Funds for veterans’ day care dry up

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Steve Liewer

For a few hours each weekday, Marcie Hoff can stop worrying about her dad.

Those are the hours that retired Air Force Master Sgt. Bernie Childers, 75, spends in the Franciscan Centre Adult Day Service in Omaha. He is disabled from a host of medical conditions Hoff said were caused by his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, complicated by dementia. The VA covers the $50-a-day cost of the program, which features music, crafts and games as well as lunch.

Otherwise, he lives with her 24/7 — highly stressful even for someone like Hoff, who is a registered nurse specializing in home health care for the elderly. Her dad’s visits to day care five days a week give her a break.

“My dad has friends here. He’s able to interact and have fun,” Hoff said. “Here’s where my dad was going to be safe. They take care of him.”

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.livewellnebraska.com/health/funds-for-veterans-day-care-dry-up/article_3fa786d1-0aa5-591c-811b-64d57c6f6443.html

[Sunlei]

1. all our Vets should have 100% medical care for life. That said, there may be other adult daycares

who accept the $50 a day our Gov. allows as payment?

There is still way to much burden on family members to provide "primary care" for disabled Veterans and disabled citizens.

Not everyone has a medical professional family member to take over as primary caregiver (that is a fulltime job!). Or a family member to navigate the confusing medical system for them.

[MADem]

3. No--you have it wrong. It is the GOVERNMENT that isn't paying the ticket.

The daycare is still operating (most of their clients are not vets)--the Veteran's Administration has a shortfall and isn't paying the bill. That's where the problem is.

If We, The People want to give decent care to our veterans, We, The People need to appropriate tax dollars to that purpose:

That’s about to change. Because of a $2.5 billion shortfall in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care budget, the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System will no longer cover adult day care and other forms of non-skilled nursing care after July 31, said Will Ackerman, a VA spokesman.
“We recognize the inconvenience,” Ackerman said. “But we also have to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and not spend money we don’t have.”
The news is sudden and devastating for caregivers like Hoff.
“My whole world has screeched to a halt,” Hoff said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
At least 20 of Franciscan’s 67 clients are veterans whose treatment is funded by the VA, said Julie Sebastian, president and CEO of New Cassel Retirement Center, which hosts the Franciscan Centre program.

[Sunlei]

4. I understand the Gov will not pay 2.5 billion to ONE state for these 'daycare' services.

That 2.5 billion divided by $50 = fifty million 'services' .

How many Vets does the state of Nebraska have where they have a budget cost of 2.5 billion, just for these smallish 'services' ?

I looked it up on census and Nebraska has 142,176 total Vets. It doesn't say how many Vets need daycare services.

The Federal Gov. should not send 2.5 billion Federal funds to the state of Nebraska if they will not use it for the Veteran benefit of paid daycare.

The State of Nebraska can't take federal money for Veteran care and just cut off Vets and use the money somewhere else in their budget.

Someone in Nebraska State Gov. squanders or commits fraud with Federal money.

All the State Govs need audits, that small town woman who defrauded over 5 million in Ill. State money (recently) isn't alone.

[Omaha Steve]

6. The 2.5 billion is the VA as a whole

That is not just Nebraska-Western Iowa.

The cost of W's war drove up many VA costs!

[Sunlei]

9. I understand what you mean. It's all the 50 States squandering Federal billions must be the middleme

'middlemen for profits' or "State Admin. costs" cutting away Federal money intended for our Vets.

Especially our Vietnam era Vets, many are in their golden years now.

I know President Obama has made a lot of positive changes for our Veterans, they still deserve much better!

States should not be allowed to Admin., cut from budgets Federal Funds intended for Veterans.

The States should be audited and the states should audit every private 'for profit' service for fraud.

Here in Houston, several of the 'for profit' medical services were shut down a couple years ago for millions in fraud. Federal money fraud (not state money, the State is supposed to Admin Federal money) the State allowed to continue for years.

