VA trial ends with differing views of care

[unhappycamper]

VA trial ends with differing views of care
By Paul Elias - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 1, 2008 7:27:12 EDT

SAN FRANCISCO — A two-week trial that scrutinized the quality of health care for veterans concluded Wednesday with the judge questioning how much authority he had to order changes in the Department of Veterans Affairs, even if he found deficiencies.

“One of the problems I have in this case is this court is restricted by various statutes, binding regulations and case law,” U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti told lawyers.

Justice Department lawyer Daniel Bensing, who was defending the system that serves nearly 6 million veterans, argued that the veterans groups suing the VA should take their case to Congress, not the courts.

Arturo Gonzalez, who represented the two veterans groups that sued, countered that the judge did have power to order changes because VA’s “system has crashed and it has been overwhelmed” by an increasing number of claims.

Last year, the VA processed 840,000 claims, an increase from 675,000 in 2001. VA attributed the increased to aging Vietnam veterans with growing health problems. But Gonzalez argued that VA is unprepared to care for the returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_vetcaretrial_043008/