Health Care

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September 25, 2002


Priority Health Care for Disabled Vets Welcomed

WASHINGTONA new policy giving veterans with service-connected disabilities priority for medical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is welcome news for many, but our government still has a long way to go toward solving the crisis in veterans health care, said the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

With thousands of veterans waiting six months or longer for medical appointments, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi has ordered VA facilities to give veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 50 percent or greater and veterans needing care for a service-connected disability first priority in scheduling appointments for non-emergency outpatient medical services and admissions for inpatient hospital care.

Previously, the VA scheduled non-emergency appointments on a first-come, first-served basis. Under that policy, a severely disabled combat-wounded veteran might have to wait for medical care behind veterans whose ailments are unrelated to their military service.

"Secretary Principi is to be commended for improving access to health care for disabled veterans," said DAV National Commander Edward R. Heath, Sr. "The DAV is hopeful this bold initiative will help set the stage for meaningful debate and result in dramatic changes to further improve the VA health care system."

"The backlog of veterans waiting for appointments stems from decades of inadequate VA budgets that have failed to keep pace with rising health care costs and the increasing number of veterans seeking treatment," Commander Heath said. "The solution is to change VA health care from a discretionary budget item to a mandatory budget item as proposed in the Veterans Health Care Funding Guarantee Act of 2002 (H.R. 5250/S. 2903)."

The measure has strong bipartisan support in Congress and is endorsed by the major veterans organizations, including the DAV, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"By tying funding each year to the number of veterans who are enrolled," Commander Heath said, "there would be dependable, stable, and sustained funding for veterans health care. Costs could increase each year only by the rate of inflation or if the number of veterans in the system rose. With adequate funding assured, it would no longer be necessary for the VA to ration care to veterans."

The DAV is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge to actively support and work for the prompt passage of guaranteed mandatory health care funding for our nation's sick and disabled veterans.

The nearly 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nations disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nations disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organizations Web site