By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud
(D-Maine)
Two announcements recently made are very good news for Maine’s veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a major hiring initiative and the White House clarified that automatic budget cuts will not impact VA services.
On April 19, the VA announced that it would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians, including nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce of 20,590 mental health staff. This help can’t come soon enough. A recent VA inspector general report says many veterans aren’t being seen as quickly as they should be for mental health services.
As the Ranking Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, I view VA’s hiring announcement as good news. But I want to make sure that all veterans in Maine get the care they deserve. That’s why I wrote a letter to the director of the VA New England Healthcare System urging him to ensure Maine receives the staff they need to meet demand.
Maine has one of the highest percentages of veterans in the nation per capita, and as service members return from war the demand for treatment will only grow. The signature need for many of these new veterans is treatment for substance abuse, trauma related mental health conditions and traumatic brain injury. The VA Maine Healthcare System desperately needs additional resources to provide timely and quality care for these veterans.
In recent years, lack of access to mental health services has had a very real and detrimental impact on the veterans of Maine. I have heard directly from veterans who must wait months in order to schedule basic mental health sessions. Too often, mental health care providers are overwhelmed by their high caseload and despite their best efforts, cannot give the individualized attention the patients deserve.
Despite a number of recent veteran suicides and violent deaths in Maine, the VA Maine Healthcare System has still not received the funding and support it needs to address these problems. I know that the entire VA Maine Healthcare System, including the community clinics, is eager to provide more of this care, and I’m hopeful that the VA will support them in their efforts.
But when it comes to VA health care, the elephant in the room for many has been the threat of automatic cuts (sequestration) contained in a debt limit law passed last year to rein in federal spending.
Thankfully, on April 24, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a letter of legal clarification that said all programs administered by the VA are exempt from the automatic cuts.
I pushed for this legal clarification in January when I met with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. I also pressed the case for it in multiple hearings of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and cosponsored a bill called the “Protect VA Healthcare Act,” which would protect the VA from automatic cuts.
It was never the intent of Congress to include the VA in sequestration, and I’m disappointed that the Administration has dragged its feet for months before issuing this decision. The delay caused our veterans unneeded concern and stress.
While I believe that Congress should settle this issue once and for all by moving forward on legislation clarifying that VA services are exempt from cuts, this OMB ruling, combined with VA’s new hiring initiative, are significant steps in the right direction.
