The Senate unanimously passed a $3 billion expansion to the G.I. Bill on Wednesday, paving the way for veterans to pursue STEM careers while bolstering existing benefits. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the measure, which the House passed last week, also in a unanimous vote. The original G.I. Bill was created after World War II, allowing returning veterans to receive an education in return for their service.

Named after Harry Walter Colmery, a veteran who drafted the original 1944 bill, the expanded benefits “will further invest in the proven educational success of our veterans and help propel them toward becoming the civic, business and public leaders of our country,” according to the text.

The measure expands financial assistance and other benefits for Purple Heart recipients, families of soldiers killed on the battlefield, and veterans who pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, also known as STEM fields. It also repeals the 15-year benefits limit.

“When new industries emerge and we rely on American workers to fill those jobs, it shouldn’t matter if a veteran is five, 15, or 30 years out of the service,” Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Phil Roe (R-TN) wrote in an op-ed after the House passed the measure. “If you haven’t used your benefits yet, you should be able to get an education at any point in your life,” McCarthy and Roe, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, wrote.

After a brief disagreement on how the expanded benefits would be funded, Congress settled on a solution: reduce the increase in housing benefits for new beneficiaries. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the measure, which will cost $3 billion over a decade, will ultimately be cost neutral.

Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called the bill a “great victory for out veterans and their future.” He added: “When our veterans return home, they should have every opportunity available to them to pursue their desired profession and career.”

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the measure “will help our nation’s service members transition back to civilian life by opening doors for their future success.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin also expressed support for the measure, also known as the Forever G.I. Bill:

The #ForeverGIBill strengthens an important #Veterans benefit. I thank the House and Senate for making this bill a priority.

— Dr. David J. Shulkin (@SecShulkin) August 2, 2017

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new pilot program on Tuesday that would allow veterans in Phoenix to receive outside care at CVS MinuteClinics. The program is a new effort designed to alleviate the exorbitant wait times veterans face when seeking care at VA facilities. For now, the program is limited to the Phoenix area, where VA facilities treat about 120,000 veterans.

“Our number one priority is getting veterans’ access to care when and where they need it,” Baligh Yehia, the VA’s deputy undersecretary for health for community care, told the Associated Press. “The launch of this partnership will enable VA to provide more care for veterans in their neighborhoods.”

The current Veterans Choice Program (VCP) restricts veterans from seeking outside care unless they have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment. If the nearest VA clinic is over 40 miles away, then a veteran is allowed to seek outside care as well. The new Phoenix-area program allows VA staff to recommend a veteran to go to a MinuteClinic when “clinically appropriate.” VA Secretary David Shulkin has indicated he would like to scrap the current VCP restrictions.

Congress recently passed legislation that would funnel $10 billion into the VCP program. “Congress has once again demonstrated that the country stands firmly united when it comes to supporting our nation’s Veterans,” Shulkin said at the time. President Donald Trump, who promised throughout his campaign to reform the VA, is expected to sign the legislation on Wednesday.

In 2014, then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned after it was revealed that officials in Phoenix falsified reports about the wait times veterans faced at VA clinics. The fake reports covered up the fact that in some instances, veterans died while waiting for care. In a recent survey conducted by the VA, only 61 percent of veterans said they could get a medical appointment for primary care when they needed one.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he was also a POW, supports the new program. “Veterans in need of routine health care services should not have to wait in line for weeks to get an appointment when they can visit community health centers like MinuteClinic to receive timely and convenient care,” he said.

And Tobias Barker, the chief medical officer of CVS MinuteClinic, told the AP he hopes the new program can be one of several solutions to providing medical care to America’s veterans. “We believe in the MinuteClinic model of care and are excited to offer our health care services as one potential solution for the Phoenix VA Health Care System and its patients,” he said.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Sarah Palin likes Donald Trump, but doesn’t believe he made it all the way to the White House on his own. On the holiday edition of the Breitbart News Daily radio show she claimed that God was responsible for Trump’s win. In the show, she said she saw the role “divine providence” played on the campaign trail. She said people have been desperate for a change after the country’s deterioration and that his victory was due to people praying to God that the rest of the citizens would wake up. Palin claimed she had seen it “first-hand.” And she also said this:

I saw more and more people’s eyes open, and I think so much of that was based on the church in general, those people of faith who were praying to God that people would wake up. Remember, our Founders dedicated this land, this new country that would be America, this idea of America, dedicated it to God. If I were President, I’d re-dedicate us to God.

Palin has described herself as a “Bible-believing Christian,” saying that God has an important role to play in American elections. But the last time she said that God would do the right thing for America by helping John McCain beat Barack Obama in 2008, her predictions were wrong and Obama became the first black president in U.S. history. Many people had something to say about her views on religion and the 2016 election:

Dear Sarah Palin,

God heard what you said and wants you to know he responded thusly: “Leave me out of this.”

