Gordon Praises Recommendations of Veterans Commission

July 27, 2007, WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon praised a commission’s recommendations to overhaul the current disability ratings system for veterans and provide better care and services to injured service members.

“This nation has made promises to the men and women in our military, and we need to keep them,” said Gordon. “If we want to make sure we maintain a strong military in the future, we must take care of our wounded warriors and our veterans today. Acting on these recommendations will go a long way toward honoring those who serve.”

Following reports earlier this year of returning service members being met with abysmal care and mountains of red tape at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a commission led by former U.S. Senator Bob Dole and former Health and Human Services secretary Donna Shalala met to make recommendations to fix the problems.

On July 25, the commission announced its recommendations, which include completely restructuring the disability ratings system. Both the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs disability ratings have been criticized for inconsistencies, low ratings and long backlogs.

“Wounded service members often don’t argue if they receive a rating they feel is too low, but that rating affects their eligibility for benefits,” said Gordon. “The situation is no better in the VA, where backlogs have delayed health care and benefits for many veterans.”

The commission also recommended assigning Recovery Coordinators to help eliminate delays in receiving care and to help provide injured service members with a smooth transition back to military duty or civilian life. Another suggestion was to increase support for family members who often travel and give up jobs to be with injured service members while they are hospitalized.

The commission also advocated health care policies to better prevent and treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, improving the transition of records from the Department of Defense to the VA, and staffing Walter Reed with well-trained professionals while the hospital remains open.

“Those who volunteer to serve America should not be shortchanged by the very government that sends them into harm’s way,” said Gordon. “We can’t stop here. We must continue to work to ensure our veterans and injured service members get the health care and benefits they were promised.”