Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Critical Troubles Plague VA And Require Systemic 'Reworking,' Independent Review Finds
The Wall Street Journal: VA Needs ‘Systemwide Reworking,’ Independent Report Finds
A sweeping independent review of the Department of Veterans Affairs health-care system made public Friday shows the multibillion-dollar agency has significant flaws, including a bloated bureaucracy, problems with leadership and a potentially unsustainable capital budget. (Kesling, 9/18)
The Washington Post: After The VA Scandal, Veterans Were Told Their Wait For Care Would Get Shorter. But It’s Actually Getting Worse.
Veterans who are seeking care for everything from post-traumatic stress disorder to cancer may face even longer wait times in the coming years for help from the overburdened Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a highly critical 4,000 page VA-commissioned study of veterans health care. The report finds that VA facilities cost twice the norm for public facilities, a claim that will likely re-launch a debate about moving towards privatizing some VA services. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 9/18)
The New York Times: In Unit Stalked By Suicide, Veterans Try To Save One Another
Mr. Bojorquez, 27, served in one of the hardest hit military units in Afghanistan, the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment. In 2008, the 2/7 deployed to a wild swath of Helmand Province. ... During eight months of combat, the unit killed hundreds of enemy fighters and suffered more casualties than any other Marine battalion that year. When its members returned, most left the military and melted back into the civilian landscape. ... Almost seven years after the deployment, suicide is spreading through the old unit like a virus. ... Feeling abandoned, members of the battalion have turned to a survival strategy they learned at war: depending on one another. Doing what the government has not, they have used free software and social media to create a quick-response system that allows them to track, monitor and intervene with some of their most troubled comrades. (Philipps, 9/19)
