On this Veteran's Day of 2009, it has been over 20 years since I was an active member of the United States Marines Corps. I have not talked a great deal about that time of my life (and now won't be an exception), but I do want to talk about my brothers & sisters who have served and have been placed smack dab in the middle of two very painful American narratives --- homelessness and healthcare reform.
Currently there are approximately 131,000 homeless veterans in the United States, that's down from about 200,000 reported just a few years ago, but a number that is still far too high. Veterans account for as many as 25 percent of America's homeless population.
Homeless veterans and administrators they meet as they try to rebuild their lives, say a combination of factors usually contributes. The overlay often includes post
- traumatic stress disorder, financial insolvency, substance abuse, alcohol addiction, physical disabilities, and other mental health issues.
The largest number of dispossessed vets is Vietnam-era vets - they represent 80 percent of the vets who are homeless. We may, however, be seeing a shift in those numbers, as the returning veterans from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan face increasing challenges and stress. Let's take a look at some of the raw numbers provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Labor Statistics :
Estimated homeless veterans : 131,000
Estimated homeless female veterans : 13,100
Estimated post-9/11 veterans : 7,400
Estimated number of female post-9/11 veterans : 740
12 percent of homeless veterans younger than 34 are women
Jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans : 11.3 percent
In the past several years, we have experienced an uptick in post-9/11 veterans who are homeless and the number of women in their ranks is growing as well. Is this the legacy that we would have as a society and nation in regard to our soldiers; our veterans? The grimy hand holding the "will work for food sign," has a one in four chance of belonging to one of our veterans --- that should disturb us far more than I think it does.
Nevertheless, there is some cause for optimism. The US Department of Veterans Affairs has increased funding to help place homeless veterans. During the last four fiscal years, the VA's allocation to transitional housing jumped from $92.7 million to $171.6 million --- helping to bring the number down from 200,000 to 131,000. A wonderful hand-up to some of our veterans, but there is a great deal more to be done.
The great deal that needs to be done in regard to our veterans can also be seen in healthcare reform. Although many Americans believe that all veterans can get care from the VA; even combat veterans may not be able to obtain VA care.
As a rule, VA facilities provide care for any veteran who is disabled by a condition connected to his or her military service and care for specific medical conditions acquired during military service. Veterans who pass a means test are eligible for care in VA facilities, but have lower priority status (Priority 5 or 7, depending upon income level). Veterans with higher incomes are classified in the lowest priority group and are not eligible for VA enrollment.
So what does that mean for some veterans in regard to healthcare? A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care.
The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau's March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.
Using their recently published findings in the American Journal of Public Health that show being uninsured raises an individual's odds of dying by 40 percent (causing 44,798 deaths in the United States annually among those aged 17 to 64), they arrived at their estimate of 2,266 preventable deaths of non-elderly veterans in 2008.
Many of the uninsured veterans fell into the inconvenient crack of being a working American who was too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care. The impact is that numerous veterans went without the care they needed and thus became part of the estimated more than 2200 non-elderly uninsured veterans who die each year. If this is not shameful, then we need to invent a new word for it.
I write this article experiencing various health concerns (not related to my military service in ANY way), but I am insured; although I have my fair share of financial concerns, I write this article from a warm home, with comfortable beds and more than enough food. How can we support any less for our veterans this Veteran's Day?
We love our war stories of glory obtained in combat in faraway lands or in long-gone-by eras. I contend, however, that we are far less-interested when that war is a little closer to home; when the battles are between our veterans and their physical obstacles; between our veterans and their addictions; or between our veterans and flawed policies, bureaucracies and societal apathy.
Let us not be guilty of a patriotism that is admiration-by-proxy or compassionate in the abstract.
Can we say, today, to the veteran who has been made invisible by homelessness: I see you? Can we say to the returning soldier who, in agony, screams silently: I hear you? Can we say, not just to the soldiers who have fallen, but also to the ones who are still with us, ill and destitute: I will not forget you?
Answer these questions well my fellow citizens; my friends; my sisters and brothers.
Sources :
Boston Globe: Discharged To The Streets, 11/08/2009
United States Dept. of Veterans Affairs: VA Healthcare & Eligibility Enrollment
ABC News: 1/3 of Homeless Today are Veterans, 11/10/2009
Medical News Today: 1.46 Million Working-Age Vets Lacked Health Coverage Last Year, 11/11/2009
