Latest news with #PACTAct
Time Business News
30-06-2025
- Health
- Time Business News
VA fund cuts Impact Minority and Women Veterans
In 2021, before the implementation of the PACT Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) approved around 280,000 claims for veterans who were exposed to toxic agents during service. Following the enactment of this bill, the number of claims reached 1.7 million, with over 1.1 million being approved by the department. While much of this progress can be attributed to the PACT Act, which removed the burden of proving causality for veterans, the VA also underwent other changes, resulting in an increased approval rate for claims submitted. Alongside this Act, the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative was expanded, focusing on providing tailored cultural awareness and training for VA staff. These initiatives were implemented across veteran services, including in claims processing systems, and VA healthcare organisations, as well as support services offered to veterans and their family members, such as college programs, mental health resources, and housing assistance. Now, pending budget cuts initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), all DEI initiatives are to be terminated. Nonetheless, the federal government warns that all organisations under VA leadership must comply with federal regulations regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Indeed, the existence of federal policies that prevent discrimination makes DEI initiatives seem redundant. The VA is also expected to save around $6.1 million annually by eliminating DEI structures. In line with the budget planning for 2026, the VA will use these funds to enhance services for veterans, including the provision of healthcare. However, despite existing policies against discrimination, a substantial part of this social behaviour is triggered by unconscious bias, also referred to as implicit bias, whereby staff may exhibit behaviors or trigger actions that are discriminatory, without intention or awareness. Research to date suggests that this is a systemic issue within the VA, despite efforts to mitigate its effects. For example, data collected and analysed before the implementation of the PACT Act and structured DEI initiatives show that, on average, claims made by veterans from an ethnic minority group were 14% more likely to be rejected when compared to claims made by White veterans. A 75% increase in the number of claims approved for ethnic minority veterans was recorded following the implementation of the PACT Act and DEI initiatives. Additional data collected from the medical system demonstrate that ethnic minority veterans, as well as women veterans, encounter discrimination and biases when seeking service. When having a negative experience of healthcare, these people tend to avoid new encounters, be less likely to adhere to prescribed regimes, or withhold vital information from their healthcare provider. As a result, people who perceive being discriminated against or treated unfairly based on their gender, race, or other type of group identity will also experience poorer health outcomes. Education and awareness are among the most effective ways to address the unconscious bias that produces inequity and inequality within a system. Removing DEI may, therefore, buffer out the progress obtained so far. Impact of DEI Removal on Veterans Almost 16 million veterans lived in the U.S. in 2023, including ethnic minority groups and women veterans. The termination of DEI programs may have a disproportionate effect on this population without targeted oversight and culturally informed protocols. Presently, the PACT Act offers direct compensation and health care for various conditions developed as a result of toxic exposure, including exposure to asbestos, radiation, and burning pits. Notably, new toxic agents are considered by the VA, and compensation is provided outside of the PACT Act presumption. Many of these chemicals are being used with increased frequency by the U.S. military. This will most likely result in new generations of veterans seeking claims for the effects of toxic exposure. Similar to the current veteran population, the next generation of veterans will also include a growing number of ethnic minorities and women. For upholding the VA's commitment to justice and care for all who have served, ensuring that these veterans have equal access to compensation and healthcare is essential. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VA staff finished 2M disability claims faster than ever this year
