Veterans
Senator Wyden has worked to expand access to health care for all veterans.
In 2005, Senator Wyden successfully worked with Oregon and Washington’s Congressional Delegations to ensure that the Walla Walla, WA VA hospital was not closed as part of the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process. In 2010, when the VA announced plans reduce services at its Roseburg facility, Wyden held a series of community forums and forced an outside review of the hospital which kept Roseburg’s VA emergency room open and expanded distance medicine programs for veterans in Oregon’s rural communities. Wyden’s advocacy also made a Community Based Outpatient Clinic for veterans in La Grande a reality as well as the creation of Bend’s Vet Center which opened in 2010.
In 2008, Wyden’s questioning of two Pentagon officials and subsequent follow-up with the Secretary of Defense revealed more than 39,000 cases of concurrent retirement and disability claims as well as combat-related compensation claims that had yet to be processed. As a result of Wyden’s intervention, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service quadrupled the number of staff processing claims and ensured prompt reimbursement for veterans. In 2010, Wyden’s advocacy resolved a two year backlog of reimbursements for Oregon veterans who paid out of pocket for service-connected travel and health care.
Latest
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Wyden NDAA Amendment to Hold Contractors Accountable Sent to the President
With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon will not be able to sign agreements freeing defense contractors from liability for their actions without justifying such an agreement to Congress. The provision, authored by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-O...…Read More
Posted on 12/21/12 -
Veterans Affairs Department Agrees to GI Bill Housing Allowance Fix for OIT Students
In a good first step toward fairer housing allowances for veterans going to school on the post-9/11 GI bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs is allowing veterans studying at the Oregon Institute of Technology’s Wilsonville satellite campus to receive a housing allo...…Read More
Posted on 12/13/12 -
Wyden Amendment to NDAA Forces Pentagon to Disclose Contractor Indemnification Agreements
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Posted on 12/12/12 | -
Oregon Lawmakers to Pentagon: Don’t Put Taxpayers on the Hook for Contractors’ Negligence
Portland, OR - Six members of Oregon’s congressional delegation are urging The Pentagon to resist efforts by military contractor Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) to stick American taxpayers with the estimated $100 million bill for the company’s negligence in the 2003 poi...…Read More
Posted on 12/07/12 -
In Letter, Oregon Lawmakers Seek to Have VA’s GI Bill Housing Allowance Calculated Based on Where Veterans Live and Study
Oregon lawmakers wrote to the Veterans Administration to object to regulations which shortchange Oregon veterans going to college under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. In a letter to VA Director of Education Services Robert Worley, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (...…Read More
Posted on 12/04/12 -
Wyden Testifies at Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing on Pension Poachers
Posted on 06/27/12 -
Wyden and Kohl Investigate Pension Poaching in VA’s Pension Program at Aging Committee Hearing
Coinciding with the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report investigating “pension poaching” practices by unscrupulous financial planners operating within the VA’s pension program, U.S...…Read More
Posted on 06/06/12 |