BURLINGTON – Veterans should take advantage of the health care system they are entitled to, Veterans Affairs officials said Monday.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is required to provide health care for veterans. While there is plenty of capacity for more veterans to enter into the health care system designed to treat their specific needs, many are not aware of these services and benefits, VA officials said at a news conference Monday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said there are excellent facilities available for the men and women who he said deserve the highest quality of health care.
Veterans can choose from a VA health care facility or a community based outpatient clinic (CBOC) for their treatment. There are 152 medical centers across the country, one of which is located in White River Junction, and 900 community based outreach clinics, five of which are in Vermont, Sanders said. Sanders also toured a new CBOC on Lakeside Avenue in Burlington, which is scheduled to open in October.
VA officials came to conference to speak about what Sanders called the “cutting-edge” changes in veterans’ health care. The new model is comprehensive, that is, it is holistic and preventive.
Sanders said the model treats not just the disease, but the patient.
“That’s the concept of holistic health care: trying to keep people healthy rather than just treating their diseases,” he said.
Deborah Amdur, director of the White River Junction VA Medical Center, said there are many comprehensive services available in Vermont designed to treat veterans.
One of the VA’s programs, the Patient Aligned Care Team, assigns a primary care doctor to oversee care that is provided by a team of professionals, such as nurses, social workers, dieticians, physical therapists and physiologists, she said.
“That partnership is really key to this new model of primary care,” Amdur said.
She said veterans often have issues that may appear distinct from their health, such as marital problems or homelessness. For this reason, the medical center has a residential program designed to reintegrate veterans into society. One method is to put patients to work in the facilities, she said.
Amdur said this “wrap-around” approach aims to help veterans get their lives back on track.
“It’s not just about the medical care, it’s not just about surgical care, we have all of that, but its really about the whole person, and their family, and making sure that we offer the supports that are really necessary for them to be successful,” she said.
Another model of veterans’ health care is the Integrated Mental Health Clinic, which is designed to treat patients from wherever is most convenient, Amdur said. Another example, Home Telehealth technology, uses computers to connect doctors and other health care providers with veterans in their homes, she said.
Sanders said there have been problems with VA health care, such as a backlog in the system and eligibility requirements for service.
One of the reasons there was so much backlog is because the system used paper records, he said. He said the VA has recently transformed its system from paper to digital, which was one of the last major federal institutions to use paper files.
He said Gen. Eric Shinseki, secretary Veterans Affairs, promised him that all claims will be processed within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy by the end of 2015.
In July, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs approved a package of bills that includes a requirement for health care providers to give quarterly reports to Congress on efforts to eliminate the backlog of benefits claims, a news release stated.
Eligibility is another concern because income levels, which are tied to the cost of living in some states, place restrictions on who can enter the system, Sanders said. He said eligibility ought to be expanded to allow more people to join the system.
The bill approved by the committee would expand benefits for spouses married in states that allow gays and lesbians to wed, which follows the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal law denying federal benefits for these couples, a news release said.
The bill would also improve the delivery of care for those who are sexually assaulted while serving in the military, Sanders said. In May, the Pentagon released a survey estimating that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted in 2012, up from 19,000 in 2010, the release stated.
VA serves approximately 25,000 veterans from Vermont and four nearby counties in New Hampshire. There are about 75,000 veterans in the area, Amdur said.
Veterans Affairs services were not affected by the federal sequester, officials said.
