Westerly Sun: "Rep. Courtney right to try to force VA’s hand in releasing vets’ info to the states"

It would be nice if wounded Iraq War veterans and their families didn't need an act of Congress to get the federal and state veterans' agencies on the same page when it comes to providing them with the care and benefits they've earned.

The sad fact is, they do. Connecticut officials have taken the lead in fighting the federal government's abject refusal to even notify state veterans' agencies when wounded service personnel are returning home. And in that vein, Connecticut's 2nd District Congressman, Joe Courtney, D­ - Vernon, deserves kudos for taking a lead role in filing the " Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007", a bill that would require the feds to provide states the information they need to connect with returning war veterans when they head back home.

The issue came to a head last week, when Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz told a presi­dential panel that the federal government's Veterans' Administration simply must begin sharing more information about wounded soldiers returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, so that states can do a better job helping them.

Schwartz noted that the states – all of the states, though Connecticut has stepped to the forefront – are not asking for money to fund any veterans' services. They're only asking that the VA notify state veterans' service providers when a wounded service person is being released from federal VA care and headed for home. The issue applies to injured serv­ice members who are still listed on active duty, and those who have been discharged with veterans' status and are thus eligible for a variety of benefits.

"Our question is, why can't we, the states, be considered partners?" Schwartz said. That indeed is a very good question.

Federal officials will tell you that it's not that simple – that federal VA medical facilities are bound by national health­privacy laws from making any such information public unless given express consent to do so by the patients and/ or their families. But let's face it: as they're recovering from war wounds, the last thing on the minds of wounded veterans may be whether their federal caregivers should notify state veterans' service agencies when they're returning home.

VA officials have offered to notify the state if a " severely disabled" Connecticut soldier was returning home, Schwartz said. But that leaves out the vast majority of injured service members, she noted – and it leaves questions as to precisely what the VA means by " severely disabled."

Schwartz also noted that the state is not asking for what might be termed " privileged information" regarding the veterans' wounds. The state simply wants to be able to get the name, the home address, and a time when a soldier is expect­ed home. That would hardly seem to violate privacy statutes, but the VA continues to hold firm.

At its core, this seems little more than a turf war between the VA and the state veterans' service agencies. And it's a bureaucratic battle that leaves those returning from a very real war in the middle. That's a shame.

There's no reason why a federal agency and state groups all seeking to provide care for our returning veterans should have to be told to communicate and work as partners. But, in this scenario, it seems that's the case.

Given that, Courtney is right to try to legislatively force the VA's hand. All of our returning wounded veterans deserve the best in care and services – without any red tape blocking that path.