In his last formal address to the nation’s veterans, President Barack Obama said Monday in Atlanta that the US has improved health care services for former military members, but he acknowledged that much work remains for his successor to restore confidence in the troubled system.
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Obama will be heading to Atlanta on Monday to talk and discuss veteran’s protection and care at the Disabled American Veterans convention, before leaving office in January.
Eric Shinseki, who was named secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs when Obama took office, said in 2009 that he and the president were “personally committed to ending homelessness among veterans within the next five years”.
Obama did not mention Trump’s name, but said he’s “pretty exhausted of some folks trash talking America’s military” in remarks at the annual Disabled American Veterans conference, held this year at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta.
Obama said. “We have the most capable fighting force in history, and we are going to keep it that way”. “He has also failed to reach his goal of ending the VA backlog by the beginning of 2016 – which still stands at over 70,000 today”. The Republican candidate has been harsh over the Obama administration.
“Michelle and I have spent countless hours with them, we have grieved with them”, Obama said. The caseload has been reduced from more than 600,000 three years ago to 80,000 claims now, according to the White House, though there are still some 450,000 appeals pending and veterans wait an average of three years for a decision.
Obama also highlighted improvements made to the system.
Both are trying to earn the votes of the almost 21 million veterans in the USA, an influential bloc in states such as Georgia with several military bases and a heavy presence of former soldiers.
Despite the problems and bad publicity, demand for VA health care continues to grow, increasing 13 percent in the past year, said DAV Executive Director Garry Augustine. He asked Congress to provide more funds for mental health care. “It is CVA’s hope that the next president – whoever that is – embraces a vision of VA reform which will fundamentally transform the VA into an institution that better delivers health care and other benefits to our veterans”. VA already has been making changes in line with the commission’s recommendations, including helping more veterans get care outside the VA.
“Long wait times, veterans denied care, people manipulating the books – inexcusable”, Obama said to loud applause at the annual convention.
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Augustine said he’d like to see VA establish an approved network of private doctors who know how to treat veterans. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
