Featured News
-
House passes veterans health care bill
March 2, 2015
Cristina Marcos | The Hill
The House passed a bill Monday night that would authorize the Department of Veterans' Affairs to enter contracts with medical foster homes to pay for veterans' long-term care.
- Topics
- Legislation
- Physical Well-Being
- VA
-
Lawmakers press Veterans Affairs for improved access to rural health care
March 2, 2015
Adam Smeltz | Tribune-Review
The Department of Veterans Affairs is failing to make enough rural health care available to veterans who live far from VA medical centers, a breakdown that violates the intent of a 2014 federal law, more than two dozen senators say.
They helped pass the Veterans Choice, Access and Accountability Act, meant in part to improve health care access for veterans who live more than 40 miles from VA facilities or who must wait more than a month for VA care.
- Topics
- Legislation
- Physical Well-Being
- VA
-
New ASU center to study veterans' wellness
February 28, 2015
Arizona State University has established a new, interdisciplinary Center for Veterans’ Wellness to conduct research and help vets affected by combat-related stress and trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Led by inaugural director Mary Davis, ASU Department of Psychology professor within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the center will draw together experts from a variety of disciplines across the university and its partner organizations to expand their work and develop new ideas.
- Topics
- Mental Health
-
Advocacy groups split over proposed Tricare reforms
February 27, 2015
Patricia Kime | Military Times
Military advocacy groups showed a mixed reaction Wednesday to a plan to overhaul the Tricare health program, with some expressing conditional support for proposed reform and one pitching its own plan.
-
VA: Choice program isn't being ditched
February 27, 2015
Leo Shane III | Military Times
Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald is promising Congress that his department is not trying to dismantle the new Choice Card program.
But lawmakers remain skeptical.
On Thursday, McDonald testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee about VA's fiscal 2016 budget request, which includes plans to ask for "flexibility" to shift money designated for the Choice Card program to other areas if usage of the card doesn't pick up.
- Topics
- Benefits
- Legislation
- Physical Well-Being
- VA
-
The Veterans Independence Act: Giving Vets A Way Out Of Socialized Medicine
February 26, 2015
Avik Roy | Forbes
Few Americans who read a newspaper didn’t hear about last year’s Veterans Health Administration scandal, in which VA officials manipulated patient waiting lists in order to deny care to ailing veterans. I observed at the time that the VA’s brand of government-run medicine was far worse than Obamacare. And I questioned why lawmakers hadn’t done more to reform veterans’ health care.
-
Three Military Bases to Train Veterans for Solar Jobs
February 25, 2015
The Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration NEWS
WASHINGTON — The first class of Marine trainees at Camp Pendleton have graduated from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) solar job training pilot program, which is aimed at preparing service members for careers in the solar industry as solar photovoltaic (PV) system installers, sales representatives, system inspectors, and other solar-related jobs. Camp Pendleton is one of three military bases partnering with DOE’s SunShot Initiative to train 200 transitioning military service members during the pilot period for employment in the U.S. solar industry.
- Topics
- DoD
- Employment
- Transition
-
Troubling trio—depression, PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury—linked to extra-high disability risk
February 25, 2015
Many among the newest war Veterans, like those before them, are struggling with a web of invisible wounds—beyond the physical scars of combat. Now, a VA research team in Boston has identified a particular combination of mental and behavioral conditions that appears to confer an extra-high risk of disability.
The study involved 255 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. They all completed a World Health Organization disability scale that rates difficulty in getting around, communicating and getting along with others, self-care, and other daily tasks.
- Topics
- Mental Health
- Physical Well-Being
- VA
-
Senators urge VA chief to fix ‘choice card’ woes
February 25, 2015
Martin Matishak | The Hill
A bipartisan coalition of 41 senators is pressing Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald to remedy the implementation of a program that allows veterans to seek private medical care.
The effort, often called the "choice card," allows veterans to seek medical care at non-VA providers, if they live more than 40 miles from an agency facility or if they cannot get a doctor’s appointment within 30 days.
- Topics
- Legislation
- Physical Well-Being
- VA
-
Tricare proposal splits veterans' groups
February 25, 2015
Martin Matishak | The Hill
The leaders of several prominent veterans’ and uniformed services’ organizations are split over a proposal to effectively abolish Tricare, the military’s health insurance plan.
The proposal, one of 15 recommendations put forward by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, has become a flashpoint on Capitol Hill.
The suggested change would allow nearly 5 million active-duty family members, reserve soldiers and military retirees who are not yet old enough to receive Medicare, to leave the Tricare system and sign up for a private insurance plan.
- Topics
- DoD
- Legislation
- Physical Well-Being
Pages