[MADem]

13. But the bottom line is that the daycare itself is not closing. They're just not getting

any money from the government to support the VA customers that they were providing services to.

That was the point I was honing in on.

Those other issues might or might not be salient, but they aren't addressed in the article.

Because of a $2.5 billion shortfall in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care budget, the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System will no longer cover adult day care and other forms of non-skilled nursing care after July 31, said Will Ackerman, a VA spokesman.
“We recognize the inconvenience,” Ackerman said. “But we also have to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and not spend money we don’t have.”
The news is sudden and devastating for caregivers like Hoff.
“My whole world has screeched to a halt,” Hoff said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
At least 20 of Franciscan’s 67 clients are veterans whose treatment is funded by the VA, said Julie Sebastian, president and CEO of New Cassel Retirement Center, which hosts the Franciscan Centre program.
Sebastian said New Cassel administrators became alarmed in mid-June when they hadn’t yet received funding authorizations for their VA patients for the period beyond July 1. A call to their VA Nebraska-Western Iowa contact June 19 revealed that adult day care was no longer being funded in the region at least through the end of the fiscal year, which ends Oct. 1.

[Sienna86]

2. It is shameful that we do not take proper care of our veterans.

I could never encourage my children to serve in the military. We hear the same stories over and over. The government takes these men and women into war so easily but does not fulfill the moral agreement to care for them when they come home.

[marble falls]

5. Thank your friendly Teapublican Congress.

[jtuck004]

11. Just as two-faced as EVERYONE else who gets the safety provided by their service and lets

this happen.

[raouldukelives]

7. They deserve the best.

And we deserve them the chance to not only get that help, but not to create more under false pretenses.

[sorefeet]

8. I go in this morning for

two hearing aids. Probably six grand. But my teeth are killing me every day but they refuse do anything about that. I ask for a trade off they said no. I ask for emergency care just remove my teeth I will figure out a way to get new ones, the said no. They want $130 to pull each tooth, so at 22 teeth I can't afford that. Va says I don't qualify. You have to be 100% VA disabled for the service or retired from the military. I'm supposedly at 33% care. Don't ask me why but some of us only count as a third of a person. So there are lots and lots of Vets that are just screwed. Plus tens of thousands don't even use the VA. It's mostly lower income people.

[Sunlei]

10. you shouldn't have to do this to get care but get into Veteran emergency care & lay down

claim you can't move or see because of dental pain.

You're right about lower income people can't afford dental care these days and have to suffer and live with intense pain. Even our Obamacare insurance, doesn't cover dental care.

In America people without money can be IDed by their teeth.

you could also publish your need for about $3000 in dental care on facebook and everywhere else you can think of. Give your dentists name and ask for someone with an extra 3k to pay your dentist their 'fee' to help you. I do not have much disposable income but I would try to donate a little to help, I'm positive many others would help you too.

[csziggy]

12. Call your local health department office

In some areas dentists offer pro bono service for severe problems and the local health department clinic will know how to contact the dentists that do.

I only know about this due to a discussion between my dentist and his new assistant while I was getting dental care. He explained to her that all the dentists in his office and some other dentists in the area do work for free for those who cannot afford it. They don't do anything fancy, just the basic required to help people improve their general health.

I don't know if this happens all over - it sounded as though this was an informal arrangement for referrals and up to the discretion of the dentists willing to volunteer.

It's worth checking into, though.

[MADem]

14. Dental schools will often offer said services as well--it would be a student doing the pulling,

under the supervision of a dentist-teacher. Worth it if you are in desperate straits.

[csziggy]

15. That is great if you live near a dental school

There isn't one here, same as in many communities. I hope there are many more dentists like mine that are willing to donate some time to help out people in dire need.

[MADem]

16. If you live a bus ride from one, it might be worth the trip, is all I'm saying.

If you can't find a dentist that will help, this is simply an option to explore.

Here are the schools from sea to shining sea:

http://www.asdanet.org/us-dental-schools.aspx