It’s Worse Than We Think: Military Health Care, SNAFU
Chris Preble’s post last week on the Washington Post series about wounded U.S. soldiers lost in the outpatient wilderness at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has also caused me to dwell on this all too painful cost of war.
Like Chris I too am a Navy veteran, albeit back towards the end of the Vietnam War, and though I saw no combat, am all too familiar with the shabby way wounded veterans can be treated. Those who don’t remember the way it was for Vietnam veterans should go rent a copy of Born on the Fourth of July .
Though I touched on this in a January post I think it is worth revisiting.Though Congress and the Defense Department are now in full indignation mode, scheduling oversight hearings, making repairs, including whitewashing the walls (how is that for irony?) at the now infamous Building 18, Secretary Gates warning that officials will be held accountable (Notice anyone fired yet? No, neither have I), appointing an independent commission to investigate, and, of course, blaming the messenger, as in accusing the Washington Post of presenting a one-sided picture, the truth is that the situation is going to get worse, a lot worse, before it gets better.
First, consider the numbers. The total number of wounded, is far greater than generally thought. As the Linda Bilmes study I previously cited noted, as of last September more than 50,500 US soldiers have suffered non-mortal wounds in Iraq, Afghanistan and nearby staging locations. While not all of those are the traumatic type, like those at Walter Reed, enough of them are the sort of wounds that keep on giving, pain and suffering that is, so that both the military and the VA systems will be running full tilt for years to come. By the way, Bilmes estimates that at least 700,000 veterans from the global war on terror will flood the system in the coming years.
Also consider that after discharge many of the soldiers and marines will return to their hometown. Given where the All Volunteer Force has been recruiting from in recent years, rural areas outside metropolitan area, as this analysis by the University of New Hampshire Institute’s Carsey Center noted, they will be lucky to have one doctor in their town, let alone one knowledgeable about prostheses, or a place to go to for physical rehabilitation. They might easily have to travel hundreds of miles for the medical care they require.
The U.S. military health care system is in trouble. And, in fact, if we bothered paying attention, the signs have been there for some time.
Joseph Galloway, former senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers, wrote last week of his McClatchy Newspapers colleague Chris Adams’ Feb. 9 report that even by its own measures, the Veterans Administration isn’t prepared to give returning veterans the care they need to help them overcome destructive, and sometimes fatal, mental-health problems.
Nearly 100 VA clinics provided virtually no mental-health care in 2005, Adams found, and the average veteran with psychiatric troubles gets about a third fewer visits with specialists today than he would have received a decade ago.
Just last weekend an American Psychological Association task force warned that the U.S. military is not fully addressing the needs of troops and family members traumatized by war.
Then consider what happens when U.S. military personnel go from the military medical system over to the Veterans Administration. Newsweek reports that a jump in disability claims in recent years has created a bottleneck. The VA confirms it is coping with a backlog of 400,000 applications and appeals; 75 percent of them were still within a “reasonable” reviewing time frame, he says. Yet, most of those claims were filed by veterans of previous wars (a veteran can file or appeal a claim even decades after discharge). As more servicemen and women return from Iraq, the backlog is likely to increase.
None of this is going to be fixed anytime soon. We’ll be hearing horror stories for decades to come. That would explain why, according to Army Times, soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told that they must not speak to the media. The Pentagon also clamped down on media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities, to include suspending planned projects by CNN and the Discovery Channel.
Oh, one last thought. What does it say about President Bush that he can not only carry on, but actually reinforce a policy, i.e., the Baghdad surge, which will have the effect of producing even greater number of American military wounded?
As the knowledgeable Peter Galbraith writes in the New York Review of Books:
President Bush’s plan has no chance of actually working. At this late stage, 21,500 additional troops cannot make a difference. US troops are ill prepared to do the policing that is needed to secure Baghdad. They lack police training, knowledge of the city, and requisite Arabic skills. The Iraqi troops meant to assist the effort are primarily Kurdish peshmerga from two brigades nominally part of the Iraqi army. These troops will have the same problems as the Americans, including an inability to communicate in Arabic.
