider networks.

TriWest President David McIntyre described the PC3 program as a “release valve” for overburdened VA facilities.



“The first place care should be rendered is in the federal system with federal providers where it can be done. And where it can’t, we are that valve,” McIntyre told Military Times last month.

For more information on obtaining private medical care through VA, the department recommends turning to its non-VA care web site.



This article was published 13 August 2014 on the Military Times.com website.

VA Reform Bill to get vote this week

In a dramatic legislative turnaround, the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees on Monday unveiled plans for a $17 billion compromise VA reform bill that funds the hiring of more clinicians, expands private care options and makes it easier to fire Veterans Affairs Department executives.

The deal, if approved later this week, gives lawmakers a surprising success story to take back to their home districts as Congress begins its extended, pre-election legislative break.

The comprehensive veterans measure is one of only a few significant bills to become law this year, and comes after weeks of promises that leaders from both parties would move quickly to address recent VA scandals.

“This bill makes certain that we address the immediate crisis of veterans being forced onto long waiting lists for health care,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “It strengthens VA so that it will be able to hire the doctors, nurses and medical personnel it needs so we can permanently put an end to long waiting lists.”

The price tag includes $5 billion requested by VA officials to hire clinicians and renovate underused VA spaces, in an effort to address long-term problems with veterans waiting for care.

But another $10 billion is targeted for a short-term fix to that problem: a dramatic expansion of private-care options for veterans who face waits of 30 days or longer for appointments, or who live more than 40 miles from the closest VA health facilities.

It will also pay for leases at 27 new medical facilities in 18 states and Puerto Rico, to give more VA options to veterans.

The measure also includes language making it easier for senior VA officials to be fired by the department secretary, a proposal that has drawn strong support from lawmakers and outside critics.

Over the last three months, dozens of VA officials have been accused of gaming records to cover up facility problems or protect performance bonuses. Lawmakers have decried a corrosive culture within the bureaucracy, and demanded more accountability throughout the department.

Under the compromise, executives fired for mismanagement or poor performance would have a chance to appeal the move, and would be guaranteed an answer within a month.

The remaining $2 billion will pay for a host of unrelated veterans’ measures that both chambers had addressed in previous, incomplete bills, including granting in-state tuition rates to any veteran attending a public college, extending housing funds for veterans with traumatic brain injuries, and expanding care for military sexual trauma victims.

To pay for the measure, Congress will use about $5 billion in offsets from VA programs and $12 billion in emergency funding. That could prove to be a tough sell among fiscally conservative House members, who had balked at previous proposals that would have added to the deficit.

Sanders has insisted for weeks that the VA scandals more than justified the need for emergency spending. His conference committee co-chair, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., conceded that some members of his caucus likely will object to that expense, but said he is confident he can convince the rest of the need.

“Our veterans need a quick response,” he said. “We need to make sure our veterans aren’t standing in line waiting for care.”

Earlier versions of the compromise bill easily passed both chambers, but the conference committee has been bogged down for more than a month on the total cost of the measure and how to pay for the expense.

Miller and Sanders last Thursday held dueling press conferences accusing each other of hijacking the conference committee process, and casting doubt over whether any deal could be reached. But on Monday, they downplayed that conflict and spoke proudly of overcoming philosophical differences to reach a much-needed middle ground.

Veterans groups echoed that sense of relief.

Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said Congress finding a way to “do its job” shouldn’t be celebrated, but the content of the compromise measure is worth praising.

“This is going to help veterans get access. This is going to help change the culture at VA,” he said. “This is all good news for veterans.”

Ray Kelley, national legislative service director for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the compromise sends a message to veterans that public pressure is forcing changes within Congress and the department.

“We’re hearing from so many members who are frustrated with VA and resigned to the department never being fixed,” he said. “So this is obviously just a first step, but it’s an important one.”

Both Miller and Sanders said they are confident the legislation can be approved by both chambers this week and sent to the president to become law within days. The House is scheduled to start its summer break Thursday. The Senate leaves Friday.

The Senate also has on its agenda for the week the confirmation vote for Bob McDonald to become the next VA secretary. The two moves combined would give the department a new leader and billions in new funding, to go along with the mandate from lawmakers to restore public trust in the agency.

The above article from the Military Times