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Issues Affecting American Veterans

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Submitted By Kwoody31
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Issues Affecting Americas Veterans
By
Nakiah Woody
COMM/215
March 9, 2015
John Clanton

Issues Affecting Americas Veterans

In today’s society we have so many issues that are surrounding our nation and some issues involve the very people that sacrificed so much in order to make this country a much safer place for us to reside in and raise our families. These individuals are special and strong and very much selfless these people are the individuals that serve in our United States military branches, whether it is the Navy, Marines, Air Force, or the Army each and every individual that served this country should be considered and respected whether they are past or present as remarkable individuals, it is because of them that we are allowed to be free and walk around in this great country of ours. Although, these feelings are the feelings of many it is sad that our veterans are not being completely supported by the people that they have put their lives on the line for. It is a disturbing situation when we as a people can walk down the street and see our veterans homeless and going without and barely receiving healthcare or getting overlooked for benefits and treatments. Recently, there has been a story in the news that many veterans had passed away while waiting on a secret list. It had been announced that at least 40 United States veterans in the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System had died while waiting in hopes of being treated by a physician, however it was shown that the VA had not been governing them-selves accordingly when it comes to properly listing and treating the veterans appropriately. The list was a part of a secret scheme that was designed by veteran’s affairs mangers in the Phoenix area that were specifically trying to hide the fact that there were from the range of 1,400 to 1,600 ill veterans that had been forced to wait months to see any type of physician (Bronstein & Griffen, 2014). The thought of having extended delays to receive help for the people that gave unselfishly of themselves to provide a safe place for all to be free and they are pushed aside and can’t even be treated for help is unbelievable. This particular situation hits extremely close to home because I have a significant other as well as friends that are young veterans, and through many encounters at the VA HealthCare System and I find myself furious at times because of the lack of compassion and understanding for the issues that some of the individuals that are waiting to be treated. In this past year Representative Bill Keating held a meeting with veterans across the ninth congressional district in order to review a newly enacted law that has been signed by President Obama that would help to expand access to healthcare for veterans (Targeted News Source, 2014). The veterans access to care through Choice Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 reaches to help improve access to care and reduce extremely long waiting periods. This brand new law will help to make it a lot easier for ill veterans to see a physician’s outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in an addition to providing funding to have more VA based doctors. This particular is needed because of there are many veterans throughout the states that require healthcare and need assistance and are unable to receive proper care because of the improper behavior throughout the VA. There are veterans that are severely ill and it is very hard for them to wait in the long lines and some even have to struggle just to get the transportation to the VA. Although, Representative Keating met with many veterans within the district and so many of them were still faced with the issue of the healthcare being portable because of the fact that many of the individuals he was meeting with lived in Massachusetts and would have to travel out of state to receive certain treatment and procedures, and others have said that it is still hard for them to receive any treatment at all because their medical records would be housed in the VA in the Boston area. These are still problem areas for the VA but they are taking a step in the right direction in hopes to properly correct these issues in order for the veterans to be able to receive the proper help and treatment to remain healthy throughout the remainder of their lives.

References
Brostein, S. and Griffen, D. (April 23, 2014) A fatal wait: Veterans languish and die on a VA hospital secret list: Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/
Targeted News Source, (August, 2014) Keating meets with Veterans to Discuss VA Healthcare Issues: Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/1558255728?accountid=458

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