Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More VA Troubles: Suicide Hotline Calls Go To Voicemail; Whistleblower Retaliation Charges
A suicide hotline operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance, according to a report by the agency's internal watchdog. The report by the VA's office of inspector general says calls to the suicide hotline have increased dramatically in recent years, as veterans increasingly seek services following prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the aging of Vietnam-era veterans. (2/17)
Two of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate have called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to end retaliation against an Arizona whistleblower who exposed a breakdown in mental-health care at the Phoenix VA hospital. (Wagner, 2/17)
Department of Veterans Affairs officials are standing by removal of their Albany medical center's director despite an oversight board's ruling that terminating her was too severe a punishment. Merit Systems Protection Board Administrative Law Judge Arthur Joseph two weeks ago ordered Linda Weiss' removal cancelled. (Virtanen, 2/18)
Ohio's U.S. senators on Wednesday urged quick federal action to probe allegations about mismanagement and declining veterans' care at the Cincinnati VA hospital. Sen. Rob Portman, of the Cincinnati area, commented on a WCPO-TV and Scripps News Washington Bureau report that nearly three dozen current and former medical center employees have expressed urgent concerns about quality of care. They blame cost-cutting and other practices they said have reduced access to care and raised safety questions. (Sewell, 2/17)
And fights by two different couples against the VA's policy on in vitro fertilization coverage are profiled —
The Pentagon's health care system for active duty troops covers IVF. The Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans doesn't. A law passed in 1992 made it illegal for the VA to pay for IVF, which some people oppose because embryos are often destroyed in the process. In the decades since Congress banned IVF for the VA, the procedure has become much more common. And about 1,400 troops came back from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries to their reproductive organs. Thousands more have head injuries, paralysis or other conditions that make IVF their best option. (Lawrence, 2/17)
A current law that is the product of anti-abortion politics prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from covering the cost of in vitro fertilization for any of the estimated 1,800 veterans who have suffered damage to their reproductive organs. (Martin, 2/17)
