What Are the Biggest Problems Facing Disabled Veterans Today?

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If you were to say that the biggest problems facing disabled veterans today were healthcare and jobs, you would be correct. Veterans with service related disabilities and also non-service related disabilities are struggling to make ends meet in our current economic flux.
The number of disabled veterans living in our communities has increased since the 1990s, due to the multiple armed conflicts we have been engaged in in the Middle East. These skirmishes, while they have been abated somewhat, are still ongoing. Roughly 1.6 million veterans have fought in these wars, and many of our service members are still involved, in some capacity, with the fighting going on over there. Some come back home with major disabilities needing healthcare and rehabilitation, and others who are able to work need jobs. These two things are the biggest problems facing disabled veterans today.

Disabled Veterans’ Healthcare

Healthcare for returning military servicemembers and veterans had reached an all time low within the last several years. There were long wait times for veterans to get an appointment to see the doctor. Many veterans died from their ailments before they were able to get an appointment for treatment, and the overall healthcare for veterans, both inpatient and outpatient was in a deplorable state of affairs. There have been investigations into this situation but, as of yet, there has been little, if any, improvement in the standard of care for our veterans. There are still problems with getting disabled veterans the proper healthcare they are entitled to.
Most recently, a Veterans’ Affairs Department in Wisconsin came under investigation because of the death of a former Marine, Jason Simcakoski, who died August 30, 2014, in a short stay mental health unit from drug toxicity. It appeared that Simcakoski had been prescribed 13 medications at the VA facility, within a 24 hour period, some of which had a side effect that caused respiratory depression. The investigative report that followed stated that Simcakoski was being over medicated at the time of his death, and that the hospital staff was totally inept in their attempts at resuscitating Simcakoski when he was found unresponsive. The standard of care for all of the VA facilities should be at par with private sector hospitals and clinics. Sadly, they are not. See the MilitaryTimes.com
The care and treatment of disabled veterans at any VA facility needs to be carefully monitored by family members, caregivers and the communities where the disabled veterans live in order to prevent these kinds of healthcare mistreatments from occurring.

Disabled Veterans Unemployment

The economy here in America took a slide a few years back and there was rampant unemployment for everyone, including veterans and non-veterans alike. However, with all the talk about unemployment rates being “off the carts,” the rate of disabled veteran unemployment is usually never discussed. More needs to be done to get those disabled veterans who want to work back to work.

How a Veterans’ Disability Attorney Can Help

If you are a disabled veteran or servicemember needing assistance in understanding what disability benefits you are entitled to, contact J. Robert Surface Attorney at Law. Mr. Surface is an experienced veterans’ disability attorney in Greenville who will help you to understand your rights to veterans’ benefits and how to improve your future.

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