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| Still No News On CaregiverÂ’s Act Programs |
| 2011-04-04 |
| Despite mounting pressure that included a bi-partisan letter to President Barack Obama urging him to further support the programs and a high profile speech by Deputy VA Secretary W. Scott Gould about the Obama administration’s supposedly strikingly level of commitment to the troops, the stalled Caregiver Act programs have yet to show any signs of being implemented. The Caregiver Act, which the administration trumpeted when President Obama signed it into law nearly a year ago, extends veterans of the War on Terror’s benefits and is meant to provide critical support services to those who take care of our nation’s most severely wounded warriors. The bill, official titled the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, includes a stipend to be paid to the primary caregiver, usually a spouse, child, parent, or friend. The program also contains provisions to pay lodging and meals to those caregivers who might accompany injured veterans on trips for VA healthcare evaluations and treatments. Veterans’ support groups claimed the program a major step forward and a sign of hope when it was first signed into law on May 5th of last year, but many people’s bright expectation have been tamped into undiluted pessimism as the programs have continued to be stalled for months after the January 30th deadline. In fact President Obama’s recent move to place troops in Libya, and the looming possibility that it might lead to a prolonged and bloody engagement as an occupying force has likely only slowed down the process. Currently one of the aspects clogging the program is that veterans and caregivers from wars other than the War on Terror are clamoring for the provisions to apply to them as well, as are veterans and caregivers of veterans with mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure, is extremely prevalent among older veterans because of the military’s heavy use of asbestos before it was discovered to be dangerous. Because the symptoms of mesothelioma are often not diagnosed until victims are in their late 60’s and are so debilitating, many of the veterans diagnosed with the cancer can be extremely difficult for caregivers to take care of. The VA has been resistant to include veterans with mesothelioma under the provisions, which has made it more to difficult to get the programs up and running anytime soon. But it’s also unclear whether Obama’s actions in Libya are considered to fall under the War on Terror or not, or if the provisions in the Caregiver Act also apply to those veterans who are injured in any future wars. If the Obama administration wants to live up to its rhetoric that “VA and veterans are the president’s top priority” then they need to be sure and implement the Caregiver Act programs that they signed into law, and make sure that the benefits extend to at least the soldiers fighting in Obama’s engagement in Libya as well. |
| Posted by:Gleremp Grart6030 |