QUESTION
What services are peacetime veterans missing, and how does the VA healthcare system address their needs?
0:38:46
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154 sec
Peacetime veterans, particularly guard and reservists, often lack access to VA healthcare due to eligibility requirements, but recent changes allow those with toxic exposure to qualify.
- VA healthcare is identified as a crucial service that many peacetime veterans are missing due to requiring at least 2 years of active service for eligibility.
- Guard and reservists who served during non-war periods are particularly affected by these eligibility rules.
- Recent federal adjustments have made veterans with toxic exposure during their service automatically eligible for VA healthcare, showing some progress.
- There is a significant lack of comprehensive data on the number of peacetime veterans affected due to limitations in how the Census Bureau counts veterans, highlighting a gap in understanding the full scope of need.
Kristy Marmorato
0:38:46
Well, thank you so much, and it's so good to see some some of my Bronx veterans here today.
0:38:51
Hopefully, guys is gonna speak in a little bit and like to hear what you have to say, and thank you for showing up.
0:38:56
So it kinda like boggles my mind to hear that some of the peacetime veterans don't receive services.
0:39:02
What would you say are, like, the most important services that they're not receiving?
0:39:06
Like, something that would be such valuable to their life.
James Hendon
0:39:09
I think the VA health care is atop the ticket as far as and when we think about it, the VA guidelines right now, you have to have at least 2 years active service, council member Murano.
0:39:17
And so what's happening is if I'm it's really the guard and reservists.
0:39:20
Guardsmen reservists were served during periods when we were not at war.
0:39:24
So think about that period between end of Vietnam to the beginning of there's a shield there's a storm.
0:39:30
And so a lot of may have we had someone who worked in the office who served for 8 years, and I believe she was in the in the reserve.
0:39:37
And, you know, she was not eligible via health care.
0:39:40
So I'd argue that's one of, like, the largest things that is often not available, and that happens to disproportionately affect peace time era veterans these rules are
Ashton Stewart
0:39:48
drawn out.
Kristy Marmorato
0:39:49
Yeah.
0:39:49
You're going in with the same intent as if if something does occur and you may have to serve.
0:39:54
I don't understand why they're not entitled to any kind of healthcare services, not even like physicals, anything like that, just no health insurance.
James Hendon
0:40:02
A caveat is of late, giving credit to the federal government, they made it where if you have toxic exposure.
0:40:08
While in military service, you may be automatically eligible for VA health care.
0:40:12
That's something tied to the pack.
0:40:13
Act.
0:40:13
And so that is something that we are grateful on the federal side, but the fact remains that many of our folks who answer the call and who served, especially guard and reserve who served when were not at war, when they were not in situations that could be deployed, those folks have bereft of benefits.
0:40:29
And then the just have to underscore as you you deliberate on what to do next with these things.
0:40:34
We don't even know the exact number of folks who are like this.
0:40:38
Because even at 28,000, just keep in mind, it's it the Census Bureau only count someone who served on active an active status at some point and no longer serves.
0:40:49
So you have to be have served on active status and no longer served.
0:40:52
That person I met she was in our office who was reserved as she did 8 years.
0:40:55
She was in the reserve.
0:40:57
She was never caught up on active orders.
0:41:00
She's on training orders, but not active orders.
0:41:02
And therefore, she's not included in the Census Bureau's information So it'd be remiss for me to not make it clear to folks that we've got a huge blind spot here that's intentionally created at the federal level, so we don't even fully know the number of peace time, era veterans that are out here who have these needs.
Kristy Marmorato
0:41:18
Okay.
0:41:19
Alright.
0:41:19
Thank you so much.
0:41:20
Thank you, Chair.