Veteran Care
Honoring our Veterans by Keeping our Promises
We have a moral obligation to provide the best quality care to those who put their lives on the line to defend us. Equipping and training our troops for war with planes, tanks and guns are costs of war that are easily funded when bills go through Congress. There are many other costs of war that are not:
As your Representative in the Illinois House, I will do everything that I can to ensure every veteran gets the benefits they are entitled to receive, on time and without delay. Veterans do not want to dismantle or privatize the VA. Veterans want to expand and improve the VA, and that is what we will work to do. The overwhelming majority of veterans are happy with the care they receive from the VA and it’s our job to make it easier - not harder - for them to get that high-quality care from dedicated providers who understand and care about the unique needs and experiences of our veterans. Many veterans have to wait too long, or drive too far to get their VA care. There will be times when it makes sense for veterans to utilize care in the community, but that community care access should not - and cannot - come at the expense of VA care. Not only has VA care been found to be as good or better than private sector care at equal or lower cost, but private sector providers are unprepared and often uninterested in caring for the unique needs of veterans. For these reasons, coupled with robust quality standards and safeguards, we must make sure that VA care is available to veterans wherever and whenever possible.
No one with prior military service should have to spend months, years or even decades fighting through red tape and government bureaucracy to prove they’re entitled to the benefits they were promised. We have a political process that rewards large defense contractors with wealthy CEOs and high-paid lobbyists, leaving hard working, patriotic veterans and service members to fight for their benefits long after they finished fighting for our country. The broken budget process in Washington provides a fraction of the funding actually needed to provide the services and benefits our nation’s veterans earned and deserve.
Under Medicare for All, every veteran who is eligible for health care through the VA will be eligible for comprehensive dental care. Not only will this make veterans healthier, it can build self-esteem, help them in their employment, and lower overall health care costs since good oral health care is shown to reduce the risk of costly - even deadly - infections, like endocarditis.
We must end the stigma associated with mental health in this country once-and-for-all and expand these critical services to members of the National Guard and Reserve, regardless of whether they ever served overseas or in combat. Research continues to show that one of the populations most at risk of suicide are those members of the National Guard who have not deployed in support of a federal mission. But, under current law, these guard members aren’t allowed to use the excellent, specialized mental health and suicide prevention resources available through the VA.
- taking care of the men and women who we sent off to fight the wars.
- caring for spouses and children who have to rebuild their lives after the loss of a loved one.
- caring for the hundreds of thousands of veterans with multiple amputations or loss of eyesight, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
- Supporting veterans who are having difficulty keeping jobs in order to pay their bills
- Fighting against the terrible tragedy of veterans committing suicide.
As your Representative in the Illinois House, I will do everything that I can to ensure every veteran gets the benefits they are entitled to receive, on time and without delay. Veterans do not want to dismantle or privatize the VA. Veterans want to expand and improve the VA, and that is what we will work to do. The overwhelming majority of veterans are happy with the care they receive from the VA and it’s our job to make it easier - not harder - for them to get that high-quality care from dedicated providers who understand and care about the unique needs and experiences of our veterans. Many veterans have to wait too long, or drive too far to get their VA care. There will be times when it makes sense for veterans to utilize care in the community, but that community care access should not - and cannot - come at the expense of VA care. Not only has VA care been found to be as good or better than private sector care at equal or lower cost, but private sector providers are unprepared and often uninterested in caring for the unique needs of veterans. For these reasons, coupled with robust quality standards and safeguards, we must make sure that VA care is available to veterans wherever and whenever possible.
No one with prior military service should have to spend months, years or even decades fighting through red tape and government bureaucracy to prove they’re entitled to the benefits they were promised. We have a political process that rewards large defense contractors with wealthy CEOs and high-paid lobbyists, leaving hard working, patriotic veterans and service members to fight for their benefits long after they finished fighting for our country. The broken budget process in Washington provides a fraction of the funding actually needed to provide the services and benefits our nation’s veterans earned and deserve.
- Eliminate the VA benefits backlog, fully fund and resource the VA, and reverse the disastrous privatization of services for veterans.
- Fill the vacancies at the VA.
- Provide new funding to repair, modernize and rebuild VA infrastructure.
- Expand the VA’s Caregivers Program as well as mental health services for veterans.
- Reform harmful VA regulations that restrict access to care and benefits based on character of discharge.
Under Medicare for All, every veteran who is eligible for health care through the VA will be eligible for comprehensive dental care. Not only will this make veterans healthier, it can build self-esteem, help them in their employment, and lower overall health care costs since good oral health care is shown to reduce the risk of costly - even deadly - infections, like endocarditis.
We must end the stigma associated with mental health in this country once-and-for-all and expand these critical services to members of the National Guard and Reserve, regardless of whether they ever served overseas or in combat. Research continues to show that one of the populations most at risk of suicide are those members of the National Guard who have not deployed in support of a federal mission. But, under current law, these guard members aren’t allowed to use the excellent, specialized mental health and suicide prevention resources available through the VA.