Veterans who put off medical treatment during the pandemic are returning to VA in droves, he said. Between March and May of this year, VA facilitated VA facilitated 9 million appointments and fewer than , community care visits during that same period last year. As more veterans return to VA, the department is confronting a familiar challenge — how to balance in-house health care with services from the private sector.
Read more: Veterans Affairs. According to the latest data from the department, VA had 32, vacancies as of the end of March, with 29, of them inside VHA alone.
The department has been engaged in a concerted hiring campaign since the start of the pandemic. We need to talk about the balance between in-house and community care, and VA staffing is critical in that conversation. Sign up for our daily newsletters so you never miss a beat on all things federal. McDonough said he needs the pending VA nominees in place — especially his deputy secretary — to help him staff a commission to find a new undersecretary for benefits.
Nicole Ogrysko is a reporter for Federal News Network focusing on the federal workforce and federal pay and benefits. Follow nogryskoWFED. Listen Live Schedule Sports.
Artificial Intelligence. Ask the CIO. The Biden budget is the latest ever released, increasing the likelihood that the VA appropriations bill will not be completed by the deadline. Jon Tester, D-Mont. These are all steps in the right direction," Tester said. Historically, the VA funding bill has enjoyed bipartisan support, but House Republicans have begun questioning its largesse.
Mike Bost, R-Ill. Kime Monster. Follow her on Twitter patriciakime. Parents spent hours waiting to grab the first COVID vaccination appointments for children ages 5 to 11 at the largest U. Twenty soldiers died during on-duty incidents during fiscal , according to an upcoming safety report. Secretary McDonough must work with President Biden on this plan and promptly implement its recommendations. Under the current system, veterans can choose to receive routine care from a non-VA doctor if they would have to wait more than 20 days or drive more than 30 minutes for a primary or mental health appointment at a VA facility.
For specialty care, the current rules are 20 days and 60 minutes. While many conservative veterans groups—such as Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit organization funded by the Koch brothers—would like to see the VA completely outsource its health care, most veterans rate their VA-provided health care as positive. In addition, an independent assessment 23 has found that when compared with private sector health care, VA health care is better and more efficient.
The VA must also prioritize providing women and LGBTQ service members equal access to earned benefits, as well as ending sexual harassment against them. Women are the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population. Since , the number of women in the military has grown from 63, to ,—an increase of ,, or almost percent 25 —and the number of women using VA health care has also tripled since then, growing from , to , LGBT personnel, meanwhile, are estimated to make up 6. Despite all the indispensable services that women in uniform deliver to America, a great deal of those women have been subject to sexual assault, 29 and many have chosen not to reenlist 30 as a result.
In April , the VA took a step 31 in the right direction to improve care for women and LGBTQ veterans, as well as the approximately 25 percent of veterans who are people of color, by committing to review its existing policies with an eye toward making them more inclusive—and designing and implementing more inclusive policies going forward. In the meantime, the secretary—at minimum—should consider increasing benefits for veterans who have chosen not to reenlist due to sexual harassment or assault in order to honor their service and safety.
The VA must work more effectively with the Department of Defense DOD to improve the policies and systems that can help military people transition into civilian society. The departments should also increase awareness of other resources that are available to veterans upon leaving the service to help them reenter civilian life. They can do this through public information campaigns, including making phone calls to newly separated veterans. They should also continue to increase resources that are available for veterans.
As Sen. Mark Milley. Benefits for military burn pit victims could expand dramatically under White House plan VA officials will go beyond sceintific studies to include other medical sources in evaluating whether certain illnesses are linked to toxic exposure during military service.
In Other News. Oklahoma Guard goes rogue, rejects COVID vaccine mandate after sudden change of command Less than 24 hours after an unexpected change of command, the Oklahoma National Guard rejected the Pentagon's vaccine mandate.
Mike Hilkert helped save the lives of more than 30 soldiers and airmen.
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