June 16, 2009

VA Health Care Eligibility Expanded To Include Higher Income, Nondisabled Vets.

The AP (6/16, Hefling) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department opened the doors of its health care system Monday to about 266,000" nondisabled, Priority 8 veterans, who "have no illnesses or injuries attributed to their military service" and who "earn more than the average wage in their communities." The VA "is expanding eligibility by loosening income restrictions," raising the income "limit...from about $29,000 to $32,000." The AP, which notes President Barack Obama "said while campaigning that he wanted to bring all veterans into the VA's system," adds, "Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member" of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, "praised the move and said she's committed to opening the VA to every veteran."
The Navy Times (6/16, Maze) reports, "VA stopped accepting new enrollments" for Priority 8 vets in 2003, in "what was supposed to be a temporary move to stretch tight health care funds. Once the enrollment freeze began, VA found it difficult to reverse because it couldn't find the extra money to cover the costs of expanding the number of beneficiaries." However, President Obama "worked with Congress to find money to cover the added costs, VA officials said."
CQ (6/16, Johnson), meanwhile, says US Rep. Chet Edwards, (D-TX), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, "saw to it that Congress appropriated $375 million for fiscal 2009 to begin to expand health care to a number" of Priority 8 vets, "and said he supports the president's plan to continue to reintegrate these veterans into the VA health system." News of the VA's expansion of health care eligibility was also noted during stories aired by many local TV stations in various parts of the country, including NEWS13-TV Orlando, FL (6/15, 11:11 p.m. ET) and KCPQ-TV Seattle, WA (6/15, 10:11 p.m. PT).
Impact: Priority 8 Veterans

VA Doctor Using Theoretical Autopsies To Help Living Patients.

In its July 2009 issue, National Geographic magazine reports, "For the past 15 years," Philip Mackowiak, chief of medicine at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, "has supervised the ultimate postmortem: a conference that challenges participants to deduce the cause of death for historical figures like Pericles, Columbus, and Mozart. Using evidence drawn from diaries, historical records, and contemporary accounts, presenters perform theoretical autopsies, which help them refine their ability to diagnose living patients."
 Impact: Autopsies, Improved Medical Training, Veteran Health Care

Meeting Reveals Some Agreement On Diabetes Research.

In a story on the "American Diabetes Assn. meeting" held recently in New Orleans, the Los Angeles Times (6/16, Maugh, 797K) reports, "Doctors already knew that tight control of blood sugar levels is an effective method of preventing cardiovascular and other complications of Type 1 diabetes," but the "situation is more complicated for Type 2, which affects the vast majority of the 24 million diabetics" in the US. Researchers "and clinicians had always believed that aggressively lowering sugar levels is beneficial, until two major studies released last year muddied the waters." One of the studies, "called Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes or ACCORD, suggested that aggressively lowering blood sugar caused a 20% increase in deaths...or subnormal blood sugar levels." The second study, "the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial or VADT, found no increased risk of deaths, but no overall benefit from aggressive treatment. New analyses of the data presented" at the New Orleans meeting "fail to answer the question of why some researchers saw increased risks while others didn't. Two important conclusions they did reach, however, were that diabetics should avoid hypoglycemic episodes...and that aggressive treatment should begin as soon as possible after diagnosis."
 Impact: Diabetes, Heart Disease

Psoriasis Linked To Higher Risk Of Heart Attack, Stroke, Death.

HealthDay (6/16, Edelson) reports, "People with psoriasis face an increased risk of major cardiovascular disease and death, a new study finds. The research, which included data" from a Veterans Affairs "medical facility study to compare 3,236 people suffering from the skin disease to 2,500 psoriasis-free individuals, found a 78 percent higher incidence of heart disease, a 70 percent higher incidence of stroke and a 98 percent higher incidence of peripheral arterial disease (blockage of arteries in the legs) in the psoriasis group. The overall death rate for those with psoriasis was 86 percent higher than for those without the disease." HealthDay says the findings of the new study appear "in the June issue of the Archives of Dermatology." WebMD (6/16, Hitti) runs a similar story.
Impact: Psoriasis, Heart Disease

Ex-Marine To Bike Across Country To Help Iraq War Vets.

The online Seattle Post-Intelligencer (6/16, Gutierrez).
"After leaving the Marine Corps in 2005, Tyler Boudreau wrote a book about his seven months in Iraq that's been regarded as a "true face" of the conflict. He became a vocal advocate for veterans, even writing an article in The New York Times on whether the military should award the Purple Heart --for service-members wounded in combat -- to those afflicted with post traumatic stress. But Boudreau, 38, wanted to carry the conversation about veterans further. So, the captain who spent 12 years in the Marines planned a cross-country bike ride, starting in Seattle and ending in his hometown of Northampton, Mass. The goal: To talk openly about the war in communities along the route with vets and non-vets alike, and to help society understand what vets go through. He calls it 'The Other Side' tour."

Impact: Cross-country bike trip, Vets for Peace

Defense Launches Campaign and Web Site to De-stigmatize Traumatic Stress.

By Bob Brewin 05/26/2009

The Defense Department launched a multimedia campaign that includes a new Web site designed to reduce the stigma that combat veterans and their families say they feel when seeking mental health care.  The effort includes the new Real Warriors Web site, which is hosted deliberately outside a military Internet domain because troops have reported that seeking help for mental health problems could harm their military careers.
Impact: PTSD, Suicide Prevention