Veterans Affairs officials on Tuesday announced staffers had already processed more than 2 million disability benefits claims this fiscal year, the fastest the department has ever reached that mark. The processing milestone occurred nearly one month earlier than in fiscal 2024 and puts department claims workers on pace for another record-breaking year in terms of total cases completed. The work finished thus far represents almost $120 billion in compensation and pension benefits to veterans and survivors paid out since last October. In a statement, VA Secretary Doug Collins credited the progress to a refocusing of the department's mission in recent months. 'VA has reduced the claims backlog and has processed these claims faster than ever for a simple reason: We're focused on getting results for veterans,' he said. 'We are just getting started in our mission to help veterans, families, caregivers and survivors get the care and benefits they've earned.' The department's progress on processing disability claims dates back to before the change in presidential administrations. VA has set new records in total claims processed each of the last three fiscal years, reaching 2.5 million cases completed in fiscal 2024. Vets disability claims backlog down to 200K cases, a post-pandemic low The rise has come in part because of the steadily increasing total number of claims filed annually, which at times has outpaced processing capacity. The 2022 PACT Act expanded the number of veterans eligible to apply to VA for compensation related to military toxic exposure injuries, adding hundreds of thousands of cases to the annual counts. Related to that, VA's disability claims backlog — which counts the total number of first-time benefits cases that take more than four months to complete — rose to more than 400,000 cases in late 2023, up from about 70,000 cases before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last 18 months, that number has dropped by more than 200,000 cases, with a reduction of nearly 70,000 backlogged claims since February alone. Officials from the previous presidential administration had predicted it would take until 2026 to bring those numbers down to early 2020 levels again. At the current processing level, VA is on pace to complete about 2.8 million disability claims this fiscal year, which ends on Oct. 1. Last year, the department processed 2.5 million claims, a new record. Collins has suggested cutting VA staffers in coming months to help boost efficiency within the department but has promised that benefits processing will not be impacted by any such moves.
The Hill
18-06-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Smart budget cuts at the VA could help preserve critical services
What does it mean to keep a promise to our veterans and to the next generation? With the national debt surpassing $36 trillion, a serious assessment of federal spending, including within the Department of Veterans Affairs, is not just prudent, it's necessary. This isn't an ideological debate. It's arithmetic. Nearly one in every four dollars the federal government spends is borrowed. Interest on the debt exceeds what we spend on national defense. If we continue on this path, we risk crowding out critical programs, including those that serve our veterans and their families. The VA is the second-largest federal agency by budget, behind only the Department of Defense. Since 2001, its annual budget has increased more than 500 percent, from $45 billion to over $320 billion in 2024. By next year, the VA has requested a nearly 10 percent increase. Much of that growth is warranted. We have fought two decades of war, expanded eligibility through legislation like the PACT Act, and developed advanced care for physical, mental and environmental health needs. But budget growth hasn't always translated into better outcomes. Although the number of veterans in the U.S. has declined from 26 million in 2000 to about 19 million today, the number of veterans using VA health care has more than doubled, from 2.7 million to 6.5 million. Services have expanded, but inefficiencies have multiplied. A 2022 report by the Government Accountability Office found dozens of VA medical facilities operating at less than 30 percent capacity. Efforts to modernize or consolidate these centers have stalled due to political resistance, despite evidence that realignment would improve care and reduce costs. The VA's electronic health record modernization effort has also been plagued by cost overruns, delays, and coordination failures. Despite billions in spending, the system remains fragmented and difficult to navigate for many veterans. This isn't about making harmful or arbitrary cuts to benefits. Veterans have earned their care, and we must honor that promise. But upholding that promise also requires us to ask whether every dollar spent is actually improving outcomes. The Congressional Budget Office has identified several policy changes that could reduce waste and improve service delivery. These include consolidating underused infrastructure, eliminating duplicative services across agencies, modernizing procurement and supply chains, and adjusting income thresholds for certain non-service-connected benefits. These reforms would not eliminate services. They would make sure funding is directed to areas of greatest need, expanding access, reducing wait times and investing in prevention and mental health support. This conversation matters now more than ever. As interest payments on the debt rise, they threaten to crowd out all other spending. The government already spends more than $950 billion a year just to service the national debt, and that number is expected to grow. In 2025, mandatory spending — things like Social Security, Medicare and debt interest — will account for 74 percent of the federal budget. That leaves only 26 percent for everything else, including veterans' care. If we don't address inefficiencies now, we may soon face a future where essential services are on the chopping block. Reforming the VA