No Funds in Bush Budget For Troop-Benefits Plan

February 9, 2008
No Funds in Bush Budget For Troop-Benefits Plan

President Bush drew great applause during his State of the Union address last month when he
called on Congress to allow U.S. troops to transfer their unused education benefits to family
members. "Our military families serve our nation, they inspire our nation, and tonight our nation
honors them," he said.

A week later, however, when Bush submitted his $3.1 trillion federal budget to Congress, he
included no funding for such an initiative, which government analysts calculate could cost $1
billion to $2 bill

Senate pushes higher vets’ funding over Bush objection

September 6, 2007
Senate pushes higher vets’ funding over Bush objection

Opposition from the Bush administration will not stop the Senate from passing a $109.2 billion funding bill for veterans' programs and military construction.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., acting chairman of the appropriations subcommittee responsible for the bill, said a $4 billion increase over the Bush administration's request would go mostly to boost veterans' health care programs. He called it "an obvious response to spiraling health care needs."

Iraq war veteran's parents sue U.S. after suicide

July 26, 2007
Iraq war veteran's parents sue U.S. after suicide

BOSTON (Reuters) - The parents of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide sued the U.S. government on Thursday for negligence, charging their son hanged himself after the government ignored his depression.

The suit accuses the federal government of not helping 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey, who committed suicide in his parents' Massachusetts basement less than a year after returning home from fighting during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson was also named in the suit.

Delays in disabled pay, health care prompt suit

July 24, 2007
Delays in disabled pay, health care prompt suit

WASHINGTON — Frustrated by delays in health care, a coalition of injured Iraq war veterans is accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.

The class-action lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad changes in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it charges that the VA has failed servicemen and women on numerous fronts. It contends the VA failed to provide prompt disability benefits, failed to add staff to reduce wait times for medical care and failed to boost services for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hundreds of Vets End up Homeless

February 18, 2007
Hundreds of Vets End up Homeless

The problem is mainly a lack of resources, advocates say. There are only about 15,000 beds available in VA-funded shelters or hospitals nationwide, and nearly every one is taken. In some smaller cities there simply aren't many places for a homeless veteran to go. And as affordable housing units shrink nationwide, veterans living on a disability check of, say, $700 a month, (which means a 50-percent disability rating from the VA), are hard-pressed to find a place to live. Most shelters require veterans to participate in a rehabilitation program, but a "fair amount" of veterans just go back to the streets once they leave, says Ed Quill, director of external affairs at Volunteers of America, the nonprofit housing group for veterans that helped Felty.

The VA says it's making a concerted effort to reach out to vets before they hit bottom, says Pete Dougherty, the VA's coordinator for homeless programs. Intake counselors are trained to ask questions, especially of newer veterans, to seek out mental health or other problems that could lead to homelessness. "We're much more sensitive than we were 40 years ago for signs of problems," he says. And they have expanded some services. Last week, the VA approved $24 million to boost aid for the homeless, which will allow them to add about 1,000 more beds and increase the number of grants to help the growing population of homeless women veterans and those with mental illnesses.

Bush budget cuts veterans health care in 2009

February 13, 2007
Bush budget cuts veterans health care in 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration's budget assumes cuts to veterans' health care two years from now -- even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system.

Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012.
But even administration allies say the numbers are not real and are being used to make the overall budget picture look better.

After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly -- by more than 10 percent in many years -- White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter.