thedrifter
09-29-06, 07:53 AM
Posted on Fri, Sep. 29, 2006
VA failed to use funds set for mental health
Millions meant to help combat vets went untapped and millions went to other programs.
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
The Star’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON | Over the last two years, $300 million has been set aside to fill critical gaps in mental health services for veterans, especially troops returning from combat.
But more than $50 million of those allocations didn’t get spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and millions more went to other programs, congressional investigators reported Thursday.
The funds were supposed to improve awareness of the VA’s mental health programs and provide better access for combat vets, former women personnel and others with serious mental illnesses.
The underspending was one of the topics at a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee looking into the number of soldiers and Marines suffering post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
“Please don’t hide behind statistics and bureaucrat-ese,” Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of California told medical experts at the hearing. “Let us know you have some passion for solving this issue.”
Gerald Cross, a top VA health official, replied, “I can assure you we do have passion, and we have the passion for caring for our veterans.”
The Government Accountability Office’s findings were another thorn for the VA and the Bush administration, accused of failing to prepare for how the Iraq war would stretch the capacity to treat affected veterans.
The VA did not respond to requests for comment.
In Thursday’s GAO report, investigators looked at the mental health strategic plan and found that the VA spent only $53 million of the $100 million set aside in fiscal 2005 to address these gaps in care.
It sent $35 million of the $100 million to a VA general fund. The GAO called it “likely” that some of these funds were not used as intended and found some used for routine mental health programs.
The remaining $12 million went unspent. Similarly, in fiscal 2006 that ends Saturday, the VA budgeted $200 million for the strategic plan, but $42 million remains unspent.
“We will exercise greater oversight on this issue now to determine what VA is spending and how it is being spent,” said Rep. Henry Brown Jr., a South Carolina Republican, who presided over the session.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, said the Walter Reed Army Medical Center has treated more than 650 troops for traumatic brain injury — 40 percent of all the soldiers from the combat zones seen by the hospital.
Col. Charles Hoge, director of psychiatry and neuroscience at Walter Reed’s Institute of Research, said that 15 to 17 percent of those who served in combat have screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Kansas City Star reported in May that the VA had dramatically underestimated the number of troops that would return from Iraq this year suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A separate GAO report reached a similar conclusion last week.
“Gaps in mental health services remain,” said Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine, the ranking Democrat on the health subcommittee. “The mental health strategic plan is good. However, without a real commitment to funding, the plan will not become a reality.”
Ellie
VA failed to use funds set for mental health
Millions meant to help combat vets went untapped and millions went to other programs.
By DAVID GOLDSTEIN
The Star’s Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON | Over the last two years, $300 million has been set aside to fill critical gaps in mental health services for veterans, especially troops returning from combat.
But more than $50 million of those allocations didn’t get spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and millions more went to other programs, congressional investigators reported Thursday.
The funds were supposed to improve awareness of the VA’s mental health programs and provide better access for combat vets, former women personnel and others with serious mental illnesses.
The underspending was one of the topics at a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee looking into the number of soldiers and Marines suffering post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
“Please don’t hide behind statistics and bureaucrat-ese,” Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of California told medical experts at the hearing. “Let us know you have some passion for solving this issue.”
Gerald Cross, a top VA health official, replied, “I can assure you we do have passion, and we have the passion for caring for our veterans.”
The Government Accountability Office’s findings were another thorn for the VA and the Bush administration, accused of failing to prepare for how the Iraq war would stretch the capacity to treat affected veterans.
The VA did not respond to requests for comment.
In Thursday’s GAO report, investigators looked at the mental health strategic plan and found that the VA spent only $53 million of the $100 million set aside in fiscal 2005 to address these gaps in care.
It sent $35 million of the $100 million to a VA general fund. The GAO called it “likely” that some of these funds were not used as intended and found some used for routine mental health programs.
The remaining $12 million went unspent. Similarly, in fiscal 2006 that ends Saturday, the VA budgeted $200 million for the strategic plan, but $42 million remains unspent.
“We will exercise greater oversight on this issue now to determine what VA is spending and how it is being spent,” said Rep. Henry Brown Jr., a South Carolina Republican, who presided over the session.
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, said the Walter Reed Army Medical Center has treated more than 650 troops for traumatic brain injury — 40 percent of all the soldiers from the combat zones seen by the hospital.
Col. Charles Hoge, director of psychiatry and neuroscience at Walter Reed’s Institute of Research, said that 15 to 17 percent of those who served in combat have screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Kansas City Star reported in May that the VA had dramatically underestimated the number of troops that would return from Iraq this year suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A separate GAO report reached a similar conclusion last week.
“Gaps in mental health services remain,” said Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine, the ranking Democrat on the health subcommittee. “The mental health strategic plan is good. However, without a real commitment to funding, the plan will not become a reality.”
Ellie