I have worked as an advocate for veterans for years, and I can tell you that the biggest problem in veterans medical benefits is a lack of information. It's not just that veterans don't know their rights, although this is part of it. It is also that the public as a whole do not know about issues involving medical benefits for veterans. Almost everyone in this country supports the troops. Even as the Iraq war plummets in popularity, people still want to see our boys treated right by their commander in chief. The reality of the situation, however, is much different. VA hospital benefits are decreased every time the military gets a chance. For a president that claims to support our troops, Bush certainly does not take care of veteran medical benefits!
It used to be that, once you served in the military, you were treated well for life. The veterans GI Bill benefits made sure of that! I be easy for you to get loans for college, easy for you to get future employment, and of course easy for you to get veterans medical benefits. Any diseases that you faced any time soon after returning from active duty, especially if they were related to your service in the army, would be treated with premium health care.
Slowly, however, the government has eroded veterans medical benefits. Nowadays, veterans are often worse off than other people. While those of us who work in the private sector have the opportunity to get health care, veterans medical benefits are continually slashed. This means that when they get home from the front, they have no health care. If they had stayed at home, they would be able to have some security. Not only are they asked to make sacrifices for this country, but when they return, they are cheated out of health care.
Although Social Security benefits in this country are poor in general, veterans medical benefits are the worst. It really is a time of crisis. Everyday, I meet new troops coming home from the front with terrible injuries. If they have injuries that can be easily treated through surgery, many of them receive adequate veterans medical benefits. The things that are not treated, however, are the more subtle, long-term conditions. Veterans who need years of psychiatric counseling as a result of the trauma they face in war, for example, are unlikely to receive it. That is why so many of them end up on the streets.