— Ricky Pine ⚡️❄️ (@redrainricky) November 30, 2016

Sarah Palin says God made Trump win, confusing God with slaveowners who demanded an electoral college during the constitutional convention.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) November 30, 2016

Palin also said: “We found our revolutionary Donald Trump, he’s our messenger. Donald Trump heard the voice of the people and allowed the people to expose what needed exposing.”

To make Palin’s year even better, it was reported on Wednesday that she is being considered for a cabinet role as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. According to a Palin aide she has been telling Trump transition officials that she feels she could be of use in a “productive and positive way.” She has focused on the VA for a while; her eldest son is an Iraq War veteran and earlier this week her son-in-law posted a video to Facebook promoting her work with veterans. Though Palin has not yet been to the Trump Tower to meet with the President-elect, she was one of his first endorsements.

There were mixed reactions on social media to that news as well.

Sarah Palin is “super duper excited” that she might be in charge of the dept for animal doctors. @monicajibanez @georgeswright

— AnnAMae (@SweetasPHI) November 30, 2016

Sarah Palin as VA Secretary seems completely insane until you remember that Donald Trump was just elected President.

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 30, 2016

I’m probably more qualified to be VA Secretary than Sarah Palin just by having ‘VA’ in my Twitter name

— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) November 30, 2016

Palin has also been talked about for the position of Energy Secretary, which could be pretty catastrophic considering she posted a Facebook status showing off her view on energy, saying “Drill, baby, drill!” She also wrote: ”The inherent link between energy and security, and energy and prosperity, is real and recognized by every American except sketchy politicians and deceived faux environmentalists.” So, if you thought we left Palin behind in 2008, don’t worry, she’s back and busy in 2016.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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There are serious, systemic problems in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Top officials have been subpoenaed after a series of whistleblowers alleged neglect and a coverup of inadequate medical services by VA doctors.

The story started in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Samuel Foote, a now-retired doctor at the VA hospital in Phoenix, was the first to claim that in order to deal with complaints about long wait times and make it look like they did not have as much backup as they actually did, hospital officials kept a secret, unofficial list of veterans waiting for appointments. The list was never reported, and if a patient on the list died, they were just permanently erased. The allegations state that these lists have since been destroyed. Since Dr. Foote came out with this claim, several other hospital employees have told similar stories.

Individuals have also come forward with their frustrating experiences with the VA hospital in Phoenix. One woman claims that her father-in-law, Thomas Breen, went in for emergency care related to cancer, but the staff told him he needed to make an appointment with a VA doctor. He never got that appointment because he was placed on a wait list and died in the meantime.

Breen isn’t the only patient who may have died because of this secret list system — up to 40 veterans’ deaths may be a result of negligence and mismanagement at the VA hospital.

These allegations have made a wave in the VA community and among officials in Washington. Originally, the VA claimed that the so-called unofficial list was just a set of transitory reminder notes for the doctors between themselves, nothing legitimate or official. The VA claims that those notes were just used while the hospital was switching computer systems, and then were destroyed. So far, many top officials have been subpoenaed by the House Veterans Affairs Committee, including the head of the VA, Eric Shinseki. He has been ordered to turn over any information, including emails and documents, that could relate to what happened in Phoenix. The subpoena specifically seeks information about the “unofficial list.” Shineski has until 9:00am Monday, May 19 to comply with the order.

Shinseki is receiving a mountain of pressure after the whole incident. Some special-interest veterans groups want him to resign while others are standing behind the chief. The largest veterans group in the U.S., the American Legion, has come out in favor of Shinseki’s resignation. American Legion Commander Daniel Dellinger stated, “It’s a story of poor oversight and failed leadership. This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.” Other major veterans groups haven’t called for Shinseki’s resignation, but have condemned the actions of the VA hospital in Phoenix. 

On the other hand, the Obama Administration and Speaker Boehner have stood behind Shinseki and the VA.

There is the chance that this was a select incident that occurred at the Phoenix VA hospital. But somehow, I doubt that. This isn’t the first issue the VA has had in its hospitals in recent years — they’ve already acknowledged that approximately 23 patients have died because of delayed care in the past couple of years. There have also been allegations that workers in the Fort Collins, Colo. hospital were taught how to falsify records, and there have been problems in multiple other cities.

There’s clearly an issue here that warrants attention. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have added a new pool of veterans into our communities, and those who fought in Vietnam and Korea are getting older and developing more health problems. Costs are just getting worse for the VA — in 2012 it spent $57 billion on disability benefits alone, after spending just $15 billion in 2000. The Department of Veterans Affairs is clearly struggling to keep up with demand, and this may be one of the heartbreaking side effects.

—

Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Featured image courtesy of [DVIDSHUB via Flickr]

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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