Obama pointing to strides in veterans’ health care

Obama will also announce that the administration is halfway toward building a massive database on veterans’ health when he addresses the annual convention of the Disabled American Veterans service organization Monday in Atlanta, the White House said.

Gold Star families “represent the best of our country” and “serve as a powerful reminder of the true strength of America”, Obama said in Atlanta. He also will recap how he has tried to help former military members, moving beyond headline-grabbing scandals over lengthy wait-times for veterans seeking medical care that led to the firing of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Benefits are now available for more than 2 million veterans, who before didn’t have access, while telemedicine has improved access to veterans in rural areas.

In 2014, First Lady Michelle Obama launched the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness with the goal of accelerating progress toward the ambitious national goal of ending veteran homelessness.

Overall, though, Augustine said veterans appreciate the support they have received from Obama.

“When too many veterans still aren’t getting the care that they need, we all have to be outraged”, Obama said. The White House said the situation was “unacceptable”.

“The fact is, VA will never be fixed until we have a president who is dedicated to solving the department’s No. 1 problem – its widespread and pervasive lack of accountability”, Miller said in a statement.

Cabinet officials celebrated how far they have come in finding homes for veterans.

Rieckhoff said Obama’s speech was “tone deaf” and that the president needed to “be candid in acknowledging the failures during his presidency and turning the corner now”.

“We have to do everything we can for those families, and honor them, and be humbled by them”, Obama said. There are people who keep pressing for this radical proposal, but studies have shown the quality of VA healthcare is often better than private care.

Quicker processing of disability claims and appeals is also needed.

“The VA health care system still has a lot of issues, but even with all the concerns and all the negative press, the demand for VA care has gone up”, Augustine said.

In 2016, less than 40,000 veterans were counted among the nation’s homeless, down from the 47,725 homeless vets the Department of Housing and Urban Development counted in January 2015.

While in Atlanta, the president will tout statistics that show his administration has cut veteran homelessness almost in half since 2010, while 500,000 veterans have voluntarily donated their health data to the V.A.’s Million Veteran Program.

One of Obama’s primary goals was to eradicate veteran’s homelessness by 2015, a deadline he has passed short and which has caused a cloud of criticism over the Obama administration.

“We’ve already reduced the rate of homelessness in the veterans population by…” To date, 27 communities and two states have effectively ended veteran homelessness, serving as models for others across the nation. “But as we’ve seen over the last few years as funding has repeatedly increased, funding alone will not fix the VA”.