VA Facilities Fall Short for Veteran Patients
by Marlis Majerus
America's Veterans keep getting older, but their health benefits aren't keeping up.
The Veterans Millenium Health Care and Benefits act of '99 directed veteran medical sites to establish a number of new health services for their patients, but according to the General Accounting Office -- most vets still aren't seeing them.
The GAO blames that on the Veterans Affairs Department, which it says failed to help facilities set up the programs -- including long-term care and off-site services.
Three things desperately needed: Adult day care, geriatric evaluation, and respite care.
And the report found that even places that DID provide those programs only did so in a few parts of their regions. Most didn't offer them at all.
Worse, some offices used their own set of eligibility requirements -- that DIDN'T match the VA's. As a result, services were denied to Vets who were actually eligible under official rules.
The GAO wants the department to lay out the services facilities must provide, in writing, and take steps to ensure they implement them.
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