By Tom Zampieri
White Cane Resolution
I enjoyed meeting many of our members at a very busy BVA 61st National Convention. Some of those with whom I was able to chat in Buffalo were those I had conversed with by telephone phone during the past year. It was nice to associate voices with faces.
I would encourage as many BVA members as possible to volunteer and sign up for the BVA legislative alerts that are being distributed through Google. This feature allows me to put together Legislative Updates that supplement the Bulletin updates. I am able to disburse information to this legislative group on key issues. Send your name, location, and the regional group to which you are presently affiliated to the following email address: BVListMaster@gmail.com.
As the 109th Congress resumed business and moved into its final month of deliberation in September, we looked to both Houses to act on the previously introduced initiatives affecting blinded veterans.
BVA had moved the White Cane Resolution successfully through the House of Representatives prior to its late summer recess. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) had also placed it on the Senate consent agenda for the first week of business. If no Senator objected, Senate Concurrent Resolution 71 should have passed within 48 hours of placement on the calendar. This would end three years of painstaking effort to get this important public safety resolution passed on behalf of blind individuals. All states will hopefully adopt the substance of this resolution into their driver testing materials.
Continuum of Care Act
We are also making an energetic final push for passage of H.R. 3579, the Blinded Veterans Continuum of Care Act of 2005. Action is pending on the bill in the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Similar to S. 1190, which passed on the other side of Capitol Hill last December, H.R. 3579 would authorize VA to hire 35 new Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialists (BROS) at its medical centers.
This action would occur over a three-year period and would include $3 million each year to cover the costs associated with these additional full-time positions. The bill has 37 co-sponsors and has bipartisan support, but we are still concerned that many Representatives do not understand its great value and importance to America’s blinded veterans.
H.R. 2963
BVA appreciated the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee on Benefits of the House Veterans Affairs Committee regarding the Dr. James Allen Disabled Veterans Equity Act of 2005, or H.R. 2963. Unfortunately, this bill seems destined not to pass during this session.
Introduced by Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-2), H.R. 2963 has more than 81 co-sponsors. It would correct a problem with the Paired Organ Title 38 law that does not provide an actual definition of legal blindness. Under current law, veterans blinded in one eye during service can apply for a change in their disability rating if they eventually become blind in their nonservice-connected eye.
The Veterans Benefits Administration of VA sets the criteria for service-connected blindness at 5/200, a much higher standard than the definition used by the Social Security Administration and many state drivers license agencies. Therefore, every year some veterans have their claims denied when such claims involve blindness in a nonservice-connected eye.
We will continue to work on passage of this bill. The convention delegates adopted a resolution supporting this effort. Key members of the Senate have also demonstrated a very strong interest in introducing a companion bill in the next session of Congress.
Disability Commission and Project HERO
Many other important legislative issues relevant to BVA and its mission are going to emerge as we continue to track the activities of the VA Disability Commission. I would urge all blinded veterans to go to the VA Disability Commission website, www.vetscommission.org for updated information and reports on the research that is being conducted. The Commission is in its final six months and will make recommendations for change in the current VA disability rating system.
Convention delegates opposed Project HERO, or Healthcare Effectiveness through Resource Optimization. HERO began as an attempt to improve the current system of fee-based contracted care as recommended by the four Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) who put together the Independent Budget. What has actually resulted from Project HERO is a proposal that four Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) conduct large-scale contracted private services on a pilot basis.
Rather than VA improving on the old system of primary-contracted care, VISNs 8, 16, 20, 23 will be allowed to enter into contracts for any and all of the specialized services. This could disrupt continuity of care as well as divert more funding from critical programs within VA. It could also hurt VA residency training and research. As this project unfolds, the original recommendations of the Independent Budget appear to have been manipulated to allow large-scale privatization of VA services with large, managed-care organizations in the four aforementioned VISNs.
Kussman Assumes Perlin Duties
Dr. Michael J. Kussman became VA’s Acting Under Secretary for Health on August 12. The appointment followed the resignation of Dr. Jonathan Perlin, who left VA to take a position as chief medical officer and senior vice president for quality at HCA, a Nashville-based private sector health care provider.
Left to right, BVA's Tom Miller and Tom Zampieri greet Jonathan Perlin and his wife, Donna, at a reception honoring Perlin for his service as VA Under Secretary for Health. |
Dr. Kussman served for the past year as VA’s principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health. In that capacity, he led all clinical and operational policies and programs, overseeing health policy coordination between VA and other governmental and non-governmental agencies.
Dr. Kussman’s medical military career spans three decades. His service includes a stint as commander of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, commander of the Europe Regional Medical Command, the TRICARE lead agent for Europe, and command surgeon for U.S. Army Europe.
BVA will miss Dr. Perlin, who held several positions at the VA Central Office beginning in 1999. Under his leadership, VA’s health care has received numerous accolades for innovation. His skill, knowledge, and leadership in working with VSOs were of the highest caliber. Dr. Perlin was supportive of our priorities for blinded veterans and always responsive to our questions and requests. He is also part of BVA history as he was the keynote speaker at our 60th National Convention in Miami Beach.
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