is not just a budgetary issue, it is about securing the future of veterans' care in a fiscally sustainable way. Some argue that any talk of reform is a betrayal. But the real betrayal is allowing waste and dysfunction to persist. Veterans do not need broken systems wrapped in patriotic language. They need care that is accessible, responsive and built for their realities. That means investing in what works — technology upgrades that improve outcomes, partnerships that bring care to rural areas, and early interventions that prevent bigger crises down the road. Veterans' organizations should not shy away from these conversations. We should lead them. That includes demanding transparency, performance metrics and meaningful oversight. It also means acknowledging that the VA, like every other agency, must adapt to a rapidly changing fiscal and demographic landscape. The VA's mission is to care for those who have borne the battle. Fulfilling that mission doesn't mean avoiding hard questions. It means confronting them with honesty, clarity and courage. Reforming the system is not abandonment — it is the only way to keep our promise. In a time of mounting debt and growing needs, fiscal responsibility and moral obligation are not in conflict. They are aligned. Veterans and their families deserve a system that works, and future generations deserve a country that can afford to keep its promises. We can have both, but only if we are willing to do the hard work now. Mike Desmond is the strategic director of government affairs and advocacy at Mission Roll Call, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to amplifying the voices of veterans and their families. He is a former CIA officer and Special Operations veteran.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Give Back: Still Serving Veterans helps navigate VA benefits
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Still Serving Veterans helps veterans and their families navigate a complicated realm once the veteran hangs up their uniform: VA benefits. Terri Womack, team lead for the veteran claims and benefits division, has worked day and night for the past six years in an effort to help every veteran or veteran spouse who comes through her office door. Call of Duty supports Still Serving Veterans with a significant annual grant 'For so many veterans, they know what they were exposed to,' Womack said. 'They know what they did, and now they have a cancer, or they have this chronic illness that nobody else in their family has. It's a sense of recognition of your service and the sacrifice, and what that has now caused in your body.' Veterans injured or exposed to harmful chemicals during their service can apply for benefits and compensation after service. The 2022 PACT Act significantly expanded the medical issues that qualify for benefits. Specifically, it allows veterans exposed to Agent Orange, burn pits and other toxic substances to enroll in VA Healthcare without needing to prove a link between their health conditions and exposure. 'He was not service-connected for high blood pressure, but because of that, high blood pressure is now a presumptive service-connected issue,' Womack said. 'So now his surviving spouse can come see me and I can apply for service-connected death due to complications from hypertension, and get her $1,600 a month.' The Give Back: Still Serving Veterans changing lives, one resumé at a time VA benefits stretch beyond just service-related medical issues. 'They can also get non-service-connected pension if they have a financial need, and served during a wartime period,' Womack said. 'By the same token, their surviving spouse is also authorized to different kinds of care. So, a service-connected death…if they died of a service-connected illness, then their surviving spouse can apply for what we call dependency and indemnity compensation. It's kind of like VA life insurance…There's lots of options to be able to get help for military families in this area.' Navigating and applying for benefits is not always easy, and that's where Still Serving Veterans comes into the picture. Claims and benefits counselors are carefully trained in nearly everything the VA has to offer. Womack said that, unlike other organizations, benefit services at SSV are completely free, and clients keep all of the compensation they receive from Veterans Affairs. She added that the veteran-to-veteran relationships cannot be duplicated. 'We're all veterans, and we want to hear your story,' Womack said. 'Just don't go into the world of VA by yourself. We like to say we're VA sherpas. It's a high mountain to climb, but we know the way. So, just give us a call and we'd love to help.' Still Serving Veterans cannot give these free services and continue changing the lives of veterans across the nation without the community's help. To learn more on getting involved and donating, visit their website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NC nurse advocates for veterans healthcare as Trump's VA cuts loom
