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CONNECTICUT VA CHIEF SEEKS DATA ON RETURNING
WOUNDED SOLDIERS -- Citing privacy laws
blocking the
sharing of medical information without express
consent, federal
government officials have refused to provide
the information.
Story here...
http://www.newsday.com/
news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-c
t--woundedveterans-c0629jun29,0,7
026277.story?coll=ny-regio
n-apconnecticut
Story below:
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Connecticut VA chief seeks data on returning
wounded soldiers
By ANDREW MIGA
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -- Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz
told a presidential panel Friday that the federal government needs to
share more information about wounded soldiers returning home so states
can do a better job helping them.
"Our question is, why can't we, the states, be considered partners?"
Schwartz said. "There is a need. There really is a need ... We're not
asking for money. We're asking for information."
Citing privacy laws blocking the sharing of medical information without
express consent, federal government officials have refused to provide
the information.
Connecticut officials have been seeking timely data about injured
service members still on active duty and those who have been discharged
with veterans status in order to help them and their families.
The more the state knows about returning wounded soldiers, the better it
can prepare for their needs, Schwartz said.
The "steadfast resistance" of the U.S. Department of Defense and the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is major frustration for state
veterans affairs officials across the nation who are eager to help
returning injured veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, Schwartz told the
nine-member commission.
"We are not asking for privileged information," Schwartz said. "We
simply need to know the name, the home address, and if possible, when
they are expected home."
The Pentagon said it is working to balance privacy issues with a desire
to help wounded soldiers.
"We want to share medical information on military personnel with the
state Veteran Administrations," Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon
spokesman, said in a statement. "We are working with the VA on enhancing
the process. We want all the medical providers in this process to have
access to information but we have to ensure that privacy is protected as
well as the confidentiality of the patient."
VA officials have offered to notify the state if a "severely disabled"
Connecticut soldier was returning home, Schwartz said, but that leaves
out the vast majority of injured service members.
"In February, VA invited states to join an alliance to improve awareness
about state benefits and services available to our returning
servicemembers," federal VA spokesman Matt Smith said in a statement.
"We are pleased 38 states, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands have partnered with VA to
better communicate and coordinate on behalf of these American heroes."
Schwartz testified for about five minutes before the Commission on Care
for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, which is probing veterans care
in the wake of reports earlier this year of shoddy outpatient treatment
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It was the commission's last public
hearing before considering its recommendations.
The panel is headed by former GOP Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas, and former
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. They said their
report would focus on improving and simplifying the system of care for
veterans and service members.
President Bush has pledged to carefully listen to the panel's findings
and recommendations. The report is expected in mid-July.
Connecticut is expecting an influx of about 500 soldiers returning this
fall, Schwartz said. Some 85 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have
already been at the State Veterans Home in Rocky Hill, she said.
Many veterans struggling with injuries need help navigating the complex
and often confusing VA care system to process claims and figure out
benefits they are entitled to, Schwartz said.
"The system is designed to make you give up," she said. "You cannot do
it without an advocate."
Given the refusal by federal officials to provide information, Schwartz
has created Operation Outreach, a grass-roots effort to locate the
state's wounded soldiers.
Connecticut Gov. Jodi M. Rell wrote President Bush in March asking for
the Defense Department and the VA to develop more aggressive ways to
share information on wounded service members with the states.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., is pursuing legislation in the House that
would require federal officials to notify states of returning wounded
soldiers.
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Larry Scott --
