This report originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

The House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing to review programs to assist veterans and wounded military personnel in coordinating care. The hearing was in conjunction with review of the Veterans' Caregiver Bill, S. 1963. Rep. John Hall (NY) said about the legislation in his testimony: "This legislation will mandate that the VA have a permanent presence on active-duty military facilities, and require one-on-one consultations with active troops as they begin the transition process."

Veteran Sean Johnson spoke about why there is a need for such coordination. He recounted trying to obtain services after returning to the U.S. following an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury in combat. Mr. Johnson detailed how, while suffering from a myriad of symptoms, he still had the burden of submitting paperwork, initiating care, providing complete files, and struggling to get evaluation and treatment, a years-long process. He said, "VA benefits system should use the experts' written records to make rating decisions permanent, instead of making veterans go through numerous evaluations and exams, as if to make the veteran prove his or her disability again."

Captain Jonathan Pruden, USA (Ret.), Area Outreach Coordinator, Wounded Warrior Project, explained that more work needs to be done. While progress has been made in coordinating clinical care of severely injured service members, "...wounded warriors leaving the service continue to face programmatic, cultural, and structural barriers at VA. It is critical, in our view, that those barriers be toppled and that key VA programs and service-delivery mechanisms be re-engineered, as necessary, to help wounded warriors not simply to recover from their injuries but to thrive physically, psychologically and economically."

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