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As a veteran, disabled by the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam, I am very concerned about the future of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). I, and many others, have received excellent care from the doctors and the staff at the facility in Bangor. I don’t want to see that end.
When I read about the programs written into Project 2025 and some of the draconian measures the authors would like to put into place, I am saddened to think that they would want to retract any of the benefits we have earned from our time in uniform. I wonder how many of these individuals have any time in the military, or have experienced any of the hardships that come with wearing their countries uniforms.
The U.S. budget includes “mandatory spending” for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Included in “discretionary spending” is veterans’ benefits, including disability payments distributed to more than 1.2 million American veterans, many who served in Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Middle East. Project 2025 would impact their future and current disability benefits. Many of these veterans returned with PTSD, exposure from toxic chemicals, depleted uranium, sexual trauma or burn pits. They deserve the help and benefits that they have earned.
The Veterans Health Administration is the largest part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It delivers needed clinical care such as medical, mental health and rehab through hundreds of hospitals, clinics, and mental health centers across the nation assisting more than 230,000 people each day. It does not require any pre-authorization from the insurance industry.
Seventy percent of all doctors and a large number of other health care professionals received part of their training at VA hospitals and clinics. It currently trains 40 percent of practitioners like nurses, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists and other specialists.
The VA is a smooth running, efficient, and inexpensive agency of the government. Since the Revolutionary War, veterans have had to fight for benefits promised them and it continues today. One way to honor us is to protect the services that are in place to help us after we return and enter back into the peacetime lives we left when we put on the uniform. Health care is one of those areas. Help us by keeping the VA intact so that it can keep its promises and fulfill its important missions.
Albert Larson
Retired lieutenant
U.S. Navy Reserve
Orono