Bush’s strategy assumes that Iraq’s Shiite-led government can become a force for national unity and that Iraqi security forces can, once trained, be neutral guarantors of public safety. There is no convincing basis for either proposition. The Bush administration’s inability to grasp the realities of Iraq is, in no small measure, owing to its unwillingness to acknowledge that Iraq is in the middle of a civil war.
“soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told that they must not speak to the media. The Pentagon also clamped down on media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities”
The military may be able to silence our Troops in the short run. Clamping the lid of secrecy on troubled waters is nothing new. Eventually, these folks become civilians. It’s imperative for Veterans of all conflicts show their support for our current fighting forces who are not allowed to speak out for themselves. Denying proper health care is unconscionable. Simply pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t fix anything. You can bet if the hospital’s administration offices were moved to such deplorable conditions the problem would disappear overnight….!!!
As for the DoD/VA making a “timely” response to severe problems…don’t hold your breath. I served in the Navy from 1967 - 70 and filed my first VA Disability Compensation Claim in 1971. The issue was not even partially resolved until I refiled in 2002 and received a partial decision in 2006. 35 years is a mighty long time to sit waiting under the veil of secrecy for what should have come automatically.
The vast majority of Project SHAD/112 Veterans await similar fates. Unfortunately, a goodly number have already died and their claims have been “decided” to the advantage of the government.
www1.va.gov/SHAD
Comment on March 1, 2007 @ 8:41 am
It’s time for the Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities and kick some ass!
Comment on March 1, 2007 @ 8:58 am
I thought this just breaking news relevant:
WASHINGTON (AP) The Army general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been relieved of command in connection with disclosures about inadequate treatment of wounded soldiers.
Comment on March 1, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
And this:
NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 234-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 01, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711
Secretary Gates On Walter Reed Leadership Change
“I endorse the decision by Secretary of the Army Fran Harvey to relieve the
Commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
“The care and welfare of our wounded men and women in uniform demand the highest
standard of excellence and commitment that we can muster as a government.When this
standard is not met, I will insist on swift and direct corrective action and, where
appropriate, accountability up the chain of command.”
[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=10564
Comment on March 1, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
[…] Original post by David Isenberg and software by Elliott […]
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I’am a Vietnam Vet, DaNang Jan 66-Jan 67. I have struggled with the aftermath for years, including dries and peels, till it bleeds, many growths, severe arthritis since age 46, including very high rate of swelling joints. When I retired after 26 years, the Veterans “health care system,” send me a computer print out that I had to come in for an appointment. Fort Snelling, MN. I went… from there on know one would believe the caois. I never went back. I have never since then ever had such rude and error filled information. I go to civilin medical facilities and pay out of pocket, what Champus, at 40% or less doesn’t pay, another lie from the Government. I have tons of bills that prove they pay less than 40%. I will continue to work. But, someday the U.S. will struggle to find anyone to listen to their lies about care or benifits. At 67 years of age, I have never lived under a President that is such a Jeckel and Hyde. Smiles, talks postive, and flat lies. I have never felt any President ought to be impeached for lies to America, except Mr Bush. He covers by blaming his lower servers. Nor have I seen so many Generals quit and turn against him. The VA system is broken and always has been. We hire no experienced, no service served civilian dream Doctors that poo poo our Vets. What a disgrace. I have proof of this. Take care, but continue your research and keep shaking their lying ?????, You give us hope.
Ben Bear.
Comment on March 1, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
http://usawakeup.org
I have never been so demoralized as I was watching this.
But the fact of the matter is that I as well as most of American’s allowed this possibilty to exisit.
We voted these self serving, dishonest, un-patriotic, greedy. im-moral politicians and back ground thieves that support them to control us.
The saddest part of it all is the availibility impeachment that is hardley ever used,
Comment on March 2, 2007 @ 8:22 am
Mr. Frickson:
I’m hoping you will read this and realize that you’re NOT alone in your plight. For what it’s worth, the maladies you describe appear to be symptoms of exposure to Agent Orange at least in part. The level of treatment and commitment varies widely throughout the VA system. I’ve had the dubious pleasure of seeing the East Orange, NJ - Denver, CO - Salt Lake City, UT and Fort Harrison, MT operations up close and personal.
I have compiled a formidable collection of data on Agent Orange Issues and other Service Related health problems for ALL veterans to utilize:
http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=55
Please make use of whatever details may benefit YOU at that site…!!!
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