VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HEALTH CARE FIGURES MOUNT AMONG THOSE IN MILITARY INVOLVED IN THE GULF WARS
The commentary below is from Dr. Doug Rokke -- the figures from Veterans Administration data:
| The hope or dream that members of congress or the administration will
ever fund prompt and effective medical care and facilities will never
be fulfilled. Today with well over 750,000 casualties from the Persian
Gulf combat since we initiated combat action during May 1990. and then
we have over 400,000 Vietnam Vets affected by Agent Orange and then
thousands of WW2 and Korean War vets who need medical care too. Even
when congres(s) passes the budget the Office of Management and Budget-
OMB stops it cold. Portions of the internal Va report on OEF- OIF casualties follows: Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among US Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom VHA Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards October 2007 Among all 751,273 separated OEF/OIF Veterans 35% (263,909) of total separated OEF/OIF veterans have obtained VA health care since FY 2002 (cumulative total) 96% (253,730) of 263,909 evaluated OEF/OIF patients have been seen as outpatients only by VA and not hospitalized 4% (10,179) of 263,909 evaluated OEF/OIF patients have been hospitalized at least once in a VA health care facility % OEF/OIF Veterans (n = 263,909) Sex  Male 88 % Female 12% Age Group <20 5% 20-29 52% 30-39 23% >40 20% Branch Air Force 12% Army 65% Marine 12% Navy 11% Unit Type Active 50% Reserve/Guard 50% Rank Enlisted 92% Officer 8% Diagnosis (n = 263,909) (Broad ICD-9 Categories) Frequency * % Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (001-139) 28,665 - 10.9% Malignant Neoplasms (140-208) 2,193 - 0.8% Benign Neoplasms (210-239) 9,129 - 3.5% Diseases of Endocrine/Nutritional/ Metabolic Systems (240-279) 50,968 - 19.3% Diseases of Blood and Blood Forming Organs (280-289) 5,086 - 1.9% Mental Disorders (290-319) 100,580 - 38.1% Diseases of Nervous System/ Sense Organs (320-389) 83,273 - 31.6% Diseases of Circulatory System (390-459) 39,633 - 15.0% Disease of Respiratory System (460-519) 49,464 - 18.7% Disease of Digestive System (520-579) 81,427 - 30.9% Diseases of Genitourinary System (580-629) 25,561 - 9.7% Diseases of Skin (680-709) 38,791 - 14.7% Diseases of Musculoskeletal System/Connective System (710-739) 117,424 - 44.5% Symptoms, Signs and Ill Defined Conditions (780-799) 93,093 - 35.3% Injury/Poisonings (800-999) 48,736 - 18.5% *These are cumulative data since FY 2002, with data on hospitalizations and outpatient visits as of June 30, 2007; veterans can have multiple diagnoses with each healthcare encounter. A veteran is counted only once in any single diagnostic category but can be counted in multiple categories, so the above numbers add up to greater than 263,909. If you go to www.va .gov then pull up the May 2007 HGWVIS report you wil(l) find out on page 9 that out of out of 1,129,340 who have served in the Gulf since May 1990 that only 963,083 are still alive. So given these horrible casualties are due to our own actions- failures medical care and facility funding will never be provided. IT WOULD BREAK THE BANK! From Dr. Doug Rokke |
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