Veterans SUE the VA Secretary

[Gimpy]

Congressman, Veterans Suing VA Secretary

By MALIA RULON
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 21, 2004; 7:29 PM


WASHINGTON - An Ohio congressman said Wednesday that he and a Vietnam veterans group planned to sue Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi for failing to publicize information about health care benefits and services for veterans and their families.


The Veterans Affairs Department has halted most efforts aimed at
enrolling new veterans into the health care system because of a
budget crunch.

Veterans have been enduring waits of up to two years for
appointments since demand increased after the VA opened its medical facilities to all veterans in 1998.

Citing a tight budget and overwhelming demand, the department said in a July 2002 memo that marketing health care services at health fairs, open houses or veterans meetings was inappropriate. It also banned mailings and newspaper ads encouraging veterans to enroll.

Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, said a congressional mandate requires the agency to perform outreach activities. He said he has written to and met with Principi about the issue and decided to file the lawsuit only as a last resort.

"Rationing care or rationing services is just not acceptable," said
Strickland, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

An agency spokesman Phil Budahn, said the memo went out at a time when 300,000 veterans were waiting more than six months for an appointment. Wait times have since decreased slightly.

"Certainly, it seems pretty reasonable that if a medical center
doesn't have a waiting list, then it's a good time to start beating
the drums and recruiting new patients," Budahn said. He said the
agency has never banned recruiting active soldiers to enroll.

Strickland and Thomas Corey, president of Vietnam Veterans of
America, were planning to file their lawsuit on Thursday. Budahn
declined immediate comment.

A bill to fund the agency for the current fiscal year, which started
Oct. 1, is pending in Congress. The House-passed version would
allocate $28.6 billion for veterans' health care, $1.8 billion less
than the military service organizations say is needed. The Senate is considering the bill this week.

Strickland said these funding levels aren't high enough and he hopes his lawsuit will call attention to the need for additional veterans health care spending.

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