Soldiers face neglect, frustration, at army's top medical facility.

[Edwina's Secretary]

As In These Times reported in a piece entitled "Dishonorable Discharge," back in 2003 "Even more than his father, and Ronald Reagan before him, Bush is cutting budgets for myriad programs intended to protect or improve the lives of veterans and active-duty soldiers." Among the cuts the Administration was pushing back then were $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and a $150 family separation allowance, deemed by the White House to be "wasteful and unnecessary," In These Times reported. Democrats in Congress led the opposition to those cuts. But a Bush budget still included $3 billion in cuts to VA hospitals. "VA spending today averages $2,800 less per patient than nine years ago," In These Times pointed out.

<<shrug>>

Check the budget the [B]administration proposed for this year. Did it increase or decrease funding for medical care for veterans?????

[Lady's Human]

Regardless of what is proposed by the administration, Congress, not the White House, controls the purse strings. WRAMC has been on the chopping block for a long, long time, and as such no one has been willing to appropriate money for improvements.

As far as the mass of resignations/firings lately, I have one question on that score. Have there been any charges filed or UCMJ action taken against the officials who have resigned? Generals are not immune to prosecution. No charges=someone was fired to give the press the requisite head on a platter.

[Lady's Human]

BTW, the VA budget request from the Administration in 2006 was $70.8 Billion. The Administration request for 2008 is $87.6 Billion.

$17.6 Billion in funding increase can hardly be called a reduction in spending.

[cassiesmom]

I did my graduate nursing student rotations at the VA. I learned a TON and got way more out of it than I ever put in. The people were great - the doctors, nurses, therapists, especially patients. I met WW I and WW II veterans, Korea and Vietnam veterans. I was there two semesters and the summer quarter in between. It was just a wonderful experience all around.

My dad (who's a Korean war veteran) just enrolled with the VA about a year ago for health care. My mom's stepfather (a WW II veteran) received care through the VA for a number of years. There are some things about the VA system that work really well and deserve to be publicized so they can be duplicated. There are other things that work really badly that I wish could be overhauled. One thing that bugs me about the VA is that it's so huge and has so many responsibilities - health care, housing, insurance, even death and burial. Maybe it is too big to be effective. But Walter Reed is supposed to be top-notch and from what I am reading and seeing on TV, it is a long way from top-notch.

[Lady's Human]

WRAMC itself, the Hospital, is in excellent shape, and IS a top notch facility. What is sub-par are the outbuildings on the base that house outpatients and base personnel.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Generals are not immune to prosecution. No charges=someone was fired to give the press the requisite head on a platter.

I am certainly not an expert in this area...but in today's paper was an article that the only military who have been charge in the Abu Ghraib have been enlisted personnel. Was no one in charge or are they simply sacrifical lambs?

At least this time it was someone other than grunts falling on the proverbial sword.

And perhaps more than just the press need a head on a platter...maybe the public and the soldiers would like to see....I don't like heads on a platter...I would prefer to say....SOMEONE take responsibility.

BTW...the VA has an outstanding program for ensuring that doctors and nurses have the right information for the right patient. It uses realtime computer technology to allow access to medical charts and is a model that is being copied elsewhere.

[Lady's Human]

The article was wrong. BG Janis Karpinski, the commander of the MP Brigade that was in charge of Abu Ghirab, was reduced in rank to Colonel and retired.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Is this article wrong too?

The Pentagon's Defense Health Program—which includes the Tricare health-insurance plan, used by 9.1 million veterans and involving 65 inpatient clinics, 414 medical and dental clinics, and 257 veterans centers—has actually had its budget cut the past two years. In fiscal year 2006, the program's budget for medical care went up from $15.9 billion to $21.2 billion. But since then, it's gone down slightly—to $20.8 billion in FY 2007 and a proposed $20.7 billion in FY 2008.

These numbers understate the magnitude of the cuts. To keep up with inflation in the cost of goods and payroll, the Defense Department actually had to cut medical-care programs by $1.6 and $1.4 billion in FY07 and FY08, respectively.

Money is similarly tight at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA's budget for medical care has risen in the past few years—from $28.8 billion in FY 2006 to $29.3 billion in FY 2007 to a request for $34.2 billion in FY 2008—but this hasn't been enough. In each of the past four years, according to a March 1 report by the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the VA has systematically underestimated the number of veterans applying for benefits in the coming fiscal year. The result is a shortfall of $2.8 billion in the FY08 budget, just to cover the current level of medical services.

The administration is trying to make up for some of this by raising deductibles on prescription drugs (from $8 to $15) and by imposing an annual enrollment fee (ranging from $250 to $750)—in short, by shifting costs to the veterans themselves. (Even so, these charges would make up only $450 million, or about one-sixth of the shortfall.)

[Lady's Human]

In part, Yes. Tricare is a system designed primarily for active duty servicemembers and families. All others are served on an as available basis. When the number of servicemembers in uniform drops, as it has over the past few years (The USAF alone cut 40K airmen), the budget for tricare drops, as the number of servicemembers they are expected to care for is reduced. Tricare's priorities are active servicemembers, dependents, reserve servicemembers, and it trickles down from there.

Col Karpinski was subject to a 15-6 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation. She was given a reduction in rank, a letter of reprimand, and was forced to retire. 6 other officers form the brigade were also investigated, and a military intelligence (MJA? I think, don't remember, his name wasn't in the news for more than a second or two) officer was also found guilty.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Well....I would like to see our veterans get the care they deserve...whether there are less people in the airforce or not.

So did either of these officers do any TIME? Jail, brig...whatever?

[Edwina's Secretary]

The article was wrong. BG Janis Karpinski, the commander of the MP Brigade that was in charge of Abu Ghirab, was reduced in rank to Colonel and retired.

But was she charged with a crime? Prosecuted?