Mildred Manning-Joy waited 45 minutes for her prescription to be filled at the Veteran Affairs Durham Health Care Facility. She watched as a single person worked to take orders, fill prescriptions and service the window. 'That's way too much to ask of anyone,' Manning-Joy said. And as the line behind her continued to grow, she worried about the people who didn't have the time to wait. Manning-Joy isn't just a patient at the Durham VA. She's a nurse of 25 years, who works at the facility and is a member of National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country. On Tuesday, she joined a group of NNU members and Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, for a briefing held over Zoom, to discuss the impact of the Trump administration on VA healthcare. Among the chief concerns noted in Tuesday's calls was an executive order signed by President Donald Trump preventing the collective bargaining rights of federal workers, a federal hiring freeze and proposed cuts by Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reduce the VA workforce by 70,000 to 80,000 people. The Trump administration wants to cut 15% of the Veteran Affairs work staff to bring it back down to what it was in 2019, before COVID and The PACT Act took effect. The PACT Act is a law that provides veterans care after exposure to toxic chemicals, including those at Fort Bragg, who used the base's unsafe drinking waters. Earlier this month, Collins got into a heated discussion at a Senate hearing with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, about the cuts. Collins claimed Blumenthal was trying to stir fear among veterans, and he defended the VA cuts, saying that healthcare remained a priority. Meanwhile, Takano introduced a bill this month, with 81 cosponsors, that would give VA workers back their collective bargaining rights. None of North Carolina's delegation has signed onto the bill. 'They don't want workers to organize,' Takano said, of the executive order. 'They know that there is strength in numbers, and they know that there is strength in unions. I know firsthand the power of unions, having been a member of one for many years myself. The whole idea is to either make working for VA so miserable that everyone quits, or to take away their grievance rights so they can fire dissidents without cause.' Monica Giles, a nurse from Alabama, said nurses aren't the only ones being silenced. Veterans are, too. 'We took an oath to take care of those who serve in our nation's military, and for their families, caregivers and survivors, and that is being stripped away with the stroke of a pen,' Giles said. 'But nurses aren't going anywhere, because we are afraid for our patients. We know if we leave our patients, they'll suffer.' Concerns for their patients took up the majority of the call. There was already a worker shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now with a hiring freeze and job cuts through attrition, workers are trying to fill in gaps. They talked about leaving patients for a half-hour to fill prescriptions or not having enough mental healthcare providers. 'Decades of scientific research show that when our RNs are forced to care for too many patients at one time, patients are at high risk of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, falls and injuries, increased length of hospital stay and even death,' said Andrea Johnson, a nurse from San Diego, who spoke on the call. Patients also fear losing healthcare teams they spent years building to treat their needs. 'I ask each and every one of you to think about who ultimately is going to be impacted by the cuts of the VA: the veterans,' Giles said. 'They don't deserve to be stripped of the care they earned and have been promised.' Manning-Joy comes from a multigenerational military family and knows firsthand the importance of the specialized care veterans receive at VA facilities. That includes one-on-one time with providers as well as doctors and nurses who understand what veterans have gone through to leading technologies like prosthetics. And she said it was becoming a nurse for the VA that helped her understand why she loved her career so much. 'After just a few years working in the VA, I knew I could never go anywhere else,' Manning-Joy said. 'My coworkers and I have a deep love for our work and we want this to be the best place possible for our veteran patients.' That's why when she sees problems, she brings them up. She said her coworkers do as well. 'We are advocates for our patients, and that is why it is so important to us to have our protective rights to organize and bargain,' Manning-Joy said. 'There are times when we report things that don't get addressed. That's when we come together and collectively take action to protect our patients.' But she said over the past few months, more issues are going unaddressed. 'The hiring freeze and the firing of probationary employees have led to really severe staffing issues in our facility, and VA Secretary Doug Collins has now put forward a plan that could cut VA staff by 83,000,' Manning-Joy said. 'We have to get out in front of this. Any further cuts will lead to an unimaginable staffing crisis that will lead to worsening patients' outcomes.' Manning-Joy called Collins' plans to cut staffing 'really scary' and 'unfair to our veteran patients.' 'Veterans rely on the VA to get specialized care that comes with serving in the military,' Manning-Joy said. 'Our nurses are trained to have the experience to manage diverse needs of the population and these cuts will ultimately harm veterans. Fighting for our VA must be a top priority.'
