VA failed to use funds appropiated for mental health services
Over the last two years, $300 million has been set aside to fillcritical gaps in mental health services for veterans, especially troopsreturning from combat.
But more than $50 million of those allocations didn’t get spent bythe Department of Veterans Affairs, and millions more went to otherprograms, congressional investigators reported Thursday.
The funds were supposed to improve awareness of the VA’s mentalhealth programs and provide better access for combat vets, former womenpersonnel and others with serious mental illnesses.
The underspending was one of the topics at a hearing of asubcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee looking into thenumber of soldiers and Marines suffering post-traumatic stress disorderor traumatic brain injuries.
“Please don’t hide behind statistics and bureaucrat-ese,” DemocraticRep. Bob Filner of California told medical experts at the hearing. “Letus know you have some passion for solving this issue.”
Gerald Cross, a top VA health official, replied, “I can assure youwe do have passion, and we have the passion for caring for ourveterans.”
The Government Accountability Office’s findings were another thornfor the VA and the Bush administration, accused of failing to preparefor how the Iraq war would stretch the capacity to treat affectedveterans.
Abstract, full report, and highlights of the GAO report are here.