TRENTON – Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) Aug. 26 announced that he will introduce two bills aimed at addressing obstacles to healthcare that are faced by veterans in South Jersey. The bills will provide funding to ensure appropriate transportation for local veterans traveling to VA hospitals, and to prevent residents of the Vineland Veterans Memorial Home from having to pay for transportation to doctor appointments outside of the facility.
“One of the major issues for veterans living in South Jersey is that they must travel for hours to get to VA hospitals for care, and for those who suffer from debilitating conditions the trip can be excruciating. One of the most painful challenges we’ve heard is that some of the elderly veterans make this trip without timely access to restrooms. We have to do better,” said Van Drew. “We’ve been advocating for a pilot program in our area that will allow veterans to be treated by community hospitals, with the care covered by the VA. Absent an approval by the federal government of the program, we have to take steps at the state level to improve circumstances for our residents. At the very least, we must ensure they are treated with dignity.”
The first proposal would provide state funding for the purchase of vehicles furnished with full bathroom facilities that would be used to transport veterans in the community to VA hospitals in Delaware, Philadelphia, or northern New Jersey.
A second measure would provide state funding to support the cost of transportation to doctor’s offices for residents living in the Vineland Veterans Memorial Home, a long-term care facility for veterans, their spouses and others. The state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs recently began enforcing a policy in which residents who choose to see an outside doctor – in cases where the veterans’ home has a physician available to provide the medical care in-house – are charged a fee for transportation to the office. Van Drew said it is his understanding the cost would be under $1 million annually.
“We made a request to the department this week to reverse this policy, and hope it does so quickly,” said Van Drew. “However, I am also going to also work with my colleagues to provide the state funding needed to reinstate free transportation for veterans at the Vineland facility and the other two veterans homes in the state. This is just the right thing to do for the men and women who have served our country and now are depending on us to ensure they get the right care.”
Van Drew said he expects both bills to be introduced in the coming weeks.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
