While many people equate social media with a younger generation of users, as it turns out, Vietnam and Vietnam-era Veterans represent VA’s fastest growing population of online users.  Both VA’s website and our social media pages have allowed VA to reach out to Veterans who have traditionally been geographically isolated, as well as those who live far away from large cities or major military installations.  The majority of our Veterans live in rural communities and small towns across this great nation -- to include places like Native American tribal lands and Pacific Islands like American Samoa and Guam.  In the past, these Vets would have had to make the trek into a VA facility to get information, submit paperwork, or receive care.  That is changing.  They can now access our online resources to fill out applications, download information and even access care.  VA now provides both telemedicine to monitor medical conditions and online mental health counseling via chat rooms.  In the past year, we’ve added over 180 Veteran-centric videos to VA’s YouTube channel, which have now been viewed over 250,000 times.

This time last year I had just created the Office of New Media at VA in order to pursue the President and Secretary Shinseki’s mission to increase access to VA.  Since fall 2009, we have made a concerted effort to reach and converse with today’s Veterans through the use of a number of new media tools, to include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and blogs.  In doing so, we have had considerable success.  When we started, VA’s primary Facebook page had 879 subscribers.  Now we have over 71,000 -- more than any other cabinet-level agency.  In fact, we now estimate that VA reaches more Veterans through social media each day than through the VA website.  And just in time for Veterans Day, VA has launched its official blog, called VAntage Point.  This new platform will allow Veterans to receive timely and useful information straight from the source.  It’s something we’re very excited about.  Anyone wanting to voice their concerns over Veterans issues can submit a guest post for publication -- and we’re hoping they will.

So as we all take a day to celebrate and honor our nation’s Veterans, I ask all Americans to help spread the word.  Get on your Facebook pages and send out links to VA’s resources, sign on as a follower to VA’s or my Twitter feed, then check out VAntage Point.  Let’s serve those who have served us and let them know of their benefits.  The added bonus is you get to be hip while doing it.

Unfortunately, for years now, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has required Veterans filing disability claims for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to do just that—to document in detail what caused them to become symptomatic.  We call it a “stressor.”  Our rules have been even more stringent for Veterans who didn’t serve in a combat branch of the military—like the infantry, artillery, or armor.  Essentially, if a former military intelligence soldier is continually late for work because he can’t sleep at night, we ask him to provide photos or a written radio log proving he was rocketed when he says he was.  If he can’t, we might deny the claim.  If a former medic shows signs of depression and blames it on having watched people bleed to death, we ask her to get a written statement from her former boss.  Again, if she can’t, we may not award her benefits. But starting today, we’re making this process simpler and easier for all Veterans.   

The previous arrangement is neither fair, nor sustainable. This is especially true in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where there are no static front lines and the combat zone is everywhere.  In reality, life in a combat zone is both complex and it affects each of us differently—as demonstrated by a number of scientific studies.  Some who’ve been in the most terrible fighting can emerge relatively unscathed.  Other non-combat troops, whose wartime experience came only in the form of a blaring air raid siren, can live for decades haunted by the sound and the threat it represented. The base where I was stationed was mortared—almost on a daily basis—enough that it gained the nickname “Mortaritaville.”  My physical wounds  make my combat experience clear, yet other troops on my base must prove they were at an actual explosion from one of those daily attacks.   At VA, we’re now moving to treat all Veterans equally when it comes to filing a disability claim for PTSD.

From this point forward, VA will not require corroboration of a PTSD stressor related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity if a VA psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that the stressful experience recalled by a Veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the Veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor.  This means that if a Veteran was in a certain place at a certain time—and they present to us with diagnosable symptoms, then we’ll presume those symptoms were caused by their experience in combat.

By doing so, for the first time, we won’t be assuming that a truck driver is any less likely to have PTSD than an infantryman.  And by giving this benefit of the doubt, we will relieve pressure on thousands of Veterans—making their trek for the benefits they deserve much easier.  Instead of acting as an inadvertent obstacle, we will now aim to lift some of the heavy fog under which so many of our Veterans have lived—both in combat and after returning home.  It’s something I’m proud to be a part of because I, like so many millions of Americans, believe this is the least we can do to show our gratitude for the sacrifices they have made.

Tammy Duckworth is the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 

To give our veterans further assurance that this legislation will not affect their health care systems, the Chairmen of five house committees including Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bob Filner and Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, have just issued a joint letter (pdf) reaffirming that the health reform legislation as written would protect those receiving care through all TRICARE and Department of Veterans Affairs programs.  In case any questions remained, yesterday’s unanimous passage of HR 4887 in the U.S. House of Representatives, the TRICARE Affirmation Act, made it crystal clear that our veterans – in particular those who depend on TRICARE - will not be harmed by this bill. The White House supports this legislation as well.

Update II: Also see the new statement from VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.]

As Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a constant concern for me is having our Veterans dragged into partisan politics. Unfortunately the debate over health reform has seen that happen far too many times, and at the VA we often have to correct misinformation and assure Veterans that the care they rely on will not be taken away from them.

One of the concerns we are hearing the most now is whether health reform will affect the care Veterans receive under the VA system.

Let me be unambiguous: The healthcare that Veterans receive through the VA system, including dependents of certain veterans enrolled in the CHAMPVA program, will be safe and sound under health reform. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs would continue to maintain sole authority over the system and for enhancing the quality and access for all eligible Veterans.

In addition, TRICARE will continue to be available for all eligible servicemen and women, and their families. Those who are covered by TRICARE would meet the shared responsibility requirement for individuals to have insurance, thereby exempting such members of the uniformed services and dependants from being assessed any sort of penalty. The President has made it clear publicly and to me that he is committed to ensuring that America’s servicemen and women have high quality care, and with health reform that commitment remains very much intact.

I have personally seen what a devastating medical condition can cost. Had I been injured on the freeway and not in combat, it is likely that I would be bankrupt even though I had medical insurance through my civilian employer. I personally receive my world class healthcare from the VA and as a dependent on my husband's Tricare eligibility. This bill is good for our nation and our Veterans and Service Members and their families can be reassured that their benefits are safe. 

Tammy Duckworth is the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs

President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 22, 2009. October 22, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

This is why, when President Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act into law today (also known as "advanced funding"), I was so pleased.  If multi-year planning was vital to a 300-Soldier battalion’s success at a training exercise, it is exponentially more critical to a Department like Veterans Affairs—which serves millions of our nation’s Veterans each day.  Until today, VA had not had the ability to plan its budget in advance—and a late budget meant that VA couldn’t effectively plan. But today, that has all changed.  While VA has consistently provided world class health care to our Veterans, having advanced appropriations will now allow us the ability to raise that care to an even higher standard.

As President Obama remarked, "In short, this is common-sense reform.  It promotes accountability at the VA.  It ensures oversight by Congress.  It is fiscally responsible by not adding a dime to the deficit.  And it ensures that Veterans' health care will no longer be held hostage to the annual budget battles in Washington."

So true.  Those of us in the Veterans' community, to include VA, Veterans Service Organizations and House and Senate Committee leaders, have long identified the need for advanced appropriations for VA.  In fact, President Obama recognized this during his tenure on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and it is a topic that he and I have discussed over the years.

So today, with the knowledge that VA’s budget will be passed a year in advance, we are better prepared to provide for our Veterans and their family members through the development of top-notch plans, services and programs to fit their needs.  This is a good day for the entire community.