Your veterans news roundup for Wednesday, August 27:
VA IG details 45 cases where veterans received substandard care in Phoenix (VetsHQ)
The Phoenix VA report by the VA’s Office of Inspector General has been released, and it’s a scathing indictment of the treatment, practices and real harm done to veterans by the Phoenix VA health care system.
Obama tells veterans he will fix health system, as new report lists lapses (New York Times)
President Obama on Tuesday promised several thousand military veterans that he would fulfill his “sacred trust” to those returning from America’s wars by overhauling a dysfunctional health care system, even as a new report documented “unacceptable and troubling lapses” in medical treatment.
Obama tells American Legion he’s working to regain veterans’ trust (Los Angeles Times)
President Obama said Tuesday that he is working to “regain the trust” of the nation’s veterans by improving their access to quality healthcare and education as he struggles to recover from a scandal that thrust the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs into the spotlight earlier this year.
After Inspector General report, veterans want more than promises (NPR)
The report said it couldn’t be proven that anyone had died because of wait times at the medical center in Phoenix. On Tuesday, President Obama pledged to do better by vets and announced initiatives.
VA details sweeping changes to speed care to veterans (USA Today)
he Department of Veterans Affairs promises sweeping changes — and ample contrition — in a prepared response to an inspector general’s report due this week on a scandal over delayed health care for veterans. The VA response includes talking points that reveal at least one crucial finding by investigators: No deaths of veterans at a Phoenix VA hospital could be “conclusively” linked to delays in care at that facility.
Number of homeless veterans in the U.S. falls over the past four years (Wall Street Journal)
The number of homeless veterans in the U.S. has dropped by a third over the past four years, according to data released Tuesday by the federal government. According to an annual survey called the Point-in-Time Count, the number of homeless veterans fell to just under 50,000 in 2014 from nearly 75,000 in 2010, a drop of 33%.
Durbin to VA: Allow veterans to use all education benefits (The Hill)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow service members to use both federal and state education benefits. Durbin said currently veterans in states such as Illinois are being forced to spend down all of their state education benefits before having access to federal benefits. His home state has applied for a waiver from this federal requirement.