The recent tragic death of a U.S. Navy veteran who set himself on fire outside of the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) clinic in Northfield has again shined a light on the dire need for improved access to health care for veterans in southern New Jersey.
We may never know all of the circumstances surrounding this horrible tragedy, but media reports have indicated that those seeking help at the facility may experience lengthy delays in getting treatment. This only exacerbates the lack of access to care in the region for local veterans.
What we need is a program in South Jersey that allows local veterans to go to doctor’s offices and hospitals here in our region to get treatment. This kind of program has already been endorsed by Congress and President Obama, who in 2014, signed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, which allows veterans to receive care at community non-VA hospitals. However, because of stipulations in the law, many South Jersey veterans are not eligible.
Veterans must have waited more than 30 days for VA medical care, live more than 40 miles away from a veterans’ facility or face excessive travel burdens as determined by the VA to be eligible and, because of the location of the veterans’ clinics in Northfield, Vineland and Cape May, many in South Jersey do not meet the program requirements.
That means veterans, many of whom are older and are suffering with chronic and often times painful health conditions, must travel hours to VA hospitals in Philadelphia, Pa., northern New Jersey or Delaware. This is a huge burden, which leads to some forgoing treatment altogether.
We can change this and we have an obligation to do so. Last week, I wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald requesting that he approve a pilot program that was recommended by the New Jersey Veterans’ Hospital Task Force, which I co-chaired, endorsed by the Legislature and sent to his office in 2014. Under the program, veterans could seek health care at hospitals within their own community. They would receive a VA-issued card that would identify them as veterans and would have their care covered by the federal government.
We have hospitals that are willing and equipped to provide this service. They include: Inspira Health Network, Atlanticare, the Meridian Health Care System, Cape May Regional Medical Center, the Virtua System, Shore Memorial Hospital, Deborah Heart and Lung Center and the Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation.
Veterans, advocates, as well as U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd), also back such a proposal. In fact, the congressman has sponsored legislation to implement the program on the federal level, removing the current restrictions that exist.
This pilot program is the best option to provide quality, accessible care for local veterans, and hospitals across South Jersey are ready to welcome these men and women into their facilities.
Along with my 1st Legislative District colleagues, Assemblymen Bob Andrzejczak and Bruce Land, I will continue to fight for this program, because it will help improve the quality of life for those who have sacrificed life and limb so that we can be comfortable and safe.
Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) represents the 1st Legislative District, which includes Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic counties. He is chairman of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee and vice chair of the Